Feridun Ugumu

Chef, Owner, Hunkar Restaurant

Born in Adana in Southeastern Anatolia, Feridun Ügümü was first took refuge in his grandmother’s kitchen as a little kid. As his father, a second generation cook in the family, wandered around in Anatolia working in different regions in restaurants, Feridun always had some chores he willingly opted to undertake in and around the restaurant kitchens his father worked. When they finally moved and opened their restaurant Hünkar in Fatih in 1950, he started his long career at the cashier desk when he was a teenager. From then on, under the supervision of his father, his official apprenticeship in the kitchen started. By the time he was 22, he was in charge of the kitchen. Since then he has been the chef of Hünkar, a family run business, which has expanded into a distinguished restaurant, one of the finest and last examples of traditional “Turkish”food encompassing the remains of the Istanbul cuisine as well as adjusting to the new trends and to the demands of its changing clientele.