Meet the Chef: Burcin Sahin of Manayunk's Meze Cafe

This chef didn't come to America from Turkey until he was 19, but most of his relatives stateside are in the restaurant business. Read below to find out more.

Name: Burcin Sahin

Years in the Industry: 6 to 7

Earliest Cooking Memory: "My uncle is a chef, couple people in my family are in the restaurant business. My uncle opened up one of the first Turkish restaurants in Jersey in the early 1990's. I grew up around food and restaurants."

First Kitchen Job: "My uncle's place in Bethlehem, Pa. It was a butcher shop and restaurant. Turkish food but all the meat was Halal. I did butchery and cooked."

Advice for Home Cooks: "Don't try to show off. Keep it simple. Use good quality ingredients. Our meat at Meze comes from Lancaster County and is always fresh, never frozen, the produce is local when available."

Favorite Thing to Cook: "Lamb dishes, all of them."

Favorite Local Restaurant: "Hard to say, I'm Muslim so any place that has pork I don't usually go into it. I like Parc in Rittenhouse Square though."

Favorite Restaurant in the World: "They're all in Izmir, Turkey. They have great seafood there [it's a coastal town]."

Guilty Pleasure (food or drink): Dark chocolate.

Last Meal on Earth: Grilled lamb chops, sarma (grape leaves stuffed with meat and rice. Served hot with yogurt).

Biggest Kitchen Disaster: "Luckily I haven't had any major disasters. But my friend told me about a guy inspecting the ANSUL system (restaurant fire containment system) and he slipped and his leg went into the fryer."