Six Israeli restaurants made the cut to be included in the prestigious "50 best in the Middle East" ranking, published on Monday – a first for eateries based in the Jewish state.
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The "50 Best" ranking has been published by the San Pellegrino water brand for over 20 years. Many consider it to be the less conservative version of the Michelin ranking, whose starts are the "holy grail" of the culinary world.
"50 best in the Middle East" reviews outstanding food destinations from 19 countries in the Middle East and Africa, spanning from Morocco in the west to Iran and Oman in the east. As of Monday, over 10% of the list is dominated by Israeli eateries, five of which are in Tel Aviv and the sixth is in Ashdod.
Chef Raz Rahav's "OCD" ranked the highest among the Israeli restaurants featured on the list, snagging the third place.
Chef Tomer Tal's "George and John" was ranked ninth, followed by chef Elon Amir's "HaBasta" (14), chef Hillel Tavakuli's "Animar" (17), chef Yachi Geno's "Pescado" (24), and chef Motti Titman's "Milgo & Milbar," which rounded up the top 40.
The best restaurant in the Middle East according to San Pellegrino's ranking is the UAE's "Fils," by chef Freddy Kazadi. Rounding up the top 50 is the Riyadh-based "Tokyo."
Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov congratulated the chefs, saying, "Israel is full of quality restaurants and world-renowned chefs. Having six restaurants on this prestigious list puts Israel on the map in the culinary world as well."
Razvozov, who is currently on an official visit to the UAE to sign tourism deals with Israel's peace partners in the Gulf, noted that "the achievement marked by these restaurants will help realize the tourism potential we have in the culinary field. I have no doubt that many tourists will come to Israel to taste and experience all the good we have to offer."
Rahav, long considered a rising star in Israel, said, "This is crazy and not at all obvious. We are very excited to receive international recognition in the path that we are paving for ourselves and we want to continue putting Israeli cuisine, which we research and learn every day, on the map of international cuisine. I'm happy for my friends, the other Israeli chefs, who were also featured on the list. This is a great honor and a shared joy."
For 20 years, the San Pellegrino company has been publishing a list of the 50 best restaurants, on which a panel of more than 1,000 culinary experts works, and this time for the first time the ranking focuses on the Middle East and the African region. The purpose of the ranking is to create a list of the biggest culinary destinations – a list that will combine "secret" places alongside big names in the culinary field, classics alongside innovative and daring places.
San Pellegrino became the official sponsor of the "50 Best Restaurants in the World" ranking in 2007. About a decade ago, it decided to expand the brand, creating special rankings for Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
In 2019, five Israeli restaurants were featured on San Pellegrino's "Best 50 Discovery" list, which explores the best restaurants and bars around the world. The five included "HaBasta, "Milgo & Milbar," "M25", "Pastel" and "Machneyuda".
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