But then Esquire magazine named Zahav one of its best new restaurants of the year, and business boomed. Mike Solomonov's life was indelibly shaped by the influence of his brother David, who was tragically killed at age 21 by a sniper while he was serving in the Israeli Defense Forces (via Pittsburgh Magazine). Certainly not every user is winning James Beard Awards. Hed jumped out of bed for the fruitless surfing expedition. He now has several years of recovery and sobriety behind him. I dont know if it was mandatory, but preferred, Solomonov said. You cant listen to all the positive things that are being written about you when youre going to your parents and asking for 10 grand so you can make payroll. With charcoal-grilled meats and vegetable-centric small plates, Laser Wolf embraces the "shipudiya" style of dining. Then Solomonov steps back into the blast zone of the open oven, slips the paddle under the dough thats now charred and crunchy, and pulls it out for a quick sprinkle of olive oil and a dusting of the Middle Eastern spice mix called zaatar. Peis Society Hill Towers and into the restaurant called Zahav will likely see its young salt-and-pepper-haired chef and co-owner, Michael Solomonov, flipping a pie-sized floppy disk of bread dough onto a flat paddle and shoveling it, with a quick shrug, into a brick oven thats been fired with compressed hardwood to a blazing 800 degrees. California residents do not sell my data request. Susur Lee (Chinese: ; born December 1958) is a . He initially felt like an outsider there, partially. If a Cook and Solo empire emerges, it will be different from what weve seen before. But will what seems a boy-band-esque foodie fad become a lasting venture? Like most of us, award-winning Chef Michael Solomonov has been cooking at home a lot this year, much more than he would normally find himself doing as an owner of multiple restaurants. And I was not a good person to work with. He has been widely featured and recognized for his many accomplishments on . I would take the cheese off pizza, wipe all the sauce off with napkins, put the cheese back on and eat it. Thai, Filipino, and Japanese cuisines were all represented, but the eatery that spoke most to Philly's traditions was Siddiq's Real Fruit Water Ice. Per Zahav's website, Solomonov's first James Beard Award came in 2011, when he won Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic. Michael is going to be a star, says Roger Sherman, producer and director of the planned PBS documentary. Something about it was very honest, and I guess I liked that. But Michael Solomonov's future challenges are no match for the ones he's already faced. Being the executive chef at a restaurant, especially a new restaurant, is an incredible amount of work. A receptionist leaned over the kitchen counter and looked to where Solomonov crouched with his energy drink. Theyre here, Chef, she said. Both the donuts and the chicken are spiced with seasonings from Israeli-American spice merchant Lior Lev Sercarz, and the donut batter features baharat, a warm-tasting Middle Eastern spice blend. This morning, Chef just wants some big waves. It was awesome. It was Yom Kippur, and three days. Zahav is so successful right now that its easy to think it always was. I was never really formally taught how to do it. Peis Society Hill Towers and into the restaurant called Zahav will likely see its young salt-and-pepper-haired chef and co-owner, Michael Solomonov, flipping a pie-sized floppy disk of bread dough onto a flat paddle and shoveling it, with a quick shrug, into a brick oven thats been fired with compressed hardwood to a blazing 800 degrees. Now, the likelihood of my getting eaten by a shark, Solomonov said. I didnt have a clear head about me when we were opening. I will help make him a star a little quicker. It got so bad that Zahav was on the brink of closing down for good, but help came at the 11th hour from an unexpected source. I asked him if such extreme field trips were his version of Outward Bound, which uses physical challenges and hardship to build teamwork. To call it a fad minimizes everything that we put into it, Solomonov says one day. Tell us how your hometown shaped you. How would you rate this article? If empire is in the offing, Solomonov will be its figurehead. So its great to go to the gym and say Yes Coach and fuckin shut my mouth. Are they, as Food and Wine recently suggested, poised to helm the next Philadelphia restaurant empire? 