How did your interest in gastronomy develop? What motivated you to make food the center of your life and choose this profession?

It's been about 23-24 years since I started this profession. More than my mother's ancestry from Bolu, it was my grandfather's love and passion for this profession that excited me and pushed me towards it. During my childhood, unlike most families who discussed football or politics on weekends, our home was filled with conversations about food, kitchen processes, and other aspects of hotel kitchens. Later, I chose to enter this sector because of my grandfather's enthusiasm, discipline, and systematic approach to running a business that was considered an art form.

What inspires you most when designing a menu? What role do local produce, seasonality, or the influence of world cuisines play in your menu creation process?

I love to excite people; I want our kitchen team to unite and come up with more innovative products. Since I started my career, I've been pushing the boundaries of the traditional. I incorporate herbs and vegetables, and we're not limited to meat and fish. We first discuss the different products we discover within our team to see how they can be adapted to our dishes. Then, we integrate those adapted products into our menu. We offer our regular guests these innovations, and we shape our menu based on the positive feedback we receive. We've also developed an approach to food chemistry. We teach our young talent not only about whether a product is cooked but also about the chemical reactions that occur below the boiling point of water. Because boiling water isn't just a physical phenomenon; it involves many chemical transformations. Understanding and applying food chemistry allows for the true flavor to emerge. The dishes we prepare by releasing the disaccharides and natural glucose in the product reflect the food's true flavor. Unfortunately, today, the true flavors of food have been compromised. The once-sweet aromas that once emanated from the kitchen when a cucumber was cut are no longer readily apparent. We are trying to revive these natural flavors by combining the inspiration we get from Ottoman cuisine with new world techniques.

How does your procurement process work? Which products do you procure and how? 

Seasonality is very important to us. Since arriving here, we've met with many companies and sampled their products. Because there's no standard supply chain in our country, the peppers you find today might not be available next week. Therefore, we prioritize seasonality when designing our menus. For example, we use winter vegetables in the winter and spring vegetables in the spring. Our suppliers are constantly changing, which helps prevent complacency and keeps us open to new alternatives.

You've been featured in numerous selections, including the Michelin, Gault & Millau, Creative People Talks & Hospitality Awards, and won numerous international awards. What does such significant success mean to a chef? What did your inner voice tell you when you achieved your first major success? How did you feel? How do you feel now?

I actually think we didn't fully achieve our goals. These are, of course, great achievements, and there's no denying it. We took a strong stance there. But our goals were always higher. For example, we made it to the Michelin list, but our ultimate goal was to earn a star. Gault & Millau'da  We bought 3 hats, but our goal was to buy 4. Bocuse d'Or'We became the first Turkish champions in the'or go and top 10'Our goal was to enter, but we couldn't. Of course, these achievements made us happy and proud, but our real goals were above that. 

Turkey'Gastronomy tourism has gained significant momentum in recent years. However, there is still a long way to go… At this point, Türkiye'What should be done to take Turkey to a better point in gastronomy tourism??

Gastronomy is a culture and Türkiye'Turkish cuisine should be better promoted on international platforms. Although Turkish cuisine is very strong, it is not'and most people just ""aggressive." However, Scandinavian cuisines are based on simplicity and freshness, and thanks to their flexible structure, they are more innovative and advantageous in tourism. Spices are very important in our cuisine; the extensive use of spices in everything from stuffed meatballs to pilaf is an approach not seen in European cuisines. French cuisine is deep-rooted but resistant to change; Scandinavians, on the other hand, stand out by presenting the produce of the land in a simple and correct manner. This flexibility gives them an international advantage.

Which gastronomic trends are most prominent in hotel kitchens worldwide? Is Turkey catching up with these trends?'"Hotels are generally not located in the city center, but are seen as structures separate from the city and catering mostly to foreign tourists. So, are these trends making their way into the city? Do hotels contribute to the gastronomy of the city they are located in?"

