ISTANBUL: The decision for Fatih Tutak to return to his home and open TURK after spending the best part of his career outside Turkey was vindicated this week when he was the first ever Turkish restaurant to clinch two Michelin stars when the French guide released the first ever guide for Turkey.
Born in Istanbul in 1985, Fatih may have learned his trade in Turkey and worked in some of the country’s best hotels and restaurants including the Ritz-Carlton Cam in Istanbul under famed chef Paul Pairet. it was here that he decided he needed to expand his horizons and get out of his comfort zone.
He headed East for what you could call a culinary odyssey going to kitchens in China’s Qingdao and Beijing before heading to Singapore. During this time, his drive and evident talent earned him a four month training in Tokyo under Seiji Yamamoto at three Michelin-starred Nihonryori Ryugin, before he was presented with a unique opportunity to join René Redzepi at the much celebrated Noma in Copenhagen. He then admits to feeling the pull of the East again, and returned to Hong Kong, furthering his techniques and immersing himself in a history and culture that truly fascinated him.
A move to Thailand in 2015 saw him open The Dining Room of The House on Sathorn in Bangkok as Head Chef. In just two years he rose to Director of Culinary Operations and led his talented team to international accreditation, both in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants (No.36 in 2017) and a Michelin Plate in the Thailand Guide 2018-19.
It was here that circumstance would play a pivotal role in his career. During the development of a private dinner for an expat Turkish guest, Fatih created a dish he called ‘From my Mom’, which was his take on the Turkish dumpling, manti. The guest’s emotional response to that dish, made Fatih realise just how important it had now become for him to further explore the food from his home country and look at it with a fresh perspective. He developed an entire menu of ‘New Turkish Cuisine’ and introduced it to The Dining Room.
In contemplating this new perspective, it became clear to Fatih that to really understand Turkish food, both for him and as a concept, he had to become close to it again and surround himself with the produce from its land. He returned home in February 2019 and opened Turk in December 2019.
We caught up with him to find out more.
Fatih, you had been travelling for most of your career and it was a dish that led you back to your country. Now, three years down the line, do you feel that was the right decision for you?
Yes, definitely. After many years of working in the kitchen and honing my techniques, I truly found myself returning to my roots, and I’m now cooking the food from my origins. Turk is truly Turkish, modern, sleek and friendly: is the future of Turkish cuisine, and I am very proud of it.
After such a long time away from Turkey, did you find the return hard?
In the beginning, it was a tough decision. I had many doubts and questions, and it is natural, but at the same time, opening my own restaurant has always been my dream. And the challenge I set myself up for turned into a driving force.
Travelling worldwide expanded my horizons, and trying different experiences inevitably changes a part of you. I learned so many new things and met many cultures, so my view wasn’t exclusively only Turkish anymore. I adopted a more international perspective, which was one of my concerns: is my restaurant, as I conceive it, going to work in Istanbul?
I took this as my challenge, and it made me push even further. I wanted to achieve my dream and wanted it to be a big success. Since I returned and settled back in my country, actually, everything has been much easier, and many fears have slowly gone away.
Your main focus was East though you also had a stint at Noma. Istanbul is a city that is at the crossroads between east and west. How would you describe your interpretation of Turkish cuisine? Do you look mainly to the East because of your experience or to the West also to reflect the fact that you are in between continents?
I’d say that I always stay between East and West: I take inspiration from both. I respect the heritage of the East, and it feeds my creativity influenced by the West. The most important thing about being a chef is to express yourself through the food; for me, it means I like to focus on the local ingredients and express my Turkish roots.
If you weren’t in Turkey, where would you be now and why?
I could be anywhere in the world. Because of my background, I consider my approach and attitude international, which makes me rather flexible: that’s why I could be happy anywhere. It doesn’t matter where I am physically; what really matters is to be able to find happiness and enjoy what you are doing wherever you are. But of course, at the end of the day, I believe the best place for me to be now is Turkey, I love my country.
You moved to Turkey just before the pandemic started (a year before). Did you doubt your decision to go back at any point?
No: since I came back, I have never doubted my decision. I came here to achieve my goal and never gave up: I am super determined.
How would you describe your cuisine?
All my global experiences have had an impact on my style today. I respect the traditions and culture of Turkey to inspire me and constantly teach me. However, I must also use it to drive the cuisine of my country forward, too: as a nation, we can’t standstill, so we push forward our concepts.
One key principle to keep in mind when describing my cuisine is a great respect for the ingredients: my approach is very product-based, constantly inspired by the local realities around me, and nurtured by the close relationships with the producers and artisans. Also, I like to define my cuisine “Cooking with Time”, as time plays an important role in everything we do in the kitchen – so should we be using that product now or next season? Do we cook it, pickle it, smoke it, age it? Time dictates how we approach the ingredient.
You are carrying out research on historical and traditional cooking techniques? Where and how do you do it?
We’re inspired by our culture, history, art and sometimes ancient techniques from our Turkish heritage. I respect the traditions and culture of Turkey, they inspire and teach me, but we never serve ‘deconstructed’ Turkish dishes: we create something completely new, a cuisine that is Turkish, but also uniquely ours. All of my global experience working in kitchens around the world has impacted my style today.
How do you go about turning tradition into a modern Turkish cuisine?
At TURK, we don’t do this: what we actually do is create new recipes for the future. We respect tradition, and we take inspiration from it for new dishes.
The approach we adopt is to transform a dish, trying to improve it further, using the best ingredients and different techniques. An example of this process is our mussel dolma, prepared with beer mayonnaise, giving an interesting twist and proposing so in a different, renewed form the combination of the beer and mussels, typical street food here in Turkey.
What comes first for you, the produce or the technique?
The produce: my approach is very ingredient-driven. Everything is about ingredients; they talk about the territory and the community they come from before any technique. I also realise that the more I touch the product, the more I risk destroying it: we like to concentrate our attention and the guests’ attention on the taste and flavours, trying to alter the least.
Where do you see Turkish cuisine heading in the next decade?
I always try to pass on the new generation of chefs the respect for ingredients. Understanding the products’ origin, supporting local producers, and the culture of our country is vital. Together, we learn more and more daily about Turkish cuisine, which is incredibly exciting. The only rule is there is no rule: I don’t put limits on my cuisine and stimulate creativity, always starting from our roots. Short-lived fame is not important: we need to take care instead of our cuisine’s millennial culture and traditions. We continuously need to rediscover and protect Turkish identity.
And where do you want to be in 5 years from now?
I would really like to open a restaurant in London as the city is in the heart of the world. I like the idea of expanding and expressing my cuisine even further.
TURK in Istanbul, though, will always be the main restaurant, the core.
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