Controversial chef opens a new outpost of his Israeli restaurant in Miami Beach
Eyal Shani has made some bold claims about the food he has served at his Tel Aviv restaurants.
He claimed to have invented dishes like the whole roasted cauliflower, fish carpaccio and tomato sashimi over more than 30 years. Now he brings that brash attitude to HaSalon Miami Beach, the second U.S. outpost of his Israeli restaurant, where fine dining and Israeli pop music lead to dancing on tables and raucous music as the night wears on. It takes over the former China Grill space.
HaSalon’s is high-minded cuisine, with each dish intended to be “the best version of itself,” Major Food Group co-founder Jeff Zalaznick said. The menu includes a $24 heirloom tomato cut into wedges, a dish called The Best Tomato in NY is Naked.
Shani has a storied history in Israel, a former filmmaker who taught himself to cook and became a celebrity TV chef by creating a modern interpretation of Israeli cuisine, foraging for spices like wild sage and thyme. That first restaurant, Ocean, launched an empire.
When he launched his first New York City restaurant, Miznon, one of several around the world, he said he inspired waves of imitators with the dishes he created: “The world started copying me, and nobody gave me credit,” he told The New York Times in 2018. He also praised the pita he made at the restaurant and the writer added, “and he did not claim to have invented it.”
Those bold claims recently crossed over into the controversial.
In a post to his 129,000 Instagram followers Nov. 14, Shani wrote about the Cuban black beans he intends to serve at the new HaSalon: “I feel sincere pain over the Cubans who have passed away and have not been privileged to eat this black bean,” he wrote below a photo of an expressionistic plating of black beans, surrounded by tomato and cucumber wedges, topped with a sliced hard-boiled egg.
Shani changed his initial caption then deleted the post altogether, before reposting the photo with an apology Tuesday.
In an unsolicited email to the Miami Herald late Monday, the Israeli chef wrote that English is not his first language and he relied on Google translate. He compared the plight of Cubans and Jews, “both histories have so much in common — the dream to be free in your own country.”
“When I created that dish, I imagined the Cubans … I felt their pain, their pain through their history, I wanted to create a dish that will make them to feel proud in their culinary honor,” he wrote.
The beans may or may not make it to the final menu, after the social media face plant, Zalaznick said.
“The guy is devastated. His intent was not to hurt and denigrate but to celebrate with the experience and the tools that he has, embracing the local culture,” Zalaznick said. “I hope people can forgive him.”
HaSalon Miami Beach
Address: 404 Washington Ave., Miami Beach
More info: The restaurant is expected to open Nov. 20. MajorFood.com
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 2:31 PM.
