
Irem Aksu is a London-based chef and researcher from Turkey. She founded her project Topik: food without borders, in 2015 whilst completing her MA in Cultural and Critical Studies at Birkbeck University of London.
Irem has started running her four season dinner series based on Istanbul’s diverse cuisine at E5 Bakehouse, where she cooked with seasonal, locally sourced produces and explored sourdough bread making principles over two years. Each menu she created was inspired by the flavours of different cuisines, including Sephardic Jewish, Istanbul Rum (Greeks), Armenian, Circassian which perhaps unrecognised or hidden, make up Turkey’s modern-day culinary culture. Between 2018 August-2019 March Irem was the chef in residence at October Gallery in Bloomsbury, London. She also has been collaborating with Delfina Foundation to cook for the foundation’s traditional “family lunch and dinner” series since the summer 2019.
Irem’s cooking also focuses on ideas of sustainability, old cooking and preserving techniques as well as a new era of diversity in food cultures in Istanbul and beyond.
Alongside Topik London, Irem carries on her daily professional kitchen routine in London-based restaurants as a chef and menu development consultant.
Selected dinner series/exhibition/collaborations
COOKING CLASS AT LAS ALPUJARRAS, IN ANDALUSIA, SPAIN IN COLLABORATION WITH LAS CHIMENEAS,
July-August 2020







LUNCH + DINNER SERIES 2019, August-present Delfina Foundation, London
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TOPIK CHEF RESIDENCY AT OCTOBER GALLERY 2018, August-2019,March
Bloomsbury, London
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Future Of Food Salon Series by Future Scales @Bernsteins Bar x Irem Aksu
2018, July
Bernstein’s Bar, London
Talk + dinner about how to build sustainable supply chains, and what the food industry can do to develop and support transparent and meaningful supply chains
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Istanbul Urban Feast Series
2018, January / March / May
Simple, fresh, vibrant food of Istanbul urban culinary culture
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7 Hills of Istanbul “Festive”
2017, November/two nights
E5 Bakehouse, London
Dishes on the menu are inspired by the festive tables of non-muslim communities in Istanbul




One Night In Za’atar & Secret Supper Club
2017, April & November
Vinyl Factory, Soho, London – Event in collaboration with OXFAM UK – Syrian inspired street food has common flavours of South Eastern Turkey






HOPS, SUCUK + EKMEK
2017, February
40ft Brewery, London
A street food performance paired with the first IPA brewed and named as Turkish word SEREFE – Cheers!





A POMEGRANATE ODYSSEY: FROM ISTANBUL TO YEREVAN
2016, October
E5 Bakehouse, London
Dinning experience for Londoners to explore the tangled bitter roots of two countries’ shared memories through food
photos by Sebnem Ugural










DIS/PLACED
2015, June
The Ditch, Shoreditch Town Hall, London
Private View – Featuring food project Topik by Irem Aksu, incorporating cultural and historical elements – food without borders




EXPERTIZES
Researching
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Cooking
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Developing
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Organising
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