Team Member Spotlight: George Altug

We’re kicking off a fun food series where we’ll feature favorite dishes of our team members. The first will be entrees from Turkey that are favorites of Dining Center Manager, George Altug. George’s dinner menu includes meatball casserole, Bulgar pilaf, stewed leeks and rice and Turkish-style mixed vegetables. In addition, he will be featuring Turkish-style lentil meatballs, a mezzo bar and stuffed eggplant.

George’s culinary inspiration comes from his father who operated a restaurant in Istanbul Turkey where he was born and raised. Growing up, George lived in his father’s kitchens that created a desire for a lifetime of being around food. He came to America in 2000 to study digital media arts, animation, and modeling in Boca Raton Florida. But, he wanted to return to food service and his passion for food continued to grow so he opened his own restaurant that featured his native Turkish cuisine fused with flavors from the Mediterranean regions of Italy, Greece and the Middle East. His favorite dish? It’s definitely ‘guvec’ which is a slow cooked casserole made with lamb, steamed vegetables and a specially prepared rice.