A Summary of the Top Ten Israeli Chefs & Restaurants Worldwide.

The popularity of Israeli food worldwide has grown immensely, primarily thanks to a select few Israeli chefs who have established a presence in specific cities such as Ottolenghi in London, Admony in New York, and Solomonov in Philadelphia. As the love of Israeli cuisine has grown worldwide, some Israeli-based chefs have successfully expanded abroad while maintaining their local restaurants in Israel. It is probably no coincidence that the most successful of these chefs are also TV celebrities, namely Israeli Chefs Assaf Granit, Meir Adoni, and Eyal Shani.

Chef Einat Admony

Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Chef Einat Admony moved to New York over 20 years ago and owns one of the city’s most well-known Israeli restaurants, Balaboosta, a Middle Eastern fine-dining establishment. She also owns Yalla Falafel, which has multiple branches across California. Admony is the author of two cookbooks: Balaboosta and Shuk.

Chef Meir Adoni

Known for his attention to detail and creativity in flavors and presentation, Chef Meir Adoni  closed all of his Israel-based restaurants to focus on restaurants in Europe, which include:

• Samna is a modern Middle Eastern restaurant with branches in Kyiv, Ukraine (reopened), and Marbella, Spain.
• Sasazu is a restaurant with two locations in Prague.

Chef Assaf Granit & Chef Uri Navon

The chefs first gained fame in Israel thanks to their restaurant, Machneyuda, located near Jerusalem’s food market. Chef Assaf Granit gained notoriety as a celebrity chef after appearing as a judge on the TV show Game of Chefs. In addition to several locations in Israel, the MachneYuda Group operates restaurants around the world, including Shabour, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris.

A full list of the restaurants in Israel and around the world can be found here: Exploring the Ever-Expanding Machneyuda Group.

Chef Yossi Hadad

A well-known chef in Bucharest and judge on Romanian MasterChef, Chef Yossi Hadad owns Israeli-influenced restaurants:

• Mace by Joseph Hadad is a less formal restaurant with a Moroccan-inspired menu and a large terrace.
• CAJU by Joseph Hadad is a casual brasserie with Moroccan and Israeli-inspired food and a varied cocktail menu.

Chef Yotam Ottolenghi

Chef Yotam Ottolenghi and his business partner, Chef Sami Tamimi, grew up in Jerusalem. They met while working for Israeli-owned Baker & Spice in London before opening their first restaurant in 2002. Since then, the duo has expanded to include several restaurants across London and one in Switzerland

• Ottolenghi is a chain of delis and restaurants in London. The branches in Bicester Village, Hampstead, Islington, and Spitalfields have a deli and a restaurant, whereas Chelsea, Marylebone, Notting Hill, and Richmond have delis with little to no seating. There are also restaurant branches in the Mandarin Oriental hotels in Geneva, Switzerland, and Amsterdam, Netherlands.
• Rovi is a 90-seat vegetarian restaurant focusing on fermentation and cooking over fire.
• Nopi is a chef’s restaurant in Soho that offers a changing seasonal menu with fresh salads, meat, and fish.

The chefs have written several cookery books, including Jerusalem, Ottolenghi The Cookbook, Ottolenghi Simple, Nopi, Plenty, Plenty More,  Sweet,  Flavor, Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, and Comfort. Sami Tamimi also wrote Falastin.

Chef Sarit Packer & Chef Itamar Srulovich

These two Israeli chefs have been working together since relocating to London. They started at the Oxo Tower before moving to the Ottolenghi Group, where Packer was the Executive Chef of Nopi and Srulovich was Head Chef of Ottolenghi Belgravia. The couple now owns three restaurants in central London:

• Honey & Co. is their first restaurant, located on Lamb’s Conduit Street in Bloomsbury. It serves elevated versions of home-cooked Israeli food.
• Honey & Co. Daily is a deli, bakery, and cafe in Bloomsbury.
• Honey & Spice is a delicatessen on Warren Street. The menu changes daily but always includes a selection of hot dishes, fresh salads, dips, and baked goods for takeaway or eating at the tables outside. The store also stocks all the ingredients people need to make recipes (spices, freekeh, kadaif).
• Honey & Smoke on Great Portland Street serves a variety of Middle Eastern dishes, including grilled meats, seafood, vegetables, salads, dips, and falafel.