The biggest mistake hotel restaurants make is directing guests to the restaurant via the reception desk; this can be off-putting to outsiders. Hotel restaurants, with independent entrances from the street, are more intimate, open to the outside world, and attract more customers. However, the past practices of hotels, which contribute significantly to the city's gastronomy, have harmed tourism: 25-30 years ago, cruise passengers visiting Beşiktaş were overcharged by taxis and restaurants. "Warnings were issued saying, "Don't eat out." Such excessive pricing reduced tourists' interest in local cuisine.

Concierge recommendations are also problematic; tourists are often directed to restaurants that offer the highest commissions, while fine dining establishments that offer quality but don't pay are left out in the cold. This is why many foreign tourists choose Türkiye.'It is identified only with kebab and raki, and the rich diversity of the cuisine is not promoted.

Sustainability is very important to you. You have sustainable methods like turning vegetable waste into spices or recycling root vegetable waste. Can you tell us the details of your work in this area?

We practice zero-waste. We repurpose everything from fish heads to bones and tails. We dry vegetable peels and turn them into spices, creating our own spice blends. We also use the stems of vegetables as bases, just like our mothers used to do. Our goal is to use the kitchen waste-free. We make portions small enough for everyone to eat. If there's a local product available, we try to source it. We try to reach out to women producers. These are all zero-waste, sustainable practices. We're thrilled that the peels aren't going to waste. We've raised awareness, and now the team is taking its own initiative.

Intercontinental Grand Ankara'May your mission in Ankara be auspicious and successful.'Welcome to Ankara. Ankara is an important city for HORECA TREND. Our entire team is in Ankara.'and Ankara'We love Ankara.'There's great potential in gastronomy. You will undoubtedly make valuable contributions to realizing this potential. Sincerely, Ankara'What do you think about it? What do you think can be done?

Ankara remains somewhat untouched. People's tastes are confined to certain patterns. For example, if someone consumes certain foods until they're 30, their palate won't develop. Meyhane and kebab culture is widespread here, and people are seeking new flavors. The younger generation is bored with the same old food. Innovators in Ankara win. Here, we'll be working with local produce, seasonal products, and Ottoman recipes. But here, we're making a change. We'll be cooking everything with wood, from our grill to our oven, using a live fire concept. Everything will be cooked live. Since we're a nomadic cuisine, we want to reflect that a bit. We smoke our own products. Our goal is to offer our guests a living flavor, a meal.

Finally, the global trend is towards simplification. If you could serve a dish in Turkish cuisine that would lend itself to simplification, what would it be?

Antep's "çağla aşı" (green pepper soup) would be a perfect fit; it's incredibly delicious. The chefs here use vegetables grown on their own farms, not processed. If they're using chard, they harvest it from their own fields. I'm not talking about hotel kitchens. The hotel kitchens there, like ours, are a bit faster at producing. The restaurants have their own gardens and use fresh produce. 

Some chefs don't even add salt to their dishes. In greenhouses built on the seashore, the waves wash over the vegetables, allowing them to naturally absorb the salt as they grow. Chefs use these vegetables in their dishes. It's essential to go all-out: natural salt, natural flavors...

We always have a lot of spice and hotness. When spices overpower the main ingredient, the essence of the dish is lost. For example, celery with orange and olive oil is made to sound modern. When you eat it, the orange flavor is overwhelming; you feel like you're eating an orange. So where's the celery? We're losing the main theme.

Vedat Milor'In an interview we did with him, he said that the biggest shortcoming of Turkish cuisine is wine. What are your thoughts on wine? Does its absence from our culture harm the dining experience?

I definitely disagree with him. Türkiye'There are some very good wines here; perhaps it needs some time to pair. But raki can also be used with very good food. In the past, we had an ancestor with wine barrels, and he had wine cellars. There are many dishes that pair well with raki; it's not just appetizers! Anise is also a bit overpowering because it's aggressive. You need to compare it with the right flavors. Çanakkale'in Ayvalik'in Cappadocia'in Kalecik'We have numerous cellars here. All the good restaurants here serve wine.

Source: HORECA TREND

How do public administrations meet food needs? 

