Osman Sezener is a Turkish chef and restaurateur. He is the founder and chef of OD Urla in Izmir's Urla district and Kitchen restaurants in Bodrum Yalฤฑkavak. Both restaurants received stars from the Michelin Guide, and OD Urla was also awarded the Michelin Green Star for its work in sustainability.
Education and early years
He was born in Izmir in 1982. He grew up in the kitchen of Ristorante Pizzeria Venice, founded by his father Ahmet Gรผnter Sezener in Izmir. After graduating from Izmir American College, he studied tourism and hotel management at Bilkent University. He completed his culinary training at the French Culinary Institute in New York; He then worked in various restaurant kitchens in the United States, Italy and Istanbul.
After returning to Tรผrkiye, he took over the kitchen of the family business and renewed its menu. With its history of more than forty years, Venice continues to be the family's business in Izmir today.
OD Urla and Kitchen
Sezener opened OD Urla in Urla in 2018, when the region was not yet as popular as it is today. The restaurant, built in an olive grove, has a vineyard, garden, farm and cellar; A significant part of the material is supplied from its own garden, the rest from producers in the immediate vicinity. Seasonally renewed menu, use of local products and sustainability are among the basic principles of the restaurant.
With this approach, Sezener is remembered as one of the pioneers of the "farm to table" approach in Tรผrkiye.
In 2021, he opened Kitchen at The Bodrum Edition hotel in Bodrum Yalฤฑkavak. Kitchen maintains the same simple style with a menu based on Aegean vegetables and seafood.
In the 2024 selection, in which the Michelin Guide included Izmir and Bodrum for the first time, OD Urla received a Michelin star and Green Star, and Kitchen received a Michelin star. Thus, Sezener became one of the few Turkish chefs who received stars with two different restaurants. Restaurants retained their stars in subsequent selections as well.
Sezener's works are shown as examples of the spread of Michelin star cuisine in Tรผrkiye outside Istanbul, especially to the Aegean coast.