i. Biography
In 2022, Guney moved into the Executive Chef role at El Turco Turkish Food in Miami, a post that sits squarely within a cooking style shaped by Turkish regional references and a close working knowledge of the restaurant’s signature dishes. The title marks the point where years in demanding kitchens resolve into a practice built on precision, pace, and control of flavor.
The Path
The career arc here is built in stages, with each kitchen adding a different demand. Guney began as Chef De Partie at Lepain Quotidien (2013–2014), where service rhythm and professional standards set the baseline. He then served as Junior Sous Chef at Tenda Hotel (2014), followed by Sous Chef at Pitahaya Hotel & Beach Restaurant (2014–2016), where the pace and pressure of hotel and resort operations widened the scope of the job. That role points to a kitchen organized around scale, where consistency, timing, and composure matter as much as the menu itself. During the same period, he also worked as Sous Chef at DoubleTree by Hilton İstanbul Piyalepaşa (2018–2019), a second post that shows how his experience continued to expand across different service formats. His next move brought him into Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, first as Sous Chef (2019–2021) and then in Seasonal Support / Banquet Kitchen (2021–2022). Those years sit in the luxury-hospitality lane, where precision has to hold across changing service conditions. In 2022, he became Executive Chef of El Turco Turkish Food, and in 2023 he added co-founder of Chef Meze Catering & Event to the list.
The Work Today
Since 2022, the Miami kitchen has been the main site for Guney’s work as Executive Chef, where his experience and his culinary identity meet in daily service. Since 2023, he has also been Co-Founder at Chef Meze Catering & Event, extending that work into events, where planning, timing, and presentation have to stay aligned. At El Turco, the dishes most closely associated with his cooking are Kavurma Braised Beef, Manti, and Lahmacun. Together they place his work inside a Turkish frame that favors regional reference over trend. He also worked on a menu for El Turco in East Hampton that draws from the Aegean, Anatolian, Mediterranean, and South-Eastern regions of Turkey, a note that reflects the breadth of the geography shaping his palate.
Signature
Guney’s signature dishes include Kavurma Braised Beef, Manti, Lahmacun, Roasted Beet Hummus, and Kopoglu. Read together, they show a cook working across several registers: braised meat, hand-shaped pasta, crisp flatbread, and vegetable-forward plates. The range is broad, but the common thread is clear, with each dish sitting inside the same Turkish culinary vocabulary.
Acclaim
The clearest indicators of Guney’s work are concrete: a current executive-chef post, a catering-and-event venture, and a set of dishes tied directly to the Miami restaurant. The record is built from named roles and specific output, which says more than any polish could. It shows a career assembled in steps, with each stop adding responsibility, scale, and a wider view of what a chef has to hold at once.
Profile updated August 2026
FAQ
Asked of Guney
What is Guney's current role?
As of 2026, Guney is Executive Chef.
Where did Guney work before?
Guney's earlier career included Lepain Quotidien, Tenda Hotel, and Pitahaya Hotel & Beach Restaurant.
