Selin Kiazim

The Path

Kitchen training for Selin Kiazim began with a practical decision rather than a romantic one: a choice made around 19, then backed by discipline and a clear appetite for the work. Westminster Kingsway College gave her the base, but London’s restaurant pace supplied the pressure test. From 2007, work with chef Peter Gordon at The Providores and Tapa Room in Marylebone, London, set the standard for service speed, consistency and the kind of precision that makes flavour read as ease. Progress came by accumulation. At Kopapa, Kiazim moved up to head chef, a role that sharpened the technical control behind the food and helped define the voice she would carry into later work. The shift from training to authorship is visible here: more command, more clarity, and a firmer sense of taste. Oklava and Leydi mark the next stage of that practice. As owner and chef-director of Oklava since 2015, and chef of Leydi, Selin Kiazim has continued to build a reputation grounded in control rather than flourish. The throughline is steady: a chef who keeps moving, without losing the curiosity that set the work in motion.

The Work Today

At Oklava in London, the title chef-director carries both kitchen discipline and long-range responsibility. For Selin Kiazim, that means holding the line over time: consistency, creative direction and the ability to keep a distinct point of view intact across service after service. At Leydi, where Kiazim is chef and also listed as chef consultant, the remit extends into an all-day Turkish restaurant format that places Istanbul flavour in a London setting. Meze spreads and mangal-grilled meat and fish define the offer, with the emphasis on range, appetite and fire-led cooking arranged with care.

Signature

Selin Kiazim's signature dishes include Oklava: Recipes from a Turkish-Cypriot kitchen and Three. Together they define the frame of her cooking and the territory her name has come to represent, with identity carried through the work rather than added on after it.

In Their Words “Peter Gordon – I always have and always will look up to him. He was my old boss first at The Providores in Marylebone and then when I was his head chef at Kopapa in Covent Garden. He was a fantastic mentor.” “But then I realised it's hugely rewarding, and my love of food made me finally take the plunge when I was around 19 years old.”

Acclaim

Selin Kiazim's honors include Great British Menu winner.