Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Michael Solomonov Wins Foodie ‘Oscar’ As Top Chef

(JTA) — Israeli-born restaurateur Michael Solomonov was named outstanding chef — the top award in the profession — at the 2017 James Beard Foundation Awards, the culinary world’s equivalent of the Academy Awards.

The awards were presented Monday in Chicago.

Solomonov, whose Philadelphia restaurant fiefdom includes Zahav, Federal Donuts and Abe Fisher, is often credited with spreading the popularity of Israeli, Sephardic-style food in America and around the world. He is the author of “Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking.”

He moved from Israel to Pittsburgh as a child, but returned as a teenager for a short time. His younger brother, David, was killed on Yom Kippur 2003 while serving in the Israeli army.

In a recent documentary, “In Search of Israeli Cuisine,” Solomonov noted that after his brother’s death, he became more interested in cooking foods that reflected his Israeli heritage, moving away from his classical European training. He opened Zahav in 2008 to rave reviews.

“Food can bridge gaps,” he told JTA in an interview about the film. “Especially when the traditional forms of diplomacy are not up to snuff, it’s clear the power food can have … on both sides of the aisle.”

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.