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. Michael is going to be a star, says Roger Sherman, producer and director of the planned PBS documentary. Appear on the James Beard Awards Semifinalists List. He said, I could believe the things that people constantly write, or let my head get big and get arrogant, and Id go right back out.. The first episode, which aired in December 2021, was set in Philly, and Allen's tour guide was none other than Mike Solomonov (via Philly Voice). I got really into photography when I was in eighth grade. And hes going to have to figure out how hes going to deal with that. If I ever decide to relapse, more than likely those things will happen.. Boxing is everything but that. With surprise hits like Zahav and Federal Donuts, Philly's most iconoclastic chef seems poised for the big time. You may not know him yet, but his work at Marigold is the best possible introduction, affirming him as one of Philadelphias most promising young culinary talents with a technique that is already mature.. Citron and Rose opened to strong reviews, but Cook and Solomonov walked away from the restaurant within a few months, when owner David Magerman decided to broaden the appeal and try, in effect, to make the restaurant into his own suburban Jewish community center. But Im not ready to do that right now. In a world of graphic addiction memoirs written by teenagers, Solomonovs reticence is refreshing. In that role, the voluble Israeli-born, Pittsburgh-bred total-high-energy dude has started to have his ticket punched on the celebrity-chef ride. Though hes suffered his share of burns on the way to this point, its all happening lately for Michael Solomonov. 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. His day began early with his toddler son, named for his brother David, waking him. The car was for his younger brother, David, who was about to be released from his obligatory duty in the Israeli army and planned to move back to the States and continue his education. Service is over, and the Zahav chefs are chowing down. He was able to finish the segment and talk about his food, which is quite impressive under those circumstances. I will help make him a star a little quicker. I need an amuse-bouche, he might shout down the line of cooks, as he did on a recent night when I squeezed into the kitchen to watch him work. We were humbled to the point where we just had to cook and give great service, Solomonov says. I cant imagine.. Davids death changed my perspective about a lot of things, Solomonov says. At 44 years old, Michael Solomonov height not available right now. In addition to his cookbooks, his appearances on the small screen, and his web show, he also made a movie celebrating Israeli food. I wasnt very good at accepting what happened to my brother or what was happening to myself. I like when people come to Philadelphia to have dinner.. You see what my day is like every day at work. And at one point she said gently, Frankly, I think hes doing so much these days., I asked Solomonovs partner whether so much could be too much. [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. All empires learn that expansion threatens control. I believe that you are as successful as the people you choose to have in your life and the people who have chosen to have you in theirs. There he is on the Travel Channel, greeting Anthony Bourdain and his cameras as they arrive for dinner at Zahav, and hanging out afterward (still on camera) with Tony at the Pen & Pencil Club, where he challenges the TV star to a game of rock-paper-scissorsthe loser having to down a shot of the brackish water from the clubs crockpot of free hot dogs. And to me, when you say fadwhats going to go out of style? Is Susur Lee still married? He told Eater, When I was nine, I entered an origami competition and created this sick flamingo that was awarded. Solomonov said he wanted to tell me something off the record. I lived in the office at the restaurant for a few months. Your brother was going to leave all that and come over here. We put the kibosh on that idea.. Then he shifted to the quieter kitchen of Vetri, who, he says, taught him to slow down and really pay attention. On the way back from the Shore, hed stopped at the original Federal Donuts (where some customers recognized him from TV and the fresh doughnuts were sublime), and after that came a visit to Percy Street Barbecue. He has presented his cooking theories at a smarty-pants TedX conference. 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. We didnt listen, Solomonov says. One afternoon, Nathan talked to me in an affectionate and almost motherly way about the young chef. There was no slapping or punching or anything like that in the breakup, Solomonov insists. I feel the most at home in Israel, but I grew up in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh. I dont know what thats a product of, but I think its because were doing well every night, having good services back-to-back.. He's got quite a few businesses now, ranging from a fried chicken and donut chain to a falafel shop to a bakery (via CookNSolo). I was 19, and everybody thought I was going to be perpetually unemployed or a drug dealer or something like that. Jose Garces built a kind of Incan Empire, his restaurants all rooted in some sort of south-of-the-border cuisine. When, years earlier, hed dropped out of the University of Vermont (he once told a writer hed majored in smoking pot and snowboarding; it was actually studio art), Solomonov slunk back to his birthplace, landing a job in a bakery and later becoming a short-order cook in a cafe. