Mehmet Gürs is a Finnish-born Turkish chef and restaurateur, known as the founder of Mikla restaurant in Istanbul. It is known for its approach called "New Anatolian Cuisine", based on local producers and Anatolian culinary heritage.
He was born in Finland in 1969, to a Turkish father and a Swedish-speaking Finnish mother. He spent his childhood between Stockholm and Istanbul. Between 1990 and 1993, he studied hotel, restaurant and corporate management at Johnson & Wales University in the USA and worked as a chef in this country for a long time.
restaurants in Istanbul
He settled in Istanbul in the mid-1990s and opened his first restaurant, Downtown. This was followed by NuTeras, a restaurant and terrace venue. In 2003, he was named chef of the year in a city guide's annual awards. In October 2005, he opened Mikla on the roof of The Marmara Pera hotel in Beyoğlu. The restaurant switched to the New Anatolian Cuisine concept in 2012; This approach highlighted local products, almost forgotten recipes, and working directly with producers.
Since the mid-2010s, Mikla has appeared on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list numerous times, including in extended sections, reaching as high as 44th place. It received one star in 2022, when the Michelin guide started covering Istanbul. Gürs managed the Istanbul Food and Beverage Group, which incorporated different concepts such as Num Num as well as Mikla.
In November 2023, he sold his remaining shares in Mikla and left the restaurant. As he was leaving, he emphasized that the idea of interpreting Anatolian cuisine in a contemporary language is now widely accepted in the industry.