In this 2026 edition of the culinary roundup, we welcome back Michelin-starred chef Gal Ben Moshe, alongside television’s celebrity chefs Avi Bitton and Charlie Fadida, plus chef instructor Roy Soffer Buzzy Gordon|Four years ago, we featured three of Israel’s top chefs on these pages, in our first edition of “Great Chefs Never Rest.” This year’s reprise brings back Michelin-star chef Gal Ben Moshe (GBM) as he launches a new tasting experience at Grace, while also showcasing TV chefs Avi Bitton and Charlie Fadida, who have assumed new executive chef roles at Radler and Petra, respectively. Last but not least, the Tel Aviv restaurant scene ushers in a new era for Asian cuisine specialist Roy Soffer, who returns to active duty in the kitchen of Onami, after spending recent years as a senior lecturer at the cooking school Bishulim. We visited each chef in his new restaurant, listed below in alphabetical order. One of the entries is certified kosher. 4 View gallery Grace (Photo: Buzzy Gordon)Ambiance: the intimate bar/private room off the main dining areas of Pastel, the flagship restaurant of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, is now the venue of the latest gastronomic playground of Chef Gal Ben Moshe, whose restaurants in Berlin and Prague have earned coveted Michelin stars six years in a row. The concept behind Grace is a tasting menu of 10 elaborate courses, served by reservation only to a maximum number of 22 people, seated on elegant white leather stools around a handsome marble counter. Diners can observe the plating and may even be served by GBM himself. A rhythmic soundtrack is a bit too loud for the small space, but it does not interfere with conversation.Drinks: each degustation menu starts off with a specialty cocktail, followed by wines paired with the gourmet food. Three different kinds of wine – orange, white and red – were served during the course of the meal (from appetizers through dessert), with vintages selected from leading Israeli and international wineries. At the end, digestifs were also offered. Menu: each tasting menu is detailed in an unusual combination of Hebrew and English, with the food courses described in Hebrew only, while the chef’s bio and the wines appear in English only (or French, according to a vintage’s country of origin). On the evening of our visit, the meal progressed from the opening house bread – kubana, with requests for second helpings happily honored – to a pair of appetizers, followed by soup, a vegetarian dish, fish (raw and cooked), seafood, meat, and dessert. The kitchen also accommodates individual dietary restrictions and/or preferences (e.g., gluten-free, dairy-free, etc.). Highlights: when each dish is virtually flawless, “recommended” is not necessarily the right adjective to use in summing up. Nevertheless, the standouts of our meal included a cocktail named Frenchy; Jerusalem artichoke soup with hazelnut panna cotta and smoked cocoa oil; a “forest” course of blue oyster mushrooms, whose pyrotechnics consisted of a smoke-filled cloche; calamari grilled in a Josper oven (one of Pastel’s signature dishes); and a perfect Beef Wellington – filet mignon in crispy croissant dough with duxelles mushrooms and a truffle sauce. In short, a rare opportunity to indulge at the pinnacle of culinary excellence while interacting personally with a Michelin-star chef. Grace @ Pastel. Not kosher. 27 Sha’ul HaMelekh Blvd., Tel Aviv. Tel. (03) 644-7441. Ambiance: now that Onami has succeeded in luring Roy Soffer from his ivory tower, one of Tel Aviv's first and most venerable Japanese restaurants – especially since the closure of the late, lamented Yakimono – has now vaulted back into the elite of Israel’s Asian restaurants. Uniquely, Onami boasts two separate elegant premises: the kosher version in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel, and the original, between Ha’Arba’a Street and Givon Square, manages to exude intimacy despite its sizable dimensions, with a large horseshoe bar that overlooks the work of the sushi chefs. Seating is entirely indoors, on comfortable chairs with leather upholstery. A pleasant instrumental soundtrack plays at just the right decibel level. 4 View gallery Onami (Photo: Buzzy Gordon)Drinks: the full bar serves six specialty cocktails, as well as carefully curated umeshu and sake menus. Moreover, the international wine list is surprisingly comprehensive for a Japanese restaurant, although very few vintages are available by the glass. In addition, there are three different brands of imported Japanese beer, one of them on tap. Menu: the extensive bilingual dinner menu, significantly revised by Chef Soffer, comprises no fewer than 11 sections: Cold appetizers, Hot appetizers, Yakitori, Main courses, Sushi bar (with six subcategories), Sashimi, Chef’s specials, Inside-out, Temaki, Combinations (for two diners, in three subcategories), plus a children’s menu. Given the unsurprising emphasis on fish and seafood, there are limited vegetarian/vegan options, although plenty of gluten-free dishes to choose from. Four desserts – described as French, with a Japanese twist – are listed on a separate menu. Recommended: Zakuro; iwa gaki oyster; maguro tartare; sake tataki; unagi temaki; ebi butter yuzu; inari special; bento (dessert). Onami. Not kosher. 18 HaArba'a St., Tel Aviv. Tel. (03) 562-1172.