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). It's a way for him to get back in touch with his birthplace while abiding by the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. In fact, he didnt discover his love for cooking until after he had dropped out of college. [10] He then moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to cook Italian cuisine at Chef Marc Vetri's upscale Italian restaurants. With the owners approval, he pivoted toward the Middle East. Maybe we just had a good feel for each other at the beginning, Cook says. Solomonov and Steve Cook shared the 2016 James Beard Award for Outstanding Book for the cookbook "Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking." [9] At the age of 18, he returned to Israel with no Hebrew language skills, taking the only job he could get working in a bakery and his culinary career was born. Over the next several months, we'll be publishing a feature story on each of the winners. Gabby Deutch. Michael Solomonov's income source is mostly from being a successful . Its heading toward two a.m., and Solomonov has finally shed his apron and enlisted two of his top young chefs for a pilgrimage to one of his favorite restaurants, a Korean fried chicken wings joint in Cheltenham called Caf Soho. All I do is work. Then he came back with an offer of an array of athletic activities: surfing, running (he was scheduled to do the 10-mile Broad Street Run the next day) and boxing. Jose Garces built a kind of Incan Empire, his restaurants all rooted in some sort of south-of-the-border cuisine. Lately the boss has been taking Saturday-morning break-dancing lessons with a group of workers. It seems as though Mike Solomonov is trying to become the king of all food media. Its early on a Saturday, barely eight hours since he walked out of Zahav last night after overseeing the delivery of 227 meals, manning the bread station for much of the six-hour service, and personally preparing four 10-course dinners for folks willing to pay $90 for the chefs tasting menu. Weall learned how to skateboard and ride bikes down that hill. Theirs is the context of no context. Everything You Need to Know Before the Eagles NFC Championship Game, Everything You Need to Know Before the Eagles Play in Super Bowl LVII. Sitting down with a good book is one of the best ways to relax and decompress. Im used to people saying Yes Chef this and Yes Chef that. Which is very cool. Marc Vetri, who gave Solomonov one of his early cooking jobs, calls Zahav one of the most interesting restaurants in America right now.. Were the busiest weve ever been, Solomonov told me in mid-May. Maybe we just had a good feel for each other at the beginning, Cook says. I was sort of like an immigrant, and I was treated like an immigrant. I definitely drank too much and went off on a couple different tangents, which is obviously a mistake that doesnt help you deal with anything., At one point, Solomonov got the idea of moving back to Israel and joining the army himself. He lived here for five years, and it's here where he had his affair with the married Maria . As he discusses with NPR, he finds it very impressive when very basic dishes with minimal ingredients are prepared very well. In the founding myth surrounding Federal Donuts, Solomonov is given credit for introducing the concept of twice-fried chicken into the product mix. While in Philadelphia, he spent several years working in Chef Marc Vetri's family of upscale Italian restaurants. Boxing helps the crickets and monkeys in your head, Solomonov told me. I feel that the next five years are going to be a lot more active than the past five years. Itll all be for nothing. Everybody was invested in each other, but I didn't appreciate it until after I left. Its something that I think about, Cook said. But he doesnt need me. In that role, the voluble Israeli-born, Pittsburgh-bred total-high-energy dude has started to have his ticket punched on the celebrity-chef ride. After meeting with financier Steven Cook, they opened Zahav in 2008. 