Here Are Ottolenghi’s Favorite Eateries
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You might pick up some Jewish flavors in Where Chefs Eat (Phaidon), the insanely ambitious guide that features – deep breath – 1,184 pages with 7,000 recommendations for more than 4,500 restaurants in 70+ countries. The bestseller’s third edition gets released April 30.
Among the 650 chefs who revealed their favorite eateries in categories like Local Favorite, Late Night, and High End: London-based icon Yotam Ottolenghi, New Orleans Israeli-food pioneer Alon Shaya, and Todd Ginsberg, who captains the acclaimed General Muir in Atlanta.
None of them chose Jewish or Israeli establishments as their personal favorites. But Joshua David Stein, one of the editors on the gargantuan project, said he didn’t expect that. “Jewish chefs are just like other chefs: they enjoy delicious things,” he told the Forward. “I didn’t really see any differences breaking down along those lines. Tel Aviv is obviously such a vibrant food city, one of the best in the world.”
So what did the chefs choose? Ottolenghi picked London’s Bao as a bargain joint and The Delaunay for breakfast. Shaya opted for legendary NoLo eatery Emeril’s as his local favorite, and Euro-Caribbean spot Compere Lapin for high-end dining. Ginsberg went further afield, choosing Hong Kong’s Australia Dairy Company for breakfast. Maoz Alonim, of Tel Aviv’s HaBasta, chose ultrahip local snack bar Jasmino for late nights, and fave Falafel Rambam for breakfast.
Dizengoff, Philadelphia-based Michael Solomonov’s hummus temple, earned raves from several chefs, as did London nouveau-deli Monty’s and Budapest Hungarian-Jewish institution Katar Etkezde.
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