Video editing: Sarkawt Mohammed | Rudaw English
NEW YORK, United States – Hakki Akdeniz fled the Kurdish province of Diyarbakir in Turkey for Canada 20 years ago, where he worked at a pizzeria and honed his passion.
"I used to ask the chef to let me take one or two dough bases home every day, so that I could practice and be a successful one [chef] the next year," Akdeniz told Rudaw.
Aged 21, he travelled to New York with $400 to his name. He fell on hard times, sleeping at homeless shelters for several months.
Eighteen years later, he is now the owner of eight different restaurants in New York. Most, including flagship Champion Pizza Soho, are pizzerias, but he has also branched out into Mexican cuisine.
Though he has proven himself to be a talented chef for the pizzas we all know and love - including two wins at the World Pizza Championship in France in 2010 - Akdeniz' lavish creations, including $10,000 pizzas adorned with gold and caviar, have helped him collect a massive 3.7 million followers on Instagram.
He attributes his success to his strong work ethic.
"I don’t believe in chance. I believe that you should work. In the early morning you have to wake up for something. If you don’t know what you woke up for, sleep again."
The recipient of the 2019 Person of the Year award from New York’s Lower East Side Hispanic Committee on August 13, he dedicated the award to his hometown of Diyarbakir.
Reporting by Majeed Gly
Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed
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