From opening a beloved Israeli restaurant to co-authoring an award-winning cookbook, celebrity chef Michael Solomonov and his business partner, Steven Cook, have accomplished a lot together.
Now, the Philadelphia-based culinary duo can add “Jewish National Fund-USA Tree of Life® Award honorees” to their long list of achievements.
On March 27, 2025, Solomonov and Cook, co-owners of hospitality group CookNSolo, are being recognized by Jewish National Fund-USA with the Tree of Life® Award, one of the organization’s highest honors, in recognition of their ongoing commitment to the land and people of Israel, and in this instance, their support of the country’s northern region.
“We feel really honored to be recognized by the Jewish National Fund-USA community, and for us to be able to help give back to raise money for Israel, specifically for the north, in this tremendously precarious time is very meaningful,” Solomonov said in a recent Zoom interview.
The exclusive Tree of Life Gala, which sold out several weeks before the event and is now waitlist only, is taking place in Center City, Philadelphia, not too far from where the honorees’ popular restaurants—including their flagship restaurant, Zahav, as well as popular eateries Laser Wolf, Dizengoff, and Goldie—are located.
The evening is raising funds to support Jewish National Fund-USA’s efforts to rebuild communities in Israel’s north (jnf.org/supportisrael), which until recently had largely been evacuated since the terror attacks of October 7, 2023. A portion of the funds will be earmarked for a “beautified” bomb shelter that will be dedicated to the memory of Solomonov’s late younger brother, David.
In 2000, David enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Three years later, in 2003, while serving in the IDF’s Golani unit, he was killed in combat in the northern Israeli town of Metula by Hezbollah snipers.
“The north to us means something,” Solomonov said. “And for us to be able to help rebuild Metula and the entire region around it is a gift. It's a privilege, and it's for us, and it's for our families, and it's for my brother and it's for Israel. This is an honor.”
Cook, who also participated in the Zoom interview, echoed that sentiment. In fact, the Wall Street-banker-turned-restauranteur is the son of a rabbi and said that of all that he and Solomonov have accomplished, it’s their being honored by Jewish National Fund-USA that has resonated the most with his father.
“I grew up with the blue Jewish National Fund-USA Tzedakah box in the house like every American Jew did. And yeah, my dad is very proud of everything we do, but I didn’t tell him about this honor, and he just got the email [about it], and I could tell it meant something different to him than us opening another Israeli restaurant,” Cook said.
As Jewish National Fund-USA’s 2022 Eastern Pennsylvania Tree of Life honoree, this event also means a lot to Steven H. Collis, Executive Chairman, Cencora, and member of Jewish National Fund-USA’s Eastern Pennsylvania Board of Directors, who is chairing the gala this year.
Also actively involved are the event Committee Co-Chairs Lori and Steven Dabrow, as well as Anna and Michael Boni. The Dabrow family, longtime Jewish National Fund-USA partners (donors), gifted $285,000 in support of the incredible honorees and the upcoming gala. A large sum of their donation will be designated to build and paint the bomb shelter that will be dedicated in the name of Michael Solomonov’s late brother David.
The bomb shelter will be inscribed with a message that also appears on Solomonov’s brother’s grave: "David—laughter, love, loyalty, determined, devoted, beloved.” Additionally, it will be painted with a design David made while he was a student at a Solomon Schechter school, where the Solomonov boys’ mother was a teacher—and, incidentally, where Cook’s wife, Shira, a Pittsburgh native, went to school.
“That's actually how we all know each other,” Solomonov said.
The Jewish National Fund-USA Tree of Life gala won’t be the first time the two have been honored—hardly. Together, the two were recognized with ‘Book of the Year’ by the James Beard Foundation for the cookbook, “Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking.” In 2019, their restaurant, Zahav, won the James Beard Foundation’s award for Outstanding Restaurant.
But the Jewish National Fund-USA event will be unique—for many reasons. Over 600 guests attending the prestigious gathering will be treated to an exclusive performance by the Special in Uniform Band. Special in Uniform is a Jewish National Fund-USA-supported initiative that integrates young adults with disabilities into the IDF and into Israeli life post-army service. These talented musicians show the world there are no limits.
And though not all the restaurants in the CookNSolo portfolio are kosher—Goldie, their vegan, Israel-style falafel shop, is an exception—the food served at the gala, Solomonov and Cook assured this reporter, will be. Their team at Lilah, CookNSolo’s event venue, is preparing the menu and recipes for the special evening.
The honorees’ connection to Israel is strong. Solomonov was born in Ganei Yehuda, a moshav near Israel’s central district, and moved to Pittsburgh when he was three years old. He returned to Israel with his family at the age of 15 before eventually relocating to the States. His brother’s death, he’s previously said, changed everything, and he decided to devote his career to Israeli cuisine. In 2017, he was named Most Outstanding Chef by the James Beard Foundation.
Cook’s relationship with Israel—and Judaism—has been constantly evolving. For much of his life, Cook shied away from Judaism and organized religion. His embrace of his faith is a recent phenomenon.
“It's funny where life takes you. After a few decades of running away from organized religion, this is the most involved I've been in Jewish and synagogue life since I left my parents’ house,” Cook said. “Things tend to come full circle.”
The two understand the significance of publicly standing with Israel, post-Oct. 7, as well as the challenges facing public figures who are supportive of the Jewish State. They experienced this directly when, in the aftermath of October 7, pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside Goldie, their restaurant in Philadelphia.
“It's been really challenging,” Cook said. “We are, on the one hand, proud of what we do, and the underlying theme and mission since Mike and I started working together was to promote Israeli cuisine and culture. At the same time, we are in the hospitality business, which involves making spaces that are comfortable for people with all kinds of views, as well as our employees, and people have very different views on Israel, both pre- and post-October 7. There's a lot of not understanding exactly what's going on there that informs Americans’ viewpoints sometimes. So, it's been a hard needle to thread.
“[But] there are some things in our lives that are absolute, including our feelings about Israel,” Cook said. “So, it's been really challenging.” Solomonov agreed.
“Every Jew, and certainly every person in the Israel space, has had to examine and reflect since October 7, and our devotion to the mission, which is to help advocate for and explain the country that was and continues to be misunderstood, has only gotten stronger,” he said.
Specifically, the celebrity chef expressed being troubled by how long residents of Israel’s north have had to stay away from their homes. He likened the situation facing Israel’s displaced northern population to the “opposite of Zionism.”
For its part, Jewish National Fund-USA has been focused on Israel’s northern region not just since October 7, but for years, as the organization is committed to developing Israel’s underpopulated and peripheral regions. The group