About Me

---

 Maximilian J. W. Thomae has been a key figure in Turkish gastronomy for over 25 years. Trained in Michelin 2 and 3-star restaurants in his home country of Germany with an extensive knowledge of modern technology, Thomae relocated to Istanbul in 1993. He endeavors to globalize Turkish cuisine, which he considers to be among the world's top five, and has been one of the few chefs of the time to have introduced Turkish gastronomy to the global culinary scene. Thomae, who coached Turkey’s first National Culinary Team and served as Executive Chef at 5-star hotels in Turkey and Europe, has been serving as the Director of Gastronometro since he constituted the establishment in 2014 as Metro Turkey’s culinary discovery platform. As an Executive Chef, F&B and Kitchen Investment Project Consultant, he designed the project of, established, opened and operated many international and local 5-star hotels and fine dining restaurants. Having also co-founded the Bocuse d’Or Academy in Turkey, his latest projects include the refurbishment and reopening of Turkey’s first international hotel Pera Palace, the famous Frankie Istanbul and the 5-star CVK Park Bosphorus Hotel. As a social entrepreneur, Thomae has trained and coached well-known chefs in the course of his career and continues to actively mentor culinary competition contestants such as for the Young Chefs Competition of Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, alongside chef assistants in the Apprentice Training System of Gastronometro. In addition, he has lead the project of the updated training program for culinary school instructors through a collaboration of Gastronometro with the Turkish Ministry of Education in 2020. Thomae is considered by many industry professionals to be one of the founders of modern Turkish cuisine. He has received a great deal of recognition and countless national awards throughout his career, including the Great Achievement Award from TUSİD, the Rotary Business Award and from Dünya Newspaper the Gastronomy Culture Lifetime Achievement Award, for his contributions to the development of Turkish cuisine and the upbringing of young Turkish chefs, among others. Thomae continues to add value to the Turkish culinary industry and gastronomy to this day.