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. Of course, this temptation can make it difficult to make healthy choices and stay in good shape. We sort of talked him out of that, says Marc Vetri. It was awesome. Isnt that Mike Solo, as hes commonly known, cooking pungent chicken shashlik with Al Roker on the Today show? Like anything else, being on TV is a skill that takes practice, and the chef's first foray on the small screen didn't go so smoothly. [15] Zahav: A World of Israeli Cuisine was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Book Award in the International cookbook category. Michael Solomonov's net worth So I did it. He doesnt think hed do it again. If he keeps on going at this pace, he's going to have to build a bigger mantel to hold all the awards. Now their restaurant group, CookNSolo, operates eight different restaurant brands and plans to open an event business. He pushes it onto a plate to be served with hummus. I would just freestyle when I was bored.. Theres nothing that brings people together quite like a good meal. Solomonov was 27 now, scarred by loss and headed for a confrontation with his obsessive and addictive nature. He's also a fan of Middle Eastern-style grilled meats, including a grilled mixed offal sandwich that's a specialty in Jerusalem. Fortunately for Solomonov, he had a strong support system of people who loved him and were able to get him out of this situation. In 2008, the year Solomonov got clean, the DEA made more than 12,000 arrests for cocaine-related charges, and an additional 3,000 for heroin. Solomonov told The Splendid Table that his first TV appearance was on a morning program. Earlier, I watched Solomonov fold the origami himself. It was Yom Kippur, and three days before Davids release date from the Israeli army. . Mike is so high-energy, says one friend, who helped teach him to surf. 3 records for Michael Solomonov. As a teenager, he and his family started to spend long periods living in Israel. Wed like to have an empire. He was maturing outside the kitchen, too. I dont think coffees going out of style. The chef has earned accolades as an author in addition to all the recognition he's received for his restaurant. Before his death, David introduced Mike to many Israeli dishes when Mike would come to Israel for visits. There was more attention last year when the pair engineered the much-buzzed-about opening of a high-end kosher restaurant on the Main Line, Citron and Rose. I was just like, What are you gonna do? Mike has devoted lots of time an energy into his career, but hes also dedicated lots of time to building a happy life at home. We were humbled to the point where we just had to cook and give great service, Solomonov says. Boxing helps the crickets and monkeys in your head, Solomonov told me. Earlier, I watched Solomonov fold the origami himself. On a busy night, this happens several hundred times, and the whole processthe pounding rollout, the quick puff, the intense heat, the crucible quality of it allprovides some convenient metaphors for the life, up till now, of the 34-year-old hot-shot chef who still calls himself a dirt-bag line cook even though he stands on the verge of becoming a brand-name culinary star. I wasnt very good at accepting what happened to my brother or what was happening to myself. At some point in my life, Ill be very upfront about it if I can find a way to make it helpful, he told me. I was sort of like an immigrant, and I was treated like an immigrant. He has been married to his wife, Mary, since. Now, its like the Beatles.. His idea to update the refreshing Philly treat (that you may know as Italian ice) with real fruit instead of artificial syrups has been a runaway success, and his business now has a street named after it. Im more likely to get struck by lightningtwice. He then listed any number of mundane daily activities, like driving a car (and sometimes, for him, a motorcycle), that are more dangerous, statistically speaking. Discover today's celebrity birthdays and explore famous people who share your birthday. Finally, Chef found what he neededhe pulled a can of Red Bull out of the cooler, cracked it open, and drank it quickly, staying out of sight behind the counter. But that next year was really difficult. It was so different from what I was doing prior, he says. I probably should have [died] 100 times over, Solomonov said. With the support of financier Steve Cook, Solomonov opened Zahav in 2008. 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. So its great to go to the gym and say Yes Coach and fuckin shut my mouth. After meeting business partner Steve Cook, he was able to open his dream Israeli restaurant, Zahav, in 2008. