As told to Abraham Gutman. It turned out that he loved cooking, and the rest is history. Then came along Mike Solomonov and his restaurant Zahav, which showed this country how transformative the flavors of that region can be when they're applied to exquisite ingredients. Food has the ability to break language and cultural barriers all while putting a smile on peoples faces. As the saying goes, they stayed away in droves. Cook, who is uncomfortable in the public eye, describes his partner as chief marketing officer for the brand. Cooks wife knew Solomonov from their childhood in Pittsburgh. Cook, who is uncomfortable in the public eye, describes his partner as chief marketing officer for the brand. Please enter a valid email and try again. Solomonov is visibly fatigued. Although his first cooking job was at a bakery in Israel, he moved back to the United States after he decided he wanted to pursue kitchen work long-term. Before his death, David introduced Mike to many Israeli dishes when Mike would come to Israel for visits. A true kitchen pro, the chef immediately wrapped his thumb in a towel and hid his gory hand behind his back. In terms of more dignified media, Solomonov has signed up to star in a PBS documentary about the foods of Israel, which should start filming this fall. My life is really fuckin boring. Solomonov has strapped his surfboard (it otherwise hangs over the living room sofa of his Old City loft) to the roof of his new Subaru sedan. He now has several years of recovery and sobriety behind him. Although Mike Solomonov was born in Israel and is now one of the United States' most notable Israeli chefs, he took a circuitous path towards learning the flavors of his homeland. Michael Solomonov's net worth My business partner and I met because of Squirrel Hill. Get yours now. Zahav ships our famous Pomegranate Lamb Shoulder nationwide with Goldbelly straight from Philly right to your doorstep. Overcoming fear, Solomonov told me, is an important part of life: Right now Im working on my fear of sharks. To that end, he had a large shark tattooed on his torso. Right now may be the perfect time for a restaurateur like Solomonov. Michael Solomonov was born on month day 1898, at birth place, to Yakov Solomonov and Genya Solomonov (born Chalfina). At five oclock, dude, he told me, the curtains go up, and it is show- time every fuckin night.. But it was in Israel that Solomonov had discovered his vocation in the kitchen. Michael Solomonov (born 1978) is an Israeli chef and restaurateur known for his landmark Philadelphia restaurant, Zahav. He attended the University of Vermont for three semesters where he studied art before leaving and moving back to Israel which is where he was born. In addition to his duties at Zahav, Chef Solomonov is a partner in Federal Donuts, Dizengoff, Goldie, and Abe Fisher. At five oclock, dude, he told me, the curtains go up, and it is show- time every fuckin night.. . Boxing helps the crickets and monkeys in your head, Solomonov told me. His wet suit is in the trunk, and on this bright and cool spring morning he is barreling down the A.C. Expressway toward the ocean. Somewhere in all that activity, Solomonov picked up a 2017 James Beard Award for best chef in the country, to go with his three previous James Beard wins. When I was nine, I entered an origami competition and created this sick flamingo that was awarded. That is exciting. But that next year was really difficult. If a Cook and Solo empire emerges, it will be different from what weve seen before. Talking about life. Excuse meIm sorry, the chef added, his tone somehow combining his general affability with zero tolerance for slacking, but WHERE THE FUCK are the amuse coming from tonight? When it comes to cursing, chefs are the new sailors. But he doesnt need me. Zahav: A World of Israeli Cuisine was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Book Award in the International cookbook category. By submitting your email, you agree to our, The freshest news from the local food world, 5 Things You Didnt Know About Michael Solomonov, Sign up for the Just weeks before this, the brothers had spent time together in Israel, where the family had repatriated when Michael was 15 and David 12. That was the criterion for the partnership to work. He credits Terence Feury, who fired him from Striped Bass and then hired him back, with teaching him work ethic and technique. However, despite Zahav's current rarified place in America's culinary scene, the restaurant's success wasn't a forgone conclusion. Having participated in the South Beach Food & Wine Festival in 2013, Solomonov was able to bring Percy Street Barbecue to South Florida. If empire is in the offing, Solomonov will be its figurehead. David Solomonov was three days from being discharged and had volunteered for duty that night to give a more observant member of his battalion leave for the high holiday. Just then, the four people who had reserved the chefs tasting counter were arriving. On the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur in 2003, when Solomonov was a 25-year-old up-and-coming chef working on the line in Marc Vetris kitchen (Vetri had only one restaurant at the time), he was driving a family car from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. "It . I didnt have a clear head about me when we were opening. Bill Addison, writing for Eater Philadelphia, called Chef Solomonov "the Genius of Modern Jewish Cooking" after eating at Abe Fisher, Dizengoff, and Zahav. So we hung out for three weeks together. Mike Solomonov presides over an empire now, and he owes much of his success to Zahav, his first Israeli restaurant. I just thought it would be good to jump out of airplanes together, he said. Pour the mixture through a . Blessed with two kids, the power pair Michael Solomonov and Mary Solomonov