Public administrations meet their food service needs with several different methods. The most basic and long-standing method is to purchase food from the market by tender, and to carry out the cooking and distribution processes with the administrations' own means. This method is still used in many military units.  

The other method is purchasing food services with ingredients. In other words, administrations purchase food supplies and cooking services from the same contractor. 

The least common form of food purchase is the purchase of rations. Food rations are purchased for short-term missions, such as AFAD officers, police, soldiers, etc.

How do the administrations determine the type and quality of the food they purchase through tender, either cooked or as rations?

Administrations determine the type, quantity and quality of the food they will purchase in their technical specifications and go out to tender. However, care is taken to ensure that the food in question is of a quality appropriate to the administration's duty. For example, law enforcement officers on operational duties need to take in the necessary calories or hospitals need to provide diet food for diabetic patients. For this reason, food lists are prepared by experts. Administrations assign dietitians or food engineers to this task. 

How do public administrations purchase food services?

Türkiye's public procurement market size reached 2023% of GDP in 6.  In 2024, public procurement increased to 2.5 trillion lira, of which 450 billion lira was made up of the service sector, including food service procurement. 

Every year, more than 700 companies sign contracts with public administrations, either individually or through partnerships, within the scope of food services.  In this context, it makes an average of more than 2.500 food service contracts every year. The most important of these contracts are carried out by companies operating in Ankara. The most important reason for this is that the administrations within the scope of the central government are located in Ankara. 

Can you say that the competition among companies operating in the food sector is quite intense in tenders? 

Food service procurement tenders are an area where there is a lot of competition. I would like to explain this by giving an example. In 2024, more than 2.000 objection complaints were made to the Public Procurement Authority for food service procurement tenders, citing various reasons. In other words, companies that wanted to compete under more favorable conditions in food service procurement tenders did not hesitate to take the issue to the Authority. Again, in a tender held in Ankara in 2024, 22 people submitted bids, and the margin of error was as high as 55%. In other words, there is fierce competition. However, tender competition can also be at more reasonable levels due to reasons such as the location of the tender, the nature of the administration, and the feasibility of the specifications.   

In an environment where there is so much competition, how do public administrations ensure that the food is produced to the specifications and quality they want?

This is a very important question. Especially today, as a result of the inspections carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, food products that are understood to be counterfeit or adulterated are disclosed. It is very difficult for the administration to inspect the ingredients used in food in detail and to identify such foods. For this reason, it is important to control companies that sign contracts with high deduction rates by offering prices well below the approximate cost. 

What do you think companies that want to get a share from the highly competitive food service procurement but have not participated in a tender before should do?

Recently, there have been important developments in our public procurement system. For example, e-tenders have become widespread. Tenders are now being held in a more secure environment. In other words, a company operating in Edirne can participate in a food tender in Kars using the computer on its desk.   

However, the real problem stems from not being familiar with the tender legislation and not being able to read the tender documents prepared by the administrations sufficiently. Currently, dozens of food companies have been banned from tenders due to their lack of tender literacy. 

As someone who has been a tender consultant to the most important food companies in Türkiye, I must say that all companies that make high profits in tenders definitely receive consultancy from professionals. In short, there is no point in participating in food service tenders without knowing the tender legislation.

There are many companies across Türkiye that have problems with food service procurement tenders. What are the main services you provide to these companies as a corporate entity? 

Public tenders are conducted with complicated legislation that is difficult to understand and whose implementation is based on experience. In addition, tender practices are an area with definitive provisions in terms of form and duration, which have restrictive rules. Not only the tender, but also the inspection and acceptance procedures, price difference and entitlement procedures are areas where almost all contractor companies have disagreements with the administration during the execution of the contract. 

Public procurement legislation consists of two separate laws, dozens of secondary legislations and countless regulatory decisions. It is not possible for a food company to know the legislation to the letter and follow it on a daily basis. For this reason, companies that do not want to make mistakes work with us. 

What advice would you give to food companies to access detailed information within the scope of tenders? 

