Known for its restaurant ratings and culinary reviews, the prestigious French restaurant and hotel guide Gault & Millau announced its 2025 selection of Türkiye’s top culinary geniuses at a glitzy ceremony attended by the "who’s who" in the culinary world. Like the Michelin Guide, which just a few days ago announced its star winners, Gault & Millau did the same on Dec. 9 at an awards gala held at the Çırağan Kempinski. This marks the second consecutive year that Türkiye has been included in the Gault & Millau guide. Much like Türkiye’s recent entry into the Michelin Guide, the country’s culinary scene has experienced a remarkable evolution in recent years.

Founded in 1965 by Henri Gault and Christian Millau, both of whom were influential food critics in France, the Gault & Millau guide primarily focuses on the quality of food, service and ambiance in restaurants, but it also reviews hotels and other culinary establishments. Unlike the revered Michelin Stars and Bib Gourmand awards, Gault & Millau rates restaurants on a scale from 1 to 20, with 20 being the highest score in a variety of categories. Rather than evaluating value for money, as seen with the Bib Gourmand and Michelin stars for chef restaurants, Gault & Millau is known for highlighting chefs who push culinary boundaries, focusing on new trends, techniques and original flavors. It has been instrumental in promoting younger, innovative chefs who create modern dining experiences. While food is the primary focus, Gault & Millau also evaluates the overall atmosphere, service and presentation, offering readers a comprehensive view of a restaurant's offerings.

What’s interesting are the differing contenders for the Michelin Star that are recognized by Gault & Millau in categories such as "Best Chefs," "Best Traditional Restaurant," "Best Fish Restaurant," and "Centuries-Old Restaurants," among others. In some categories, the winners of the two prestigious restaurant guides overlap, while in others, they diverge. For a fascinated foodie, this means there are even more restaurants in Türkiye to try.

It’s no surprise that Fatih Tutak was named Best Chef by the guide, as his two-Michelin Star restaurant TÜRK is the only restaurant in the country to have garnered that accolade. In addition to being awarded Best Design, TÜRK also won the Gault & Millau Prestigious Table award along with longstanding favorite chef Maksut Aşkar’s Neolokal. What comes as more of a surprise is that Serkan Anavatan of Cunda’s Callisto Hotel received the "Young Chef" Award. This and many other examples, such as Antalya’s 7 Mehmet winning for "Excellent Table," displays how Gault & Millau has gone beyond the three main provincial culinary powerhouses in Türkiye of Istanbul, Izmir and Muğla.

The guide has three main chef award categories: "Prestigious Table," "Excellent Table" and "Chef’s Table." While only two made the "prestigious" ranking, the "excellent" list has 14 and includes Urlas Michelin Star winners of Vino Locale, Teruar and OD Urla. In Istanbul, Mikla, Araka, Gallada, Arkastra, Casa Lavanda, and Nicole also made the list, with the latter also being awarded for "Best Plate Design." Alaf Kuruçeşme’s chef Murat Deniz Temel won the "Best Culture" award, while Mikla won the "Best Service" award. While Teruar Urla was acclaimed for having the "Best Sustainability," OD Urla was given the "Farm to Table" award.

One of the greatest aspects of the Gault & Millau rating system is its inclusion of fun and more accessible categories such as "Best Street Food," to which the recipients were Basta and Kokoreççi Asım Usta. The "Best Traditional" restaurant award-winners were Töngül Pide and Seraf. Töngül Pide is a first-come, first-served classic pide restaurant in Izmir’s Ödemiş that has been around since 1892. Seraf in Mahmutbey and Vadi Istanbul is quite the opposite, offering a spacious and modern take on tradition. The classic Balıkçı Kahraman in Rumeli Kavağı was named the "Best Fish" restaurant.

Gault & Millau also offers awards for restaurants such as Töngül that have surpassed the century mark and have been operating successfully for over a hundred years. The winners in this category were as follows: Hacı Abdullah Lokantası (136 years old), Şekerci Cafer Erol (223 years old), Beyaz Fırın (224 years old), Yanyalı Fehmi (105 years old) and Imam Çağdaş (137 years old).

Yet another titillating category was the "Best Brunch" venue awards, which went to Swissotel The Bosphorus Istanbul, Divan Kuruçeşme, Lacivert Restoran, Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul Hodan and Çiy Restoran, the latter of which surprising resides in Aydın’s Kuşadası. But perhaps the question everyone really wants answered is that of the dessert categories of which the "Best Patisserie" award went to Five O’Clock, which has three branches in their base of Beykoz, two in Bodrum’s Yalıkavak and one in Istanbul’s Zorlu Center. The "Best Pastry Chef" award went to chef Malte Rohmann of Peninsula Istanbul Hotel and the award for "Best Chocolate" went to Gamze Baş, whose specialty and innovative brand of chocolates are reminiscent of colorful gems.