Danilo Zanna (born 15 April 1982) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

, and restaurant operator residing in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He has been a judge in the reality show ''

MasterChef Turkey ''MasterChef Turkey'' (''MasterChef Türkiye'') is a Turkish competitive cooking game show based on the original British ''MasterChef (British TV series), MasterChef''. Its first season was broadcast on Show TV, but since 2018 it has been screen ...

'' since 2019.

Life and career

Early years

Zanna was born on 15 April 1982 in

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

to Italian parents Armando Zanna and Emillia Zanna. He took over cooking as a family business. He strengthened his culinary skills by working with Italian chefs on Italian cuisine.

Life in Turkey

Zanna, who is interested in

Turkish cuisine Turkish cuisine () is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, Ottoman cuisine (Osmanlı mutfağı), European influences, Seljuk Empire, Seljuk cuisine and the Turkish diaspora. Turkish cuisine with traditional Turkic peoples, Turkic elements s ...

, migrated from

because he wanted to pursue a career in this field. After settling in

, he opened a restaurant with

and

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

cuisine. Later, he started to take part in television programs, with his first being in a program called "Zahide ile Hayata Yetiş" as an assistant chef. Zanna rose to recognition with the cooking show ''İtalyan İşi'', which he had created and presented on the Planet Mutfak television channel. He worked on

dishes at

Kadir Has University Kadir Has University (), often abbreviated as KHAS, is a private non-profit university in Fatih, Istanbul, established in 1997 by Kadir Has, the late Turkish industrialist and philanthropist.

Istanbul Cuisine Institute, which includes the restaurant culture of different countries in

. After Planet Mutfak was shut down, he appeared on television with the programs ''

Elin Oğlu ''Elin Oğlu'' was a Turkish talk show broadcast on ATV. Based on the original South Korean show ''Non-Summit'', it aired on ATV on Saturday nights at 23:45 Eastern European Time from 21 March 2015 to 7 May 2016. The show was hosted by leading Tu ...

'', broadcast on

ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television broadcaster * Andorra Televisió * Anguilla Television * Ayna TV, Afghanistan * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourn ...

, and ''Lezzetin Şarkısı'', which was broadcast on

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televisio ...

, and presented by himself. Zanna is currently a jury member in the program of ''

'', which started to be broadcast on TV8 in its new season in 2019. He married Tuğçe Demirbilek in 2012, and divorced her on 15 December 2021. On 10 January 2022, he opened a branch of the Italian restaurant Filo D'Olio, in Izmir,

, and recruited Mert Ateş Durukan, who competed in ''MasterChef Turkey'' Season 5, to his cooking team, and Safanur Bol from the same season, a short while later. After a while, he recruited Kaan Noyanalpan who competed in ''MasterChef Turkey'' Season 6. He has also hosted the Turkish version of ''

MasterChef Junior ''MasterChef Junior'' is an American cooking competition involving children from the ages of 8–13 that premiered on Fox on September 27, 2013. It is based on the format of the British series '' Junior MasterChef''. In October 2023, the seri ...

'', which has aired on

Exxen Exxen is a Turkish subscription streaming service and production company. Owned by Acun Medya, a Turkish TV production and rights acquisition company, Exxen was launched on 1 January 2021. Exxen produces its own content, as well as owning vario ...

since 2021. As of 2024, he remains one of the three judges in ''MasterChef Turkey''.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zanna, Danilo Italian expatriates in Turkey Living people Italian television presenters 1982 births Italian chefs People from Prato