CHEF HAKKI GÖKÇE
Chef Hakkı Gökçe was born in Anatolia, in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. After moving to Sweden and being exposed to the restaurant world through family , he stepped into a kitchen with a personal conviction that if he was going to cook, he would do it at the highest level possible.
After early work in Stockholm bistros, a pivotal stage at Stockholm’s legendary Operakällaren—the Michelin-starred restaurant inside the Royal Opera House—changed the course of his career. He spent four years there, where he mastered the fundamentals of grand-tradition French excellence under renowned chefs in a demanding, excellence-driven culture. Seeking the edge of modern innovation, he moved to Copenhagen to work at Restaurant AOC, the two-Michelin-starred destination known for its avant-garde Nordic cuisine. He later relocated to New York City, where he joined Aquavit, the two-Michelin-starred Nordic institution, working as Sous Chef under Emma Bengtsson, further refining his seafood-driven modern Nordic cooking while embracing the city’s multicultural culinary energy and landscape.
Chef Hakki’s cuisine is defined by the 'Architecture of Contrast', a philosophy that harmonizes _ French technique with the minimalist Japanese aesthetic guided by a “less is more” ethos. His cooking emphasizes pristine ingredients, seasonality, and technical precision, drawing from Italian, French, Mediterranean, and Modern American influences. Known for his respect-driven approach, he allows ingredients to speak for themselves.