Packer and Srulovich have written several cookbooks, including Honey & Co, Honey & Co: At Home, Honey & Co: The Baking Book, Golden, and  Honey & Co Chasing Smoke.

Chef Shahaf Shabtay

While most Israeli chefs focus on serving Israeli cuisine in their restaurants worldwide, Chef Shahaf Shabtay is drawn to Asian cuisine, which he combines with his classic French culinary training. Over the years, he has opened and closed Zenzi in Mumbai and Nithan Thai in Berlin and Tel Aviv. He more recently opened Pop & Pope restaurant in Tel Aviv with Giorgio Armani and still has the following restaurants abroad:

• Mess is an Asian restaurant in Shanghai, China.

Chef Eyal Shani

Famous in Israel for his love of tomatoes, the roast cauliflower signature dish, and putting everything inside of pita bread, Chef Eyal Shani is a TV personality and judge of MasterChef Israel. He owns several formal and informal restaurants throughout Israel,  and a complete list of Shani’s restaurants worldwide can be found here: Everything You Need to Know About Chef Eyal Shani Restaurants.

Chef Mike Solomonov

Born in Israel and raised in Pittsburgh,  Chef Mike Solomonov is probably the most well-known Israeli chef in the US. He and his business partner, Steven Cook, are the co-owners of the CookNSolo restaurant group, which includes several restaurants in Philadelphia:

• Zahav is an Israeli restaurant focusing on mezze, charcoal-cooked skewers, and taboon-baked dishes.
• Aviv is a modern Israeli restaurant in the 1 Hotel South Beach in Miami Beach, Florida, serving breakfast and dinner.
• Dizengoff is a modern Israeli restaurant.
• Goldie is a chain of kosher falafel stores.
• Jaffa Bar is an oyster bar with Israeli flavors.
• K’far is an Israeli-style all-day cafe and bakery.
• Lilah is an event catering service at The Weitzman.
• Laser Wolf is an Israeli meat grill skewer house. In partnership with the Boka Restaurant Group, it also has a rooftop branch at The Hoxton Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

They also own 10 branches of Federal Donuts & Chicken in Philadelphia and one in Las Vegas. The duo has also published several cookbooks, including Zahav, Zahav Home,  Israeli Soul, and Federal Donuts.

Here is an interview with Chef Solomonov about his first restaurant, Zahav:

Other Israeli Chefs Around The World

• Chef Gal Ben Moshe opened Parzival Restaurant in Prague in September 2025, after closing his restaurant Prism in Berlin, which received one Michelin star for 6 years in a row. Ben Moshe also heads up Pastel and Grace in Tel Aviv.
• Chef Gilad Peled is the Executive Chef of the Colonnade Restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Palace in Lucerne, Switzerland, a two-Michelin-star restaurant.
• Chef Alon Shaya owns Saba in New Orleans, Safta in Denver, Miss River at the Four Seasons New Orleans, Silan at the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas, and Safta 1964 by Alon Shaya at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.  The chef is also the founder of Shaya Restaurant in New Orleans, but is no longer affiliated with the restaurant.
• Uri Scheft is the founder and owner of Lehamim Bakery in Tel Aviv. He founded and later sold Breads Bakery with several locations in New York City, and went on to found Bakey Babka in and around Boston, focusing on Israeli baked goods and his famous Chocolate Babka. He wrote the cookbook Breaking Breads.
• Chef Eran Tibi owns Bala Baya in South London and Kapara in Soho. The restaurants serve traditional Israeli dishes with a modern twist.

Here is a list of Top Israeli Cookbooks. To receive updates as they happen, please follow me on Instagram and subscribe to my newsletter.