IntroductionOver the past few decades restaurant business has boomed in Turkey. New styles and techniques are implemented to cuisine and chefs became more equipped in terms of skills and knowledge. However, there is a lack of a number of awarded Turkish chefs known in the international arena. Purpose:This paper tries to identify the operational and cultural factors related to the absence of Turkish chefs and restaurants in the culinary world. The importance of this research is to analyze the reasons behind the success of Turkish award-winning chefs to help the young willing Turkish chefs throughout their career success paths to International Arena.Method and material: Semi-structured interviews are conducted with the award-winning Turkish chefs. The data gathered from the interviews are analyzed through the categorization of the factors previously found from the literature. Findings are discussed in this manner.Results and Discussion:Chefs’ philosophies which shape the concepts of their restaurants is the most important factor for success, the philosophy also triggers the creativity and innovation. Selection of products and employee in terms of the availability, quality, and sustainability is another important factor. Most of the chefs are having a struggle in costs and pricing since this factor mostly relies on the cultural profile of the customers
