Danilo Zanna (born 15 April 1982) is an Italian

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

, and restaurant operator residing in Turkey. He has been a judge in the reality show

MasterChef Turkey ''MasterChef Turkey'' (''MasterChef Türkiye'') is a Turkish competitive cooking game show based on the original British ''MasterChef''. Its first season was broadcast on Show TV Show TV is a nationwide television channel in Turkey owned by Al ...

since 2019.

Life and career

Early years

Zanna was born on 15 April 1982 in

Prato Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 i ...

, Tuscany, Italy to Italian parents Armando Zanna and Emillia Zanna. He took over cooking as a family business. He strengthened his culinary skills by working with Italian chefs on Italian cuisine.

Life in Turkey

Zanna, who is interested in Turkish cuisine, migrated from Italy to Turkey because he wanted to pursue a career in this field. After settling in Turkey, he opened a restaurant with Italian and

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

cuisine. Later, he started to take part in television programs, with his first being in a program called "Zahide ile Hayata Yetiş" as an assistant chef. Zanna rose to recognition with the cooking show "İtalyan İşi", which he had created and presented on the Planet Mutfak television channel. He worked on Italian dishes at Kadir Has University Istanbul Cuisine Institute, which includes the restaurant culture of different countries in Turkey. After Planet Mutfak was shut down, he appeared on television with the programs "

Elin Oğlu ''Elin Oğlu'' was a Turkish talk show broadcast on ATV. Based on the original South Korean show ''Non-Summit'', it aired on ATV on Saturday nights at 23:45 Eastern European Time from 21 March 2015 to 7 May 2016. The show was hosted by leading T ...

", broadcast on

ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television stations and companies * Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourne * ATV (Austria) * AT ...

, and "Lezzetin Şarkısı", which was broadcast on NTV, and presented by himself. Zanna is currently a jury member in the program of

Masterchef Turkey ''MasterChef Turkey'' (''MasterChef Türkiye'') is a Turkish competitive cooking game show based on the original British ''MasterChef''. Its first season was broadcast on Show TV Show TV is a nationwide television channel in Turkey owned by Al ...

, which started to be broadcast on TV8 in its new season in 2019. He married Tuğçe Demirbilek in 2012, and divorced her on 15 December 2021. On 10 January 2022, he opened a branch of the Italian restaurant "Filo D'Olio", in Izmir, Turkey, and recruited Mert Ateş Durukan, who competed in

Season 5, to his cooking team, and Safanur Bol from the same season, a short while later. After a while, he recruited Kaan Noyanalpan who competed in

Season 6. He has also hosted the Turkish version of

MasterChef Junior ''MasterChef Junior'' is an American cooking competition involving children from the ages of 8–13 that premiered on Fox on September 27, 2013. It is based on the format of the British series ''Junior MasterChef''. On March 5, 2014, ''MasterC ...

, which has aired on Exxen since 2021. As of 2024, he remains one of the three judges in

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zanna, Danilo Italian expatriates in Turkey Living people Italian television presenters 1982 births Italian chefs People from Prato