Today, “knowledge” is the most important power! For this reason, we produce content on hesap.tv to share the knowledge and experience we have gained over the last 30 years with the public. I recommend that you review the “Public Procurement Law and Practices”, “Public Procurement Contracts Law” and “Service Procurement and Labor Law Practices” sections on this channel. 

Similarly, I recommend our 3 books that companies that will participate in tenders within the scope of food service procurement can benefit from. The first of these is our work called “Documents Showing Work Experience in Public Tenders”, which contains important information on participating in tenders. The second is our work called “Determination, Questioning and Explanation of Extremely Low Bids in Public Tenders”. The last book I can recommend is our work called “Procedures for Prohibition in the Public Tender Process”. This book is an important book that compiles the issues regarding not being banned during the tender process or what kind of procedures should be done in case of a ban.

Who is Ilyas Kilic?

İlyas Kılıç completed his undergraduate and graduate education at the Military Academy and Selçuk University. Kılıç is a public administration specialist and also a tender consultant. After working for 20 years in public institutions within the scope of tender and contract law, he retired in 2010 at his own request. He wrote articles on tenders in many newspapers and magazines. He edited tender books published by Kılıç Academy Publications. 

Ilyas Kilic, who is also the chairman of the board of directors of Kilic Corporate Consultancy Inc., provides consultancy services to various public institutions and corporate companies within the scope of tenders. Kilic Corporate Consultancy includes tender experts, lawyers, expert auditors and solution partners. Together with his team, he informs the public within the scope of tenders via the tender.tv YouTube channel. 

Source: HORECA TREND 

How did “Journey to the Heart of Coffee” begin? Can you tell us the story of the documentary?    

Over the years, I have met coffee producers in different geographies, visited farms, observed the production processes and had the opportunity to see the labor behind each cup of coffee up close. These experiences have allowed me to look at coffee not just as a beverage, but as a culture, labor and story. The idea of ​​making the documentary emerged with the desire to convey these stories to a wider audience. We wanted to show the audience the journey of a cup of coffee from the soil to the cup, the people and their labor in this process. We also wanted to convey that coffee has not only economic value, but also social and cultural value. Every moment of the documentary was meticulously prepared to reflect this passion and respect. 

I was both behind and in front of the camera during the production process of the documentary. This gave me the chance to tell the story through my own eyes, from my own perspective. The reason I chose Rwanda was not only because of the quality coffee production, but also because of the great trauma the country experienced in its past and the story of the people trying to get back on their feet after this trauma. 

Following the civil war and genocide in 1994, millions of people lost their lives. The vast majority of those left behind were women. These women had to both keep their families afloat and rebuild their country. Coffee was not just a source of income for them; it was a tool for solidarity, healing and holding on to life. I focused on the stories of these women in the documentary. I documented their labor in the coffee fields, the cooperatives they established, and how they became a productive force together. I was both behind the camera and in front of it because witnessing and telling this story firsthand was a very personal experience for me.

What was the moment or story that touched you the most during the documentary shoot on the coffee farms in Rwanda?

The story that affected me the most in Rwanda began when I met a woman named Mukobandore Venancia. Venancia had lived in great poverty in the past, barely supporting her family. However, over time, she realized that she was not alone and started a change with the women around her. Under her leadership, 170 women came together and established a coffee cooperative. Most of these women were people who were trying to reconnect with life after the war and had no income. Thanks to the cooperative, they can now not only provide for themselves, but also send their children to school, repair their homes and become examples of hope for society.

Venancia told me: “We used to just try to survive, now we build a life together.” 

Watching them work hand in hand in the coffee field and seeing their solidarity touched me deeply. There were many moments behind the scenes when my eyes filled with tears. Because this was not just a story about coffee, it was a story of women rising up against life and becoming stronger together. This is one of the most powerful messages of the documentary: When we unite, we can sprout even in the most difficult soil.

What are your observations about the role of women and children in coffee production?

The difficulties experienced by women working in coffee fields are profound. Although women are the main labor force in coffee production, their wages are very low. This poses a major obstacle to their ability to send their children to school and build a better life. 