have, however, maintained a secret low-key profile of their private life. I rarely shoot now, though. Over the next five years, Solomonov landed his first gig as a head chef, met and married his wife, Mary, and helped launch Zahav. And it just didnt work. There is just something crazy that happens in your psyche when you enter an airplane knowing that youre going to open a window and jump out of it, Solomonov said. In fact, the foods he likes the best are often the simplest. His business partner Steve Cook and his wife intervened and sent him to rehab. But Michael Solomonov's future challenges are no match for the ones he's already faced. Hes won several James Beard Foundation awards including the 2011 award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic and another in 2017 for Outstanding Chef. Michael Solomonovs income source is mostly from being a successful . Its gone, its gone, he yelled. [3][4] In 2021, The New York Times named his restaurant Laser Wolf as one of "the 50 places in America we're most excited about right now. April 15, 2022. Once, he rounded up a dozen of his employees and took them to Bucks County to jump out of an airplane together. We were humbled to the point where we just had to cook and give great service, Solomonov says. Gabby Deutch. It was big. As I stood in the midst of the frenetic Zahav kitchen midway through a Saturday-night service, Solomonov came behind me, crouched down, and opened an under-counter refrigerator. Of course, right now also happens to be smack in the middle of the age of the rock-star chef/entrepreneur, and Solomonov has already walked gingerly into that wave of heat. Just days after announcing the split, both Cook and Solomonov were talking about revisiting the concept of high-end Ashkenazi Jewish food on their own. [8], At the start of his career, Solomonov moved back to the United States to attend culinary school at the Florida Culinary Institute in West Palm Beach, FL. He was maturing outside the kitchen, too. These wings are ridiculouscrazy good, bro, says Chef himself. But then Esquire magazine named Zahav one of its best new restaurants of the year, and business boomed. And hes going to have to figure out how hes going to deal with that. Because of my responsibility to other people in recovery, I need to figure out how Im going to be more specific and more detailed. Very, very picky. As Mike Solomonov explained to The Splendid Table, when he started Goldie, his fast-casual falafel restaurant, he wanted to make everything plant-based. Esquire called Zahav one of America's best new restaurants, and the resultant publicity turned the Philadelphia eatery's fortunes around almost overnight. Its something that I think about, Cook said. After the 2008 debut of Zahav (one of the 38 most essential restaurants in America, according to Eaters national critic), Solomonov and business partner Steven Cook went on to open Abe Fisher, multiple locations of Dizengoff, and, with Felicia DAmbrosio, Tom Henneman, and Bob Logue, the hit Federal Donuts chain. So, how much is Michael Solomonov worth at the age of 44 years old? Two piles of crisp wingsgarlic soy and spicyare heaped on the table, along with a side dish of eel. Earlier, I watched Solomonov fold the origami himself. I started thinking about culinary school. After three years studying at the Florida Culinary Institute in West Palm Beach and working in some South Florida restaurants, Solomonov landed in Philadelphia and quickly moved through two kitchens in the then-flourishing Neil Stein empireat Avenue B and Striped Bass. Despite the two mens nearly diametrically different personalities, there was a certain kinship. One need he identified was an area kosher restaurant, and in a fortuitous turn of events, chef Michael Solomonov was looking to do kosher at the same time. I asked Marc Vetri what he thought of the FedNuts phenomenon. In the late summer of 2005, Solomonov met Steve Cook, who was trying to replace himself as chef at the popular West Philadelphia BYO Marigold Kitchen. For many years, this celebrated cook and restauranteur was addicted to crack cocaine. Still, for now, on most nights, Solomonov plants himself behind the hammered-copper kitchen counter at Zahav and shovels dough into the blast furnace. Now, its like the Beatles.. $140 per post at $7/CPM. FedNuts, as devotees like to call it, now has three locations and counting, including the frequently mobbed counter in the stands behind left field at Citizens Bank Park. Two piles of crisp wingsgarlic soy and spicyare heaped on the table, along with a side dish of eel. If he keeps on going at this pace, he's going to have to build a bigger mantel to hold all the awards. I hesitate to report this, because it may be the last remaining chef-competition concept that hasnt been produced for television and I dont want to give anybody ideas; the two James Beard Award winners sometimes spar in the ring. His wife is Mary Solomonov (m. 2006) Michael Solomonov Net Worth His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. Remember the name Michael Solomonov, Maria Gallagher wrote in this magazine in 2006. He and Cook reworked the Zahav concept, making the menu less didactic and the restaurant friendlier. Going to the beach. Your brother was going to leave all that and come over here. We put the kibosh on that idea.. In January 2008, he ceded the Marigold kitchen to Erin OShea and took the leap into ownership and a full embrace of his native countrys cuisine with the 3,000-square-foot place in Society Hill (it later doubled in size) named for the Hebrew word for gold. The pair had a big year in 2017, adding Rooster Soup Co., which gives all its profits to Philadelphians in need through the Broad Street Ministry, and vegan falafel shop Goldie, which quickly gained a cult following for its tehina shakes and expanded.