Perspectives of kitchen managers on innovative culinary approaches: A study on 5 star hotels in Istanbul

This study examined the relationship between innovation compatibility levels and innovative kitchen approaches. In this context, it is aimed to reveal the innovation compatibility levels of kitchen managers (chef, assistant chef) working in 5-star hotels in Istanbul and their perspective on innovative kitchen approaches. The data were obtained by interviewing 11 participants through a semi-structured interview form created for this purpose. The data were analyzed by transferring them to the document system of MAXQDA Pro 2020 (Release 20.4.0) program in order to reveal the participants' level of adaptability to innovation and their perspectives on innovative culinary approaches. The findings reveal that participants practiced innovative culinary approaches such as molecular gastronomy, fusion cuisine, vegan cuisine and sustainable cuisine. Examples of these practices include cooking salmon with sous vide technique, obtaining maximum yield and minimum waste from a product, and preparing sustainable menus using local and seasonal products. As a result, it was concluded that the participants had a good command of innovation/innovative examples in the culinary field, on the other hand, most of the interviewed participants gave examples of innovative culinary practices, and while explaining these examples, it was concluded that a few of the participants did not implement innovative culinary trends due to reasons such as lack of opportunities, failure of the practices they had tried before and not wanting to go beyond the traditional/classical cuisine. It is also suggested that the methodology of this study can be repeated and similarities and differences can be examined and compared in hotels in other provinces of Turkey.