Ismail Tosun (born 1975 in
Bozcaada,
Turkey) is an acclaimed
Turkish Australian
Turkish Australians ( tr, ) or Australian Turks ( tr, ) are Australians who have migrated from Turkey or who have Turkish ancestral origins.
Turks first began to emigrate to Australia from the island of Cyprus for work in the 1940s, and the ...
Celebrity chef who was voted the best new talent in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. Tosun is the founder of Eminem, a Turkish restaurant in
Nedlands which earned the title of best new talent in the country at the ''Australian Gourmet Traveller 2007 Restaurant Guide Awards''.
Biography
Tosun's father is from
Turkey and his mother is from
Cyprus. His parents divorced when he was nine years old
and he was raised by his mothers parents in
Melbourne till he was sixteen. Tosun's grandfather was a butcher and his grandmother was a
housewife which inspired him to become a chef as food was a central part of life.
Tosun got a job washing dishes in
Sydney Road
Sydney Road (in its northernmost part also known as the Hume Highway) is a major urban arterial in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Geography
Sydney Road starts at the northern end of Royal Parade at the boundary of P ...
in
Melbourne for $60 a week at the age of sixteen. He then started an apprenticeship in an Ottoman restaurant in
Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
where he worked under Australia's modern Turkish chef Şerif Kaya. He finally opened his acclaimed Eminem restaurant in
Perth however shut it soon after being awarded 'best new talent' at the Australian Gourmet Traveler 2007 Restaurant Guide Awards.
After leaving Perth, Tosun travelled briefly to
Istanbul. Upon his return to Australia, he settled in
Collingwood, Victoria, and opened a new Turkish restaurant called Gigibaba.
[Williams, Gail. "What Happened Next." ''The Sunday Times Magazine'', 8 March 2009: 23]
References
External links
ABC Stateline interview with Ismail Tosun
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tosun, Ismail
1975 births
Australian chefs
Turkish chefs
Living people
Australian people of Turkish descent
Australian people of Turkish Cypriot descent
Turkish emigrants to Australia
Turkish people of Cypriot descent
People from Melbourne
People from Çanakkale Province