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Three leading Turkish chefs brought Türkiye's regional cuisine to one of the world's highest-profile diplomatic stages during the 36th NATO Summit in Ankara, preparing official meals for leaders, delegations, spouses and members of the press.
The menus were prepared by Fatih Tutak, Osman Sezener and Sinem Ozler, who was the only female chef among the three selected for the summit. Their work centered on Anatolian cuisine, local producers and regional ingredients from across Türkiye.
The official gala dinner hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Complex featured a menu curated by two-Michelin-starred chef Fatih Tutak.
Tutak said it was a great honor to represent Turkish cuisine at such a special table, adding that the menu was designed to present products from different regions of Türkiye, the work of local producers and the country's culinary heritage through a contemporary approach.
The dinner was attended by leaders of NATO's 32 member states, invited heads of state and senior delegations. Among those who served the specially prepared menu were U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Tutak's menu brought together traditional flavors and modern techniques, with a focus on seasonality, local sourcing and sustainability.
The dishes included stone-baked pide served with Trabzon butter and Hizan honey, sebze bayildi with charred Denizli yogurt, sea bass with tarama, Urla mastic artichokes with Tokat grape leaves, firik bulgur with morel mushrooms, slow-cooked beef ribs with charred Trabzon butter and eggplant, manti with smoked Ayas tomato paste, and a dessert featuring milk baklava, pistachio foam, bergamot and Maras ice cream.
Chef Osman Sezener, whose three restaurants were included in the Michelin Guide's 2024 Istanbul-Izmir-Bodrum selection, prepared menus for several parts of the summit hospitality program.
Sezener said the team brought together geographically marked products and regional flavors from Türkiye's seven regions. These dishes were served not only at the meal hosted by First Lady Emine Erdogan for the spouses of heads of state and government at Cankaya Mansion, but also in large buffets prepared for guests, delegations and members of the press at the Presidential Complex.
He said the first ladies' meal began with seven different meze presentations from seven regions. The selection included special honey with Erzincan tulum cheese, Trabzon butter from the Black Sea, Antalya hibesh and tarhana meze. The menu continued with Urla mastic artichokes, Bodrum gambilya fava, a purslane salad with nectarine and Seferihisar armola cheese, stuffed zucchini blossoms in the Anatolian style and a reinterpretation of stuffed vine leaves.
For the main course, guests were offered either slow-cooked beef ribs with firik bulgur or grouper fish served with a sauce made from Cesme mastic. Dessert featured white chocolate yogurt mousse, forest berries and a special yogurt from the Aegean region.
Sezener said guests particularly praised Urla mastic artichokes and showed strong interest in regional products. He said the grouper fish with Cesme mastic sauce also stood out as a different experience for the guests.
"They said they found Urla's mastic artichoke very beautiful, and they loved the regional products. Each of them thanked us separately for tasting Turkish food at such a beautiful table," he said.
He added that Türkiye carried out a strong hospitality program and sent the guests back to their countries with memorable food stories from the NATO summit.
Sinem Ozler, a Michelin Guide-listed chef, described her role at the summit as a source of lasting pride. She said preparations had been underway for months, with her team joining the process about six weeks before the summit.
Ozler said the chefs were asked to prepare proposals for different official hospitality categories and took part in meetings, menu presentations and demonstrations for about one and a half months.
She said all three chefs built their menus around Turkish and Anatolian cuisine, in line with the brief they had received. Ozler also said First Lady Emine Erdogan personally took a close interest in the menu and hospitality arrangements.
"First Lady Emine Erdogan has a very special approach to this subject. As a female chef, I was also invited to take part, and that makes me very happy," Ozler said.
Ozler described the July 7-8 summit as both demanding and unforgettable. Her section served around 300 guests, with dishes including icli kofte, stuffed zucchini blossoms, Urla artichokes and semolina halva.
She said the team wanted to serve every dish hot without compromising quality, and added that the response from guests was deeply rewarding.
"Every plate came back empty. For a chef, that is an incredible source of happiness. We left with immense pride and joy," she said.
Ozler said representing Türkiye at this level had become an unforgettable source of pride, adding that she hoped Turkish cuisine would continue to be introduced to the world on even larger platforms.
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