Food & Wine Magazine Honors Israeli Chef
Defining Israeli cuisine is tough work, as Forward Ingredients columnist Leah Koenig recently pointed out. But difficult or not, Israeli food culture is thriving, and the global gastro community is taking notice.
Food & Wine, the influential American culinary monthly, named Israeli Yonatan Roshfeld a top “Rising-Star Chef” in its 2010 list of the 100 “Best New Food & Drink Experiences.”
The Tel Aviv-based Roshfeld hit the scene with his neo-Mediterranean restaurant Herbert Samuel, and just splashed with a new Spanish-themed effort, Tapas Ahad Ha’am. Food & Wine called it a “wildly popular tapas bar that mixes the best Israeli and Spanish ingredients.”
To say the least, Roshfeld’s Herbert Samuel fare, like crab risotto and pork rotisserie with a lentils and bacon red-wine sauce, isn’t your standard falafel and couscous.
The list’s selection committee includes former New York Times food critic Frank Bruni and innovative Korean-American chef David Chang, of Momofuku fame.
“We must remember that Israel is not on the critic’s way,” Roshfeld told Ynet, “they have to come here especially, and the fact is, they did.
“You can’t ignore the fact that, lately, Israel has been on the map of global gastronomy.”
And the map is nothing short of expansive: the other chefs on the list hail from such far-flung places as Australia, Portugal and Scotland.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!