Michelin Guide marches in to Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv has for many years been a hotspot of emerging talent and some of the best food in the world and finally it sees that the ‘bigwigs’ are talking note. In the same week that Tel Aviv restaurant George & John was named the sixth best restaurant in the Middle East & Africa at The World’s 50 Best awards, Israel is finally going to be featured in the Michelin Guide.

Tourism Minister Haim Katz has succeeded where his predecessors failed – they tried for many years.  Katz said the Michelin inspectors currently see “feasibility” only in evaluating Tel Aviv’s restaurant scene, but he will continue to work on expanding the coverage to other cities.

The deal is said to cost Israel about 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million), which the Tourism Ministry will split with the Tel Aviv municipality.

Michelin stars are considered the highest global honour for a restaurant, and are seen as driving tourism from culinary-minded travelers. The Michelin Guide has never operated in Israel, although it has been expanding its operations in the Middle East and launched in Abu Dhabi, Istanbul and Dubai over the past year.

In 2016 World Jewish Congress president Ron Lauder wrote a letter criticising Michelin “concerning omission” of Israel. The following year Israel’s Tourism Ministry commissioned a study from Michelin on Israel’s “gastronomy standing and potential,” but inspectors did not find any restaurants worth ranking.

A handful of Israeli chefs with restaurants abroad have been awarded a Michelin star, including Moshik Roth for several locations in Amsterdam, Assaf Granit for Shabour in Paris, and Gal Ben Moshe for Prism in Berlin.