World's First and the only wealth creation book for the chefs

Five Years of Silence, One Book

Alright, my culinary comrades.

Back in December 2020, I made a decision that felt a little crazy at the time. I stepped away from social media. Completely. No posts. No updates. No noise. Just quiet.

I needed that silence to think. To reflect. To create something meaningful.

And now, after 5 years in the kitchen of life, I'm finally ready to serve.

I wrote a book. It's called Rich Chef Poor Chef®. It's officially here.

This isn't another cookbook. It isn't another generic career guide with a chef on the cover. This is the world's first wealth creation system designed exclusively for chefs. Everything I wish someone had told me when I started in this beautiful, brutal industry.

I won't pretend the last five years were easy. But they were necessary.

The Quiet Truth Nobody Tells You

You can win gold medals. Run five-star kitchens. Cook for presidents or celebrities. And still struggle to pay your bills at the end of the month or wonder why you need to run to catch the last bus from Gumussuyu to Ortakoy!

I've seen it. Over and over. Across multiple continents. For 36 years.

Talent is never the problem. Knowledge is.

How It Started

In December 2020, COVID-19 had slowed everything down. For the first time in years, I had something I hadn't had in a long time.

Time.

In that quiet, I started connecting dots I'd been collecting for decades.

It started with a photo. Back in 2017!, when I had just become Director of Food and Beverage for the first time, a friend named Marjoon Tomato put together an image. Mohan from Pixel Media polished it. Two photos of me blended into one. My chef whites on one side. A suit on the other. One image, two worlds. So this photo (of a man in a half-and-half chef jacket and suit) was taken in the first quarter of 2017!

That photo planted a seed I didn't fully understand until 2020.

The Questions That Wrote the Book

Every time I opened my Instagram DMs, the same questions kept coming. Not random ones. Patterns. Just like financial markets. If you look long enough, patterns appear.

"You started as a junior baker in a small bakery and became a hotel Resident Manager leading over a thousand people? How?"

"How did you get a job in Asia? The best I could get was the Middle East or Europe."

"How did you manage to work, study, raise two sons, do doctoral research, and trade commodities at night ? How does one person do all of that?"

And some who knew me a little better asked something different. "How did you end up in the same kitchen as Stephan Klein, Othmar Fassbind, Gérard Taurin, Guy Krenzer? How do you keep landing in these rooms?"

One friend at Kanarya Train Station looked me dead in the eye and said, "How does luck find you every single time?"

I asked him what he meant.

He said, "You worked at World's only living Ottoman Palace Hotel and became the first Turkish Pastry Chef in its history. Then you enterted in the kitchens of Paul Pairet, Pierre Hermé, Frédéric Anton, Joël Robuchon. Then you moved to Asia and were hired by Asia's finest luxury hotel brand. Flagship properties across the Philippines, China, Indonesia, Malaysia. Then you went to the US and ended up in the same room as Robert Kiyosaki, Tony Robbins, Gary Vee, Grant Cardone, Sandy Jadeja. How does one chef get that lucky?"

I knew it had nothing to do with luck. It was strategy. Every single time.

That's when I knew the book had to be written.

What's Inside

Rich Chef Poor Chef® was published on 15 January 2026. It became a No.1 international bestseller. It's available globally in four formats. Hardcover. Paperback. eBook. Audiobook.

Yes, I narrated the audiobook myself. With my own Turkish accent.

This is a real blueprint, built from 36 years inside this industry. I first stepped into a professional kitchen at 13. I'm 49 now. Across those years, I met thousands of chefs. Successful ones. Not-so-successful ones. And ones who looked successful but were quietly drowning.

I started noticing patterns. Real patterns, not theories. I noted them. Tested them on myself. Adapted what fit my personality. Watched what worked, and what needed a more strategic approach before it clicked.

That's what this book is. My notes. My observations. Real stories from real people.

Some of those people might be in the book. You might even recognise yourself.

The Forewords

Two people I'm proud to call mentors at different points of my life wrote the forewords.

Paul Pairet. Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Multi-Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur. The inventor of the world's first multi-sensory immersive dining concept. A true giant.

Cetin Sekercioglu. CEO of Upgrading.CC. Mathematics champion. Global hospitality authority. Former president of ultra-luxury hotel networks. One of the most respected leadership voices in our industry.

When two people of that calibre put their name on your book, it tells you something.

How It's Built

Three steps. Each step has three chapters. Nine chapters in total.

I wrote it in a specific sequence on purpose. Each chapter builds on the one before it. Read or listen to it in order. You'll miss the full depth if you skip around.

Real stories. Real examples. Real people.

The Team Behind It

I brought together the best team I could find. My book consultants, Rory and Carly, are definitely the best. Brand developer Waqas Dogar. Cartoonist Taylor Southerland. And my editor, Claudina Wong, who I'm proud to call a friend.

Same way I approach everything in this kitchen of life. You want the best result? You find the best people, and you work.

Is This Book For You?

If you're a chef or a hotelier who genuinely wants to build a better life for yourself and your loved ones, yes. Absolutely.

But if you already believe you're the best, and there's nothing left to learn? This book will frustrate you. Because it talks about the bitter truths of this life in plain chef's language. No sugar coating. No garnish to make it pretty.

This is the full dish, exactly as it is.

So, my culinary comrades, that's the story behind the book. Five years of silence. One book. And a whole lot more cooking to do.

Let's get cooking.

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A Few Soft Knocks Before You Go

If you want the full system, the book is here on my website: richchefpoorchef.com

It's still on launch discount, so don't sit on that for too long.

I've also started sharing weekly videos breaking down what those five quiet years actually taught me. Rich chef vs poor chef behaviours. Market thoughts. Productivity tips that actually work in a kitchen schedule. You can find them on my YouTube channel here: youtube.com/yusufyaran. Subscribe so you don't miss the new ones.

For my culinary comrades who like a quieter way to stay in touch, my weekly newsletter lands straight in your inbox. Same voice, same plain chef's language, no spam. You can sign up here: Join the newsletter

And if the book has helped you, even just one page of it, leaving an honest review on Trustpilot is the kindest thing you can do for the next chef who's deciding whether to read it: Leave a review on Trustpilot

That's it from my kitchen.

With gratitude,

Yusuf Yaran

Author of Rich Chef Poor Chef®

P.S. If this book helps even one chef take control of their financial future, it will all have been worth it. I hope that chef is you, or someone you know. Feel free to share this with a chef who needs to read it.