It is possible, right and proper to state that "Mahniuda" is the most successful and leading restaurant group in Israel, and one that operates quite a few successful restaurants around the world, and above all, of course - "Broken" restaurant, which won the first Michelin star almost a year ago.
The one who is most identified with the group is, as is well known, Chef Assaf Granit, who is at the forefront, but the group is led by quite a few other people, led by those who walked with him from the first moment and usually choose to stay in the shadows - Chef Uri Navon.
Now this situation is about to change, with a wise man at the forefront, quite unusually for him, and cooking a delicious meal based on the stations in his life. This will happen as part of the "THIS IS ME" project of the Ontopo website and the culinary wife Efrat Anzel. The project, which also included "Diners Club" and the rum brand "Zacapa", will feature famous chefs such as Navon, David Frenkel and Uriel Kimchi who will cook "themselves" and the story of their lives.
"The natural thought was to go for a 'fluffy' menu," says the 43-year-old chef.
My connection with the beer as Uri, but also the connection of the group, what led to it, how it happened.
These are the most trivial things for me.
"It's a kind of star trip that starts in Jerusalem, skips abroad, returns to Jerusalem and so on. This is not just about my touches from my life, but also about how my teammates, who grew up with me, saw and experienced me in the kitchen."
The guys' cook
The first stop will, of course, deal with the chef's Jerusalem childhood.
"Only in retrospect, at a very mature age, did I realize that the writing had been on the wall for many years," he recalls.
"My parents worked hard until late, so there were days when I would come home from school and there would be no food at home. I would call my mother and ask her 'how to do it,' and she would teach me over the phone. That's how I learned to make pasta, toast, meatballs and more. Today I memorize recipes from the book 'Children Cooking' by Ruth Sirkis.
"In the army I was the guys' cook. I would puff dough at noon, go out for a night ambush and come back at sunrise to bake for everyone. After I graduated it was inevitable to go learn cooking to understand what was going on with me and if that was the field I chose for the rest of my life. Not a time when this profession was prestigious and in demand. "
Chef Uri Navon, Photo: Itiel Zion
Without saying a word
So Navon did learn to cook, and pretty quickly rolled into good and respectable positions with the best chefs in Israel, and there were few of them at the time.
At the age of 23, in his Tel Aviv incarnation, he decided, after finishing his job at Rafael's confectionery, to experiment with kitchens outside Israel.
After hardships and unexpected changes, he found himself in a "junior" position at the French chef restaurant "Escargo" in London, which was decorated with a Michelin star.
"I did not have a hard time with the hard work and hours there, only with the mentality, which was so different from Israel," he says. Turns to him in life, answering only 'Yes Chef' or 'No Chef', and that's it. I stood for months in the same closed room with the same four people, seven in the morning until one at night, no one spoke, neither with me nor at all.
"London made me realize that being a cook is something to be proud of. You walk down a street full of fashion, in work clothes and with a set of knives, it's luxury. In the country, at least then, this profession belongs, unjustly, to uneducated people, people without matriculation certificates or prisoners. Released - not a profession for people looking to fulfill themselves. "
rebuild
"I returned to Israel in 2005 and felt like Superman," he says.
You've learned a language, and you come home and find that no one speaks it - to be a chef.
Things that were basic there, like serving to a woman in front of the man, how to plate and how to waiter, seemed completely absurd here at the time.
"My first significant job was at the Lavan restaurant in Jerusalem. There I learned about the role of the chef in the practical and managerial place. I also learned to be a 'kitchen manager', and not just a chef. I had no way to divide work or delegate authority, it was difficult but it was mine "And it was amazing. I left there mostly with the feeling that the next step must be something of mine."
Restaurants from Mahniunda, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Rainy days in Arak
"Mahniuda" opened on July 1, 2009. Assaf and I knew in our hearts that it would work, but we did not imagine how much and we were not prepared for it. We had no birth cords, because there was no childhood. At the opening we had two flattering articles in the big media. People stood outside the restaurant with the article in hand, called us 'the big restaurant of the year', and we were not open even a month. On average we open a restaurant every year, so it was until the Corona. Two new places in Paris, on the same street of 'Broken' and 'Mess', a new restaurant in Berlin, and even a project in the Bahamas.
"You're always taught what to do to succeed, but no one teaches you what to do when you succeed. It's hard to keep up. We've experienced a process like 'The Green Giant' - you're a normal person, and suddenly the boom turns into a monster. We were also the first to evolve that way. "So, we had no one to learn from and no one to imitate. There was a lot of self-work, and there were a lot of searches between busy days and busy work. In the end, we found the formula that works."
Celebrations of the Israeli "Broken" winning the Michelin star, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The star is everyone's
The last stop at the meal will deal, of course, with the Michelin star who received a “broken” restaurant in Paris.
"I hope that next January we will also be informed that we have preserved it," says Navon.
"We work on it very hard, and all day around it. It concentrates our attention and gives validity to our responsibility and conduct. The Michelin star is not mine and Assaf's, he's of the whole team. Our ability to make everyone feel a part of it, reflects the character there is, And that it will always be, in all our places. "
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