 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(November 2022) |
Hakki Akdeniz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 1, 1984 |
| Occupation(s) | Restaurateur, pizza chef |
Hakki Akdeniz (born 1984, February 1) is an American restaurateur. He is owner and founder of the pizzeria chain Champion Pizza in New York City. [1] [2] [3] [4]
In 1997, Hakki moved to Montreal, Canada and worked at his brother’s pizzeria. He was homeless when he moved to New York in 2001 [5] and started working at a pizzeria until 2005. In December 2009, he founded his first pizza shop in lower Manhattan, which was later named Champion Pizza. [6] In 2019, the chain had seven locations. [1]
The New York Times reported that, "Along the way, he became something of a pizza celebrity, known for his flashy acrobatics in tossing and twirling dough, flaming or otherwise, and for building giant pizzas." [1] Akdeniz received media attention by his charity works in support of homeless. [6]
In 2019, he received twelve awards during the Beacon Awards ceremony, co-hosted by the Ellis Island Honor Society. [7] His February 2022 TED talk at Rutgers University, entitled "Homeless Not Hopeless", has received over two million views as of June 2024. [8]
In 2022, an honoree by the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Great Immigrant Award. [9]
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