Most of the time, their income is only enough to meet daily needs, so children work in coffee fields to provide for their families. This limits their opportunities to receive education. However, we have tried to develop a solution to this situation. We have supported the education of several schools close to the coffee fields. The contributions made to these schools have been a glimmer of hope for the children to continue their education. Education is the most important tool that will change the lives of these children in the long term. Only with a good education can they transform their lives and contribute to their communities in the future.

What would you like to say about sustainability and ethical coffee trade?

Although coffee is a source of income for millions of people around the world, there are also many problems in coffee production. These problems include low incomes of farmers, environmental impacts and inequality in society. Therefore, the sustainability of coffee production depends not only on the environment but also on the living standards of the workers in this business.

Sustainability means both environmental and social sustainability. Coffee producers must produce by protecting natural resources, increasing soil fertility and not harming the environment.

Another important issue that I believe in is that coffee lovers should be sensitive to this ethical trade and sustainability approach. After all, when we, the consumers, buy coffee, we should pay attention not only to its taste, but also to how it is produced and who is responsible for its production. If we can raise awareness on this issue, it will be possible for the entire sector to become more fair and sustainable.

The documentary has a very powerful narrative in terms of discourse and visuals. The sentence “The sky is blue, the leaf is green, and the coffee will always be red” was impressive. What does this sentence mean to you?

I think this sentence reveals the most striking meaning of the documentary: No matter what the difficulties are, the struggle for life and hope always continues. 

The coffee workers' joy of life, their refusal to give up in the face of these difficulties, is the most valuable gift they offer to the world. Coffee is not just a drink, it is a reflection of their survival power, resistance and hope.

Most of us consume coffee at home, in a café or in our office without being very aware of its journey to that point. What does this documentary want to tell the urban audience?

Coffee is a product that is grown, processed and eventually delivered to us by coffee workers all around the world, but most of us don't think much about what goes into this process. When we drink a cup of coffee in the city, we are unaware of the production process in the field, the difficulties in the coffee field and the people behind this labor. This documentary aims to fill this gap.

By showing the audience the production process of coffee in particular, it reveals the labor, struggle and social responsibility behind this product. Women and children earn their living by working under harsh conditions in coffee fields. However, the low wages they receive and the difficulties they face often reveal how unfair this production process is.

What impact do you hope your documentary will have on viewers?

The impact I hope this documentary will have on viewers is both emotional and enlightening. Despite coffee being a beverage that holds an important place in the lives of millions of people around the world, the process and labor behind its production is often overlooked. 

This documentary aims to make viewers understand the stories and people behind coffee, not just look at it as a beverage.

Do you plan to make similar projects or documentaries in the future?

Yes, absolutely! This documentary is just the beginning for me. I aim to create projects that address social issues and environmental impacts, and to raise more awareness about people's lives. Documentaries that tell the hardships experienced by coffee producers, the stories of small farmers, and similar labor demands aim to make these segments, which are often invisible to society, more visible. I also think that such documentaries should encourage viewers to think and look at the world from a broader perspective.

Through documentary, it is very important to not only inform the audience but also to create awareness that will motivate them to take action. I hope to make projects like this documentary in the future that will shed light on small but important changes that will make the world a more just place.

As someone who is devoted to coffee, what advice would you give to those who focus on coffee and want to improve themselves in this field?

Ultimately, what someone who loves coffee and wants to improve himself in this field should do is not to be limited to technical knowledge. Coffee is a way of thinking It should be a journey of self-discovery in every cup, a means of connection. A coffee lover carries both an inner passion and a social responsibility. This journey can make you not only an expert, but also a social leader. 

Coffee contains not only flavors but also the spirit of a culture, a community, a geography in every cup. Interest in coffee is more than a drinking habit, lifestyle And this way of life shows how a person can understand himself, others and nature more deeply with every cup. 

Also for a coffee lover, coffee in the lands where it is grown Being present, interacting with the local people and directly observing the coffee production process is not only a learning opportunity, but also a deep transformation Seeing the origins of coffee, the difficulties faced by farmers, and their relationship with the soil is the greatest experience for a coffee lover.

Source: HORECA TREND