Somer Sivrioğlu: the chef who took Anatolian cooking to Sydney
Somer Sivrioğlu is an Istanbul-born chef and restaurateur who spent much of his career in Australia, where he opened the Turkish restaurants Efendy and Anason in Sydney. In Turkey he is best known as one of the three judges on MasterChef Türkiye, a role he has held since 2018 (Yemek.com).
He is known for pairing the traditional flavours of Anatolian cooking with modern presentation (Yemek.com). That made him a visible ambassador for Turkish cooking abroad, and his MasterChef role has since made him a familiar face on Turkish television.
Early life and career
Istanbul and Bilkent
Sivrioğlu was born in Istanbul on 25 May 1971 and lived there for his first 25 years (Wikipedia). His family is originally from Eskişehir. He studied tourism and hotel management at Bilkent University in Ankara (Yemek.com).
Australia
In the 1990s he moved to Australia to continue his studies and worked there as a restaurant manager and chef, before going on to open his own restaurants (Yemek.com). Wikipedia notes that he held senior hospitality positions, launched restaurant chains and speciality eateries, and wrote weekly columns for the Turkish community newspaper Yeni Vatan. He also presented the TV show Somer’in Mutfağı (Somer’s Kitchen) and the SBS Radio programme Lezzete Yolculuk (A Journey to Flavour).
Restaurants
Efendy, Balmain, Sydney
Efendy opened in 2007 in Balmain, in Sydney’s inner west. It closed in 2021 (Wikipedia).
Anason, Barangaroo, Sydney
Anason opened in 2016 at Barangaroo on Sydney’s harbourfront. Anason is the Turkish word for aniseed, the flavour of rakı, Turkey’s national spirit.
Cooking style and signature dishes
Sivrioğlu’s calling card is traditional Anatolian flavours with modern presentation (Yemek.com). He has said his restaurants abroad do well partly because he puts dishes he loves from Turkey on the menu, so that people far from home can find those flavours (CNN Türk).
He is also candid about his limits. In 2024 he said kokoreç – grilled lamb intestines, a classic of Turkish street food – is the one dish he has never managed to make well: he could not get hold of the thick intestines it needs, and has given up on it, because so many people in Turkey already make it very well (CNN Türk).
Books, TV and online
Sivrioğlu joined the MasterChef Türkiye judging panel in 2018 and is part of the line-up for 2026, alongside Mehmet Yalçınkaya and Danilo Zanna (Yemek.com). The show has made him well known far beyond restaurant circles.
Before that, most of his media work was for Australia’s Turkish community and its listeners: weekly columns, a TV cookery show and a radio programme on SBS, the Australian public broadcaster. His cookbook, written with David Dale, is about Anatolian cooking (Yemek.com), the same theme that ran through his restaurants.
- MasterChef Türkiye – judge since 2018, alongside Mehmet Yalçınkaya and Danilo Zanna, and part of the line-up for the 2026 series.
- Cookbook – on Anatolian cooking, co-written with David Dale.
- Somer’in Mutfağı – his own TV cookery show.
- Lezzete Yolculuk – a food programme on SBS Radio in Australia.
- Yeni Vatan – weekly columns for the Turkish community newspaper.
Where to eat food like this in London
For the kind of Anatolian cooking Sivrioğlu champions, browse our regional Anatolian restaurants and lokanta-style home-cooking spots (a lokanta serves ready-cooked everyday dishes). Our guide to the best Turkish restaurants in London is another good starting point. To cook the same kind of food at home, try our karnıyarık (aubergines stuffed with minced meat), mantı (Turkish dumplings) or red lentil soup. And if you want to try rakı, the aniseed spirit that gave Anason its name, our meyhane listings (a meyhane is a traditional Turkish tavern serving meze and rakı) are the place to look.
- Pide & Co – Turkish gözleme & mantı in Bloomsbury & Holborn
- Hatay Restaurant – Turkish meze & fine dining in Raynes Park
- Antepliler Ciğer & Beyran – Turkish regional anatolian in Harringay & Green Lanes
- Gaziantep Lahmacun & Pide – Turkish pide & lahmacun in Tottenham
- Diyarbakır Kitchen – Turkish ocakbaşı & grill in Harringay & Green Lanes
- Gokoreç Enfield – Turkish regional anatolian in Enfield
See all 9 Regional Anatolian places in London
Quick facts
- Born: 25 May 1971, Istanbul
- Family roots: Eskişehir, Turkey
- Studied: tourism and hotel management, Bilkent University
- Known for: Efendy and Anason in Sydney; MasterChef Türkiye
- Restaurants: Efendy, Balmain (2007–2021); Anason, Barangaroo (opened 2016)
- TV: MasterChef Türkiye judge since 2018
Further reading
- Somer Sivrioğlu – Wikipedia
- Who is on the 2026 MasterChef jury? – Yemek.com (Turkish)
- Somer Sivrioğlu on kokoreç – CNN Türk (Turkish)
Pictured: karnıyarık. Photo: William Neuheisel from DC, US, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
