Banu Özden began her professional career in Boston as a kitchen manager at an Italian restaurant after graduating from Clark University. She later moved to Türkiye, where she worked on promoting Turkish cuisine as the Director of Educational Programs at the Istanbul Culinary Institute and as a Project Manager at the Culinary Arts Center established by the Turkish Cultural Foundation.
She currently serves as a lecturer in the Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts at Istanbul Medipol University. At the same time, she is pursuing her doctoral studies in Gastronomy and Culinary Arts at Istanbul Kent University.
In addition to her academic career, Özden designs and leads culinary tours in Istanbul and various regions of Türkiye. She also writes regular columns for Food in Life magazine.