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. The first job I ever had was at a Subway sandwich shop in Pittsburgh. I was skeptical at first, he said. In addition to his duties at Zahav, Chef Solomonov is a partner in Federal Donuts, Dizengoff, Goldie, and Abe Fisher. His wife is Mary Solomonov (m. 2006) Michael Solomonov Net Worth His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. I broke up with my girlfriend. He was maturing outside the kitchen, too. He made the strategic error of opening the segment by shaving celery on a mandoline, a notorious cutting device that has claimed the fingertips of many chefs over the years. In 2015, Cook and Solomonov published a cookbook based on their restaurant Zahav. Emotionally, I was utterly fucked up. After a trip to Israel for his brothers funeral, he returned to the Vetri kitchen. It was mandatory, and I like my job, Zahav manager Okan Yazici told me. I had more responsibility at Vetri, he says. Over the course of his career, Mike has made several TV appearances on shows like The Chew, Iron Chef America, and Beat Bobby Flay. Although an original CookNSolo employee is present at every game, the product isnt exactly the world class-level fare that New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells gushed about after his visit to the original FedNuts. There was more attention last year when the pair engineered the much-buzzed-about opening of a high-end kosher restaurant on the Main Line, Citron and Rose. It was so different from what I was doing prior, he says. His celebrity will be that hes going to be one of the most respected chefs in America., The documentarian connected with Solomonov through Joan Nathan, a veteran cookbook author and an expert on Jewish and Israeli food. Dude, I was not a good person to work for at all. At some point in my life, Ill be very upfront about it if I can find a way to make it helpful, he told me. [1][2] Solomonov was also awarded Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic in 2011, Cookbook of the Year in 2016, and Outstanding Chef in 2017 from the James Beard Foundation. This is something that Solomonov strives for, in his own idiosyncratic way. , money, salary, income, and assets. Success is about the feeling that you have with the people whom you care about. At the time, he says, I was eating a shitload of wings at Caf Soho. The unlikely pairing of chicken with doughnuts never seemed unlikely to Solomonov. The dough is an Iraqi flatbread called laffa, and not long after it hits the bricks, it puffs up so fast that the process looks like time-lapse photography. And unlike most years, he wasn't able to travel to Israel to visit the people, places, and land that he loves. And that is living, dude., Life is certain to change for Michael Solomonov. He started shoving food aside and cursing. [7][8] He was raised in Pittsburgh,[8] where he attended Taylor Allderdice High School. Despite the two mens nearly diametrically different personalities, there was a certain kinship. But the only way it makes sense is to do what we like to do first and maybe the money will follow.. He was 21. :). On the way back from the Shore, hed stopped at the original Federal Donuts (where some customers recognized him from TV and the fresh doughnuts were sublime), and after that came a visit to Percy Street Barbecue. If you're not lucky enough to live in Philly and can't visit Goldie, you can make your own tehina shakes at home with the recipe Solomonov shared with The Splendid Table. 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. It makes my head spin. 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. Most people would assume that someone in Mikes position would think of himself as the best in the business. Mike has been fortunate to have gotten lots of attention for his skills. For the next few years, Solomonov struggled with addiction. Three dishes that he highlights in the NPR interview are shawarma, falafel, and sabich, a pita sandwich filled with fried eggplant, eggs, tehina, and pickled mango. But it was in Israel that Solomonov had discovered his vocation in the kitchen. You see what my day is like every day at work. Originally published in the July 2013 issue of Philadelphia magazine. If you're a scraper, please click the link below :-) Because of my responsibility to other people in recovery, I need to figure out how Im going to be more specific and more detailed. Or my wife. Like at a shipudiya in Israel, the meals at Laser Wolf are served family-style and include an array of appetizers as well as dessert. One of his most successful ventures is Federal Donuts, a small fast-casual chain with a very stripped-down menu. Its heading toward two a.m., and Solomonov has finally shed his apron and enlisted two of his top young chefs for a pilgrimage to one of his favorite restaurants, a Korean fried chicken wings joint in Cheltenham called Caf Soho. Even after he dropped out of college, a decision fueled by drugs, he said, I thought I just did what every other kid did, and I took it a little bit too far.. Solomonov credits his wife, Mary who became aware of his addiction on a family vacation a few months after the Zahav opening and enlisted his business partner, Steve Cook, in an intervention .