CHEF HAKKI GÖKÇE
Chef Ilke Schaaf was born in Namibia and grew up in 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.
