Mehmet Gürs (born 13 December 1969) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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 ...

celebrity

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 personality and

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspec ...

. He is considered to be

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

's most recognizable chef.

Biography

Gürs was born in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

to a

father and a Finnish-Swedish mother and grew up in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

and

. He spent eight years training and working as a chef in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

; from 1990 to 1993 he studied Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management at

Johnson & Wales University Johnson & Wales University (JWU) is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its campuses in the fa ...

. In the mid 1990s, he returned to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

to start his first restaurant called Downtown; six years later he opened Lokanta and then

Mikla Mikla is a contemporary restaurant in Istanbul, known for its "New Anatolian Kitchens". Opened in October 2005, Mikla is on the top two floors of The Marmara Pera Hotel located in the historical Pera region, with its view of Istanbul. Restauran ...

in 2005. Gürs's Istanbul Food & Beverage Group now consists of Mikla, the numnum café & restaurant, Trattoria Enzo, Kronotrop, Terra Kitchen chain and the group's research lab, the workshop.

Awards

*2001: Best Restaurant/ Downtown - TimeOut Istanbul *2002: Best Bar/ NuTeras - TimeOut Istanbul *2003: Best Chef/Mehmet Gürs - TimeOut Istanbul *2004: Best Bar/ NuTeras - TimeOut Istanbul *2006: Best Restaurant/ Mikla - TimeOut Istanbul

Personal life

Gürs has one child. He speaks

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurs, Mehmet Turkish television chefs Turkish people of Finnish descent Johnson & Wales University alumni Living people 1969 births Finnish television chefs Finnish expatriates in Sweden Finnish expatriates in the United States Finnish people of Turkish descent Turkish expatriates in Sweden Turkish expatriates in the United States