The top 10 finalists have been announced in the 3 Under 35 Chefs Competition.

The top 10 finalists have been announced in the 35 Under 3 Chefs Competition, organized for the fourth time by Dude Table Gastronomy Marketing Communications Agency to support the career journeys of young chefs who will shape the future of Turkish cuisine. This year's competition, held for the fourth time, is sponsored by Unilever Food Solutions (UFS), which aims to be a solution partner for chefs in professional kitchens with its "We are with you today, we are ready for tomorrow" approach.
The competition, which showcases young and creative chefs every year, aims to bring a new dynamism to Turkish gastronomy this year as well. Having introduced names like Bahtiyar Büyükduman, Şafak Erten, and Volkan Özkur to the sector in previous years, this year's competition offers a strong platform for young chefs to showcase their talent, vision, and techniques through an overseas training award.

This year's 3 Chefs Under 35 Competition was designed with the theme "Menus of the Future," inspired by UFS's Future Menus Trend Report. The report highlighted four key trends: "Neo-Tradition," "Chef's Touch to Street Food," "Next-Generation Dining Experience," and "Kitchens Without Borders," forming the creative framework for the competition. Young chefs participated by creating an original main course recipe inspired by one of these four trends during the application process.

The top 10 finalists have been selected, now it's time to prepare for the final.

This year's judging panel includes Funda İnansal, Founder of Dude Table Gastronomy Marketing Communications Agency; Pınar Balpınar, Innovation and Marketing Chef at UFS; Evert Vermandel, Global Innovation Lead Chef at UFS; Maurits van Vroenhoven, Global Creative Content and Culinary Experience Lead Chef at UFS; Cem Erol, Executive Instructor Chef at MSA; Gastronomy Writer Ebru Erke; İnanç Çelengil, Founder and Chef of Aman da Bravo İstanbul; Mehmet Akdağ, 3rd generation representative and Chef of 7 Mehmet Restaurant; and Duygu Özerson Elakdar, olive and olive oil producer, expert taster, and Founder of HİÇ Urla. The 10 finalists selected as a result of the jury's evaluations are: The new members are Ahmet Göktaş, Eyüp Şahin, Hamza Demir, Hasan Arslan, Hasan Hüseyin Akyüz, Hikmetullah Kurt, İbrahim Yıldız, Ömer Güneri, Soner Özyalçın, and Tuğçe Baykal.

A busy preparation schedule awaits the contestants in the run-up to the final. On May 5th, UFS Innovation and Marketing Chief Pınar Balpınar and MSA Executive Instructor Chef Cem Erol will meet with the finalists in an online mentoring session. During this meeting, the young chefs will have the opportunity to receive suggestions, preparation tips, and guidance on the recipe development process for the final competition on June 12th.

Following the mentoring process, the finalists will begin preparing their final menus, which they will present to the jury on June 12th. Each chef in the top 10 will develop four separate recipes inspired by the four main trend headings highlighted in the Future Menus Trend Report 2025. The final menu will be structured to reflect the following approaches: “Next Generation Dining Experience” in the amuse bouche category, “Chef's Touch on Street Food” for the starter course, “Neo-Tradition” for the main course, and “Kitchens Without Borders” for dessert. Thus, in the final stage, the young chefs will showcase not only their technical skills but also their ability to interpret current gastronomic trends and their creative perspectives.

Before the final, on June 11th, contestants will come to the Culinary Arts Academy for preliminary preparation. The grand final will be held at MSA on June 12th. The 3 winning chefs selected at the end of the competition will win the right to train at Unilever's global food innovation center, Hive, in the Netherlands in September. Those who want to follow the results of the 3 Chefs Under 35 Competition and get information about the competition can do so here. www.35yasalti3sef.com You can visit the website and follow the competition process on the 35yasalti3sef Instagram account.