Biography
Who is Özlem Mekik?
Özlem Mekik is a Turkish chef, culinary consultant and cooking show host. In 2025 she was named Best Female Chef of the Year at the Dr. Nevin Halıcı Food and Culinary Culture Awards of the Turkish Federation of Cooks and Chefs. She hosted two cooking programmes on Star TV, wrote the cookbook Özlem Mekik ile Günümüz Lezzetleri and spoke at TEDx Denizli and TEDx Marmara.
Born in 1981, she studied tourism management at Istanbul University. She has worked in restaurant kitchens and restaurant management for more than twenty years. Today she advises restaurants, hotels and food brands, and also works on festival stages and in training workshops.
Awards
In 2025 she was named Best Female Chef of the Year at the 4th Dr. Nevin Halıcı Food and Culinary Culture Awards, organised by the Turkish Federation of Cooks and Chefs (TAŞFED). Her name appears on the federation's list of winners.
In 2026 she received the Inspiring Woman of the Year Honorary Award at the Turkey Women's Summit and Turkey Women's Awards. At the first edition of the same summit, in 2022, she had been named Gastro Chef of the Year.
International jury and the Çanakkale Troy Dessert
In 2018 she sat on the blind-tasting jury of the Superior Taste Award, run by the Brussels-based International Taste Institute. Of the 148 chefs on that year's jury, only three were women.
The same year, 2018 Year of Troy, she worked as consulting chef on OPET's Tarihe Saygı (Respect for History) project. She adapted Globi, a cheese dessert described in ancient sources, for today's kitchen; it went onto the menus of restaurants and hotels in the region as the Çanakkale Troy Dessert. In Çanakkale she gave hands-on workshops to restaurant chefs, and in Tevfikiye she trained the women who would work at the Globi Café.
On 15 March 2019 she presented the dessert at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, at a conference on Troy organised by Turkey's Permanent Delegation to UNESCO.
Edirne pan-fried liver
In 2020, led by the Governorship of Edirne, the Edirne Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism began preparatory work to take Edirne tava ciğeri, the city's pan-fried liver, to UNESCO. Özlem Mekik took part as a gastronomy expert and visited women producers in Havsa to see their work first hand.
The work was covered by Anadolu Agency, NTV and TRT Haber in November 2020.
Gastronomy events with embassies
In 2026, at FOODIST Istanbul International Food and Beverage Fair, she was on stage as chef and host at a session attended by Paraguay's Ambassador to Turkey, Cirilo Guillermo Sosa Flores. The session covered Paraguay's mate tradition and cuisine.
The same year, at the Eskil Salt Lake International Culture and Tourism Festival in Aksaray, she met representatives of Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Indonesia, Paraguay and Uruguay. On the festival programme she held a gastronomy event with the Embassy of the Dominican Republic and, with the Embassy of Paraguay, gave the presentation "Paraguay's Gastronomic Heritage: Chipa".
In 2025 she worked as a chef at the gastronomy events of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Turkey Culture Route Festivals in Istanbul, Şanlıurfa and Van.
Consulting
She works with restaurants, hotels, food producers and retail brands. Her main areas are concept development, menu engineering, recipe standardisation, new product development and kitchen organisation. On each project she weighs flavour, cost, how the team will repeat the work and what the guest will experience side by side.
On the Şifa Köyü project she works on gastronomy and the guest experience. The project centres on organic farming, local production, heirloom seeds and a table set by the season.
Television, stage and book
On Star TV she hosted Özlem Mekik ile Lezzetli Tarifler and Özlem Mekik ile Ramazan Tarifleri. On the programmes she cooked recipes from Turkish and world cuisine and invited guests into the kitchen.
She hosts and moderates gastronomy festivals, industry conferences, competitions and brand launches. In 2026 she hosted the YEDAŞ Ordu Gastronomy Festival. On 12 September 2026 she hosted and moderated the Zest brand launch in Istanbul. The same year she was on stage as moderator chef at the OlivTech fair in İzmir.
She gave her first TEDx talk, Duvarsız Hayaller (Dreams Without Walls), at TEDx Denizli in 2023. In 2026 she spoke at TEDx Marmara University.
Özlem Mekik ile Günümüz Lezzetleri, the book that collects recipes gathered over the years, was published by Alfa Yayınları in 2015. She has worked with food, kitchen equipment and retail brands as a brand face and on product development. From 2018 to 2022 she was the brand face of Orkide Yağları. From 2024 to 2026 she worked with Kenwood as brand face and consultant chef.
Training and social responsibility
In May 2026 she was the instructor chef at the Bursa workshop of the Turkish Red Crescent's İyilikle Pişen Hayatlar project. Over two days, women affected by the earthquake practised professional kitchen techniques and plating.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Özlem Mekik?
Özlem Mekik is a Turkish chef, culinary consultant and cooking show host. In 2025 she was named Best Female Chef of the Year at the Dr. Nevin Halıcı Food and Culinary Culture Awards. Today she advises restaurants, hotels and food brands.
What awards has Özlem Mekik received?
In 2025 she was named Best Female Chef of the Year at the Dr. Nevin Halıcı Food and Culinary Culture Awards of the Turkish Federation of Cooks and Chefs. At the Turkey Women's Summit and Turkey Women's Awards she received the Inspiring Woman of the Year Honorary Award in 2026 and the Gastro Chef of the Year award in 2022.
Which TV programmes has Özlem Mekik hosted?
On Star TV she hosted Özlem Mekik ile Lezzetli Tarifler and Özlem Mekik ile Ramazan Tarifleri. Episodes of Lezzetli Tarifler are on the Star TV website.
What has Özlem Mekik done with UNESCO?
On 15 March 2019 she presented the Çanakkale Troy Dessert, reinterpreted in OPET's Tarihe Saygı project, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, at a conference on Troy organised by Turkey's Permanent Delegation to UNESCO. In 2020 she took part as a gastronomy expert in the preparatory work to take Edirne pan-fried liver to UNESCO.
Has Özlem Mekik worked with embassies?
Yes. In 2026 she was chef and host at a session at FOODIST Istanbul attended by the Ambassador of Paraguay. The same year, at the Eskil Salt Lake festival, she held gastronomy events with the embassies of the Dominican Republic and Paraguay.
Is Özlem Mekik a TEDx speaker?
Yes. She spoke at TEDx Denizli in 2023 and at TEDx Marmara in 2026.
What does Özlem Mekik's culinary consulting cover?
She advises restaurants, hotels, food producers and retail brands on concept development, menu engineering, recipe standards, new product development and kitchen organisation.
Has Özlem Mekik written a book?
Yes. Özlem Mekik ile Günümüz Lezzetleri was published by Alfa Yayınları in 2015. It is a 160-page recipe book that runs from meze and main courses to pastries and desserts.
A short biography, credits and photos for the press are on the Press page (in Turkish). For projects and collaborations, see Contact (in Turkish).