About Chef Inan

I was born in 1982 in Keşan, in Turkey’s Edirne province. My interest in cooking started when I was a child. What I enjoyed most back then was being out in nature with my father — foraging for mushrooms, fishing from a small boat, collecting mussels, even catching octopus. His curiosity about food and his skill in the kitchen were a big part of why I chose this profession so young. We would bring home whatever we had gathered, prepare it together, and share it at a table with the people we loved. Knowing that I had a hand in those meals, and hearing the compliments afterward, made me very happy.

My connection to fruit and vegetables started in the same years. On weekends I went to the local market with my grandfather, watching the fresh produce on the stalls and wandering among the crates. I think I chose the profession that would make me happy while I was still a child. My admiration for my father and his success in the kitchen became both my inspiration and the legacy that would earn me a living.

I started primary school at Cumhuriyet İlkokulu in Istanbul and finished middle school at Keşan Cumhuriyet Ortaokulu. My real introduction to tourism and kitchens came at Tekirdağ Tourism and Hotel Management High School. In my second year, after a six-month internship at Parksa Hilton, I chose the kitchen department, and for my second internship I earned a placement at the Istanbul Hilton. I started working in a kitchen in 1998, at sixteen, and graduated in 2000.

My professional career began at Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul. After a year there, I spent four years at Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus.

My first position abroad was at Hilton East Kilbride Glasgow. After a year there I was selected for the opening team of the Sydney Hilton in Australia, where I worked for more than two years. I then spent a year at Melbourne Crown Casino before returning to Turkey to complete my military service. Over nearly four years in Australia, working closely with chefs from many different backgrounds, I developed real expertise in world cuisine and seafood.

I returned to Turkey in 2008 and opened my own business in Istanbul, working as both chef and operator. Those two years taught me the business side of this industry. I then rejoined the Hilton family as Sous Chef at Conrad Istanbul. Two years later I was appointed Executive Chef at Hilton Izmir, and completed that post as the youngest Turkish Executive Chef in Hilton’s Turkey operation. I returned to Istanbul to open Hilton Istanbul Bomonti, at the time Hilton’s largest project in Europe, where I worked as Executive Sous Chef for close to three years.

In 2012 I completed the Culinary Management program run jointly by Institut Paul Bocuse and Hilton University in Athens, Greece.

My first Middle East experience was at Hilton Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, where I served as Executive Chef for eighteen months and deepened my knowledge of regional cuisines. We relaunched the Flavours restaurant as an east-meets-west concept and became the first restaurant in Al Ain certified under Abu Dhabi’s Weqaya healthy-dining program — work that was recognized at SIAL Middle East.

I then moved to Dubai to open Rixos Premium Dubai.

From 2018 I spent five years living in Muscat, Oman, leading the culinary side of BTA’s new Muscat International Airport food and beverage operation. I was responsible for more than twenty restaurants and cafés, the Primeclass Lounge, and the central production kitchen supplying them daily. Throughout those years I focused heavily on training local cooks and building kitchen systems that hold up at airport volume.

I then moved to the United States and opened Grand Living Wellen Park in Venice, Florida, a 320-seat all-day dining operation.

Since February 2024 I have been Executive Chef at Boca Royale Golf & Country Club in Englewood, Florida. I lead a brigade of twelve across a 220-seat restaurant, à la carte service, banquets and events, themed buffets and private club dining. Menu engineering, costing, purchasing and developing the team are as much a part of this job as cooking, and Gulf Coast seafood sits at the center of the menus I write here.

Alongside the club, I am building Tuz Biber, a Turkish finishing blend produced in Florida from my family’s spice recipe.

I am a member of the Emirates Culinary Guild and the World Association of Chefs Societies. I speak at universities, culinary schools and conferences whenever I can, sharing what I have learned with gastronomy students and young chefs.

Twenty-five years and six countries later, it still comes down to the same thing: a good product, cooked properly, shared at a table.

I started primary school at Cumhuriyet İlkokulu in Istanbul and finished middle school at Keşan Cumhuriyet Ortaokulu. My real introduction to tourism and kitchens came at Tekirdağ Tourism and Hotel Management High School. In my second year, after a six-month internship at Parksa Hilton, I chose the kitchen department, and for my second internship I earned a placement at the Istanbul Hilton. I started working in a kitchen in 1998, at sixteen, and graduated in 2000.

My professional career began at Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul. After a year there, I spent four years at Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus.

My first position abroad was at Hilton East Kilbride Glasgow. After a year there I was selected for the opening team of the Sydney Hilton in Australia, where I worked for more than two years. I then spent a year at Melbourne Crown Casino before returning to Turkey to complete my military service. Over nearly four years in Australia, working closely with chefs from many different backgrounds, I developed real expertise in world cuisine and seafood.

I returned to Turkey in 2008 and opened my own business in Istanbul, working as both chef and operator. Those two years taught me the business side of this industry. I then rejoined the Hilton family as Sous Chef at Conrad Istanbul. Two years later I was appointed Executive Chef at Hilton Izmir, and completed that post as the youngest Turkish Executive Chef in Hilton’s Turkey operation. I returned to Istanbul to open Hilton Istanbul Bomonti, at the time Hilton’s largest project in Europe, where I worked as Executive Sous Chef for close to three years.

In 2012 I completed the Culinary Management program run jointly by Institut Paul Bocuse and Hilton University in Athens, Greece.

My first Middle East experience was at Hilton Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, where I served as Executive Chef for eighteen months and deepened my knowledge of regional cuisines. We relaunched the Flavours restaurant as an east-meets-west concept and became the first restaurant in Al Ain certified under Abu Dhabi’s Weqaya healthy-dining program — work that was recognized at SIAL Middle East.

I then moved to Dubai to open Rixos Premium Dubai.

From 2018 I spent five years living in Muscat, Oman, leading the culinary side of BTA’s new Muscat International Airport food and beverage operation. I was responsible for more than twenty restaurants and cafés, the Primeclass Lounge, and the central production kitchen supplying them daily. Throughout those years I focused heavily on training local cooks and building kitchen systems that hold up at airport volume.

I then moved to the United States and opened Grand Living Wellen Park in Venice, Florida, a 320-seat all-day dining operation.

Since February 2024 I have been Executive Chef at Boca Royale Golf & Country Club in Englewood, Florida. I lead a brigade of twelve across a 220-seat restaurant, à la carte service, banquets and events, themed buffets and private club dining. Menu engineering, costing, purchasing and developing the team are as much a part of this job as cooking, and Gulf Coast seafood sits at the center of the menus I write here.

Alongside the club, I am building Tuz Biber, a Turkish finishing blend produced in Florida from my family’s spice recipe.

I am a member of the Emirates Culinary Guild and the World Association of Chefs Societies. I speak at universities, culinary schools and conferences whenever I can, sharing what I have learned with gastronomy students and young chefs.

Twenty-five years and six countries later, it still comes down to the same thing: a good product, cooked properly, shared at a table.