Istanbul Culinary Institute

Karen Bornarth

Karen Bornarth works as an instructor and the instructional coordinator for the bread program at The French Culinary Institute in New York City.  Prior to joining the FCI, she worked as a mixer/supervisor on the night shift at Amy’s Bread in New York City and taught occasionally at the Artisan Baking Center at the Consortium for Worker Education in Queens, New York.  Karen joined the staff at Amy’s after finishing the Baking and Pastry Certificate Program at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone.  She’s been actively involved with the Bread Bakers Guild of America and writes a regular column called “Life on the Bench” for the Guild newsletter.  Karen also writes regularly about food and other subjects for Martha Stewart magazines.  She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Yahya Erdogan

Yahya Erdogan has joined our organization to form new generation of kitchen professionals, by teaching, promoting and preserving Turkish cuisine. He has represented Turkish cuisine in Europe, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Holland and Germany. Chef Erdogan has an extensive archive of eastern Mediterranean and Turkish recepies that he shares with other professionals in the field. He has had numerous interviews with gourmet food magazines and TV shows nationally and internationally. He holds 15 medals and, 30 certificates, that he earned in his 45 years of representing Turkish cuisine. He was born in Bolu, Mengen and he is the president and founder of the Turkish Association of Professional Cooks.

Mahmut Tepeyuksek

Born in Konya in 1969. He has been working at hotels and some different companies for more than 25 years on Turkish&Ottoman desserts and international pastry. Before joining to IstCI he has worked at Polat Renaissance, Klassis Resort, Radisson Sas, Bilgi University, Bodrum Central Palace and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Mahmut still prepares all the patisserie and desserts of the Enstitü for guests and educates the amateur program participants about Turkish&Ottoman desserts.

Gencer Uzumlu

Gencer Uzumlu comes to Istanbul Culinary Institute from Harvey Nichols Istanbul where he worked as a sous-chef at the renowned Gilt Restaurant. He has been with the award winning Spazio Restaurant as assistant to the executive chef and trained the line cooks and stewards. Gencer has extensive practice in the international arena too: he worked at the five star Duxton Hotel in Perth, Australia as banquet manager; at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs’ Tavern Kitchen where he was responsible for preparing hot and cold menus for lunch and dinner; and at the Flair Hotel Laurentius in Weikersheim, Germany. His academic credentials include degrees from the Mediterranean University Department of Tourism and Hotel Management in Antalya and the Australian School of Tourism and Hotel Management in Commercial Cooking.
 

GUEST LECTURERS

Hande Bozdogan

Born in Ankara, Turkey, Hande Bozdogan holds a degree in Economics from the Bosphorus University in Istanbul. Driven by her passion for the culinary arts, she attended certificate courses in cooking and baking at the Bath School of Cookery in UK and the Culinary Institute of America in Poughkeepsie, NY. She also holds a grand diploma from the French Culinary Institute in New York. Hande lived for several years in New York and London and traveled extensively from the Caribbean to Africa, from South America to Southeast Asia, exploring different culinary cultures across the globe. From running her own café in Istanbul to heading the Dunkin Donuts chain in Turkey, Hande has been involved in the food industry since 1994.
 

Ayca Cigdem Budak

Ayca Budak holds a degree in economics from the Istanbul University. She also studied language and culture in England and France. She began her career in the wine industry as a sales representative at ATU Duty Free Vintage Wine Store. During this period she obtained the Doluca Gold Corkscrew Certificate. Afterwards she was a public relations and wine training specialist at Kavaklıdere Wines for two years. Since 2005, Ayca Budak has been in charge of marketing and training at Kayra Wines. She is a recipient of the International Wine & Spirits Education Trust’s Advanced Certificate.

Sharon Croxford

After ten years of practising as a dietitian in both Australia and England, she trained as a chef at Leith’s School of Food and Wine in London during 2000. Since then she has worked as both a chef and dietitian. In the past five years Sharon has combined both skills to teach cooking, food science, nutrition and dietetics at King’s College in London for part of each year while realising the foundations of the workshop in Istanbul.

Omer Faruk Dak

A graduate of the University of Milan, Faruk Dak founded the Metropolitan Coffee Company in 1997. His education in coffee started at a very young age growing up in a house where everyone drank Turkish coffee. Importing coffee beans from various continents and subsequently spending time in the plantations further solidified his stature in the industry. Today Metropolitan Coffee is a leading coffee importer in Turkey. Mr. Dak teaches the proper techniques on how to prepare coffee at various establishments and he continues to share his love and knowledge with other coffee enthusiasts.

Giacomo Danielli

Giacomo Danielli is from Bologna and has been living in Istanbul for the last 3 years. He worked as consultant for Italian restaurant in Istanbul and was involved with the implementation and the opening of a new Italian restaurant in Bagdad. He currently organizes special events and dinners with Italian flair. He teaches Italian cooking classes both for beginners and advanced levels and Italian language at the Italian Cultural Centre in Istanbul where he has the opportunity to use his formative skills.

Michelangelo De Lauretis

Michelangelo De Lauretis was born in Rome and has been living in Istanbul since 2001. He teaches Italian language at Sabancı University and at the Italian Consulate in Istanbul. He studied Liberal Arts at the University of Rome and finished a master degree in Cultural Antropology at the same university. Michelangelo has shown interest in cuisines of the world and kitchen cultures. He has attanded many professional and amateur cooking courses. He followed his chef mother’s footsteps, worked in a restaurant in Venice. He has been teaching Italian cooking for many years.

Banu Ozden

Banu Ozden started working in the restaurant upon graduation from Clark University with a degree in Business Administration. She worked at Bertucci’s Oven Ristorante in Boston as a kitchen manager for over five years. At Bertucci’s, she was responsible from the operations of the kitchen, assisted the executive chef in menu developments and thought classes on sanitation to the employees. She holds a Basic Kitchen Training certificate from Culinary Institute of America and a Serve Safe Certificate from National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation.

Ozge Samanci

Upon completing her graduate studies in History at Bogazici University in Istanbul, she has continued her PhD studies in Food History at EHESS, a well-known academic institute of France. She is a well-regarded food historian, specializing in Turkish-Ottoman cuisine. Her articles have been published in academic journals and popular magazines. Since 2003 she has been teaching food and culinary history at a private university in Istanbul. Ozge is passionate about creating authentic recipes that respect historical evidence and sharing these through discussions, lectures and demonstrations.

Osman Serim

An expert on Turkish regional cuisines and wine industry, Osman Serim has been a consultant to the Istanbul Culinary Institute since its begening. He has lived and worked in Europe and in the United States where he gained expertise in the gastronomical field.

Cemal Turkan

Born in 1953 in Bolu, he started working at Istanbul Hilton and Buyuk Tarabya Oteli as an apprentice. He is a graduate of CNEC in Paris and holds degrees from J.Drouan school of hospitality management and Paris Chambre des Metier CAP on international cuisine. Chef Turkan is in charge of the culinary division in Mengen’s Izzet Baysal University. He is the author of many text books and culinary books.