After a long period of both studying and working, Ibrahim Tuna continues in his role as chef and owner of Istanbul restaurant Fauna – a job he loves. "This is my place, this is what I want to do,” he explains, adding that he has no plans of slowing down. “For me ‘to do’ is essential.”

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Be together with whom you love and those who love you.

What is the purest thing you have ever tasted? Natural spring water from the Taurus Mountains, Saklikent, Antalya.

What is the best thing you can do with your hands? Make dough from semolina and organic eggs.

What was your first experience with sustainable eating? Istanbul, where the early stage of my life took place, was surrounded by vegetable gardens and orchards. Its sea was bountiful. There were vegetables, fruits and fishes unique to Istanbul. After gardens were destroyed by concrete and the sea was plundered, we began to eat vegetables and fruits cultivated from hybrid seeds from far away countries and cities. There were no fish left, either. We were living with sustainability andonly understood the meaning once it was lost.

What do you love most about what you do? I think the best thing I’ve ever done is to prepare pasta dough that is good for every corner of the world. I’ve insisted on making pasta with semolina since the day I started in 2003. This is a dough that I make with semolina and organic eggs without any addition of flour and water. My opinion is, no matter which type of flour is used or which level of skill is applied, no pasta made from flour can be superior to pasta made from semolina. Mastery definitely cannot change this result. Why flour is preferred: You can easily make pasta dough without needing any machinery. You may quickly roll out dough and make pasta. It is easy, comfortable and cheap. Semolina dough cannot be kneaded and rolled out without machinery; it gives you trouble, but for my part the result is incomparable: the best pasta dough is made of semolina, as it is made at Fauna.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever been taught? To be yourself.

Is there anything you don’t particularly care to eat? Anything prepared in a microwave.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? Glenn Gould (Canadian pianist).

When was the last time you ate out, and where? If we talk about places which impressed me a lot lately, then, oven-braised red mullet with tomato sauce which I ate last summer in Ayna Restaurant, Cunda/Ayvalik, Turkey. And every dish which is cooked by Chef Erhan Seker in Zeytinbagi, Kaz Mountains, Edremit, Turkey. He uses his own ingredients from his garden.

Are there any mentors or food heroes you would like to thank? I’d like to thank Vedat Milor, and Bige and Fazli Kesmir who led the Vedat Milor meet Fauna.

What are your favourite books or cookbooks? All books by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

What is the dish on your own menu that most engages you? Lamb ravioli with Karayaka lamb shin and walnut filling in bone broth.

What do you make from scratch? Everything we cook and prepare (except bread and cheese).

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing what you are doing? I would endeavour to be a good idler.

How do you like to spend your day off? A long breakfast with my wife and a raki table with my friends in the evening (drinking raki, a sweetened alcoholic drink, around a table known as a raki table).

What does success mean to you? Get rid of all excuses.

What is your current obsession, the thing you think about at 3am? How can I use nigella seed paste in Fauna?

Which three words best describe your cooking style? Plain, fresh, cook-to-order.

If you could eat only one thing today, what would it be? Freshly-baked sourdough bread with butter.

What do you see when you think of the cuisine of your own country? Delicious cuisine which hasn’t come out from home kitchens and reached restaurants yet.

Which producer or supplier really brightens your day? Nebyan Dogal: Karayaka lamb (a local Anatolian breed in danger of extinction, that is getting hard to find). They support local shepherds that graze their animals in high pastures without using antibiotics and aim to protect this breed.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Pasta run out for the day!

Which talent would you most like to have? Be able to play the jazz clarinet.

What do you think the food of the future will look like? They will eat if able to find in the future!

Do you have a motto or mantra? Fauna is only for those who have patience and time.

What is your number one sustainability tip or trick? Don’t forget to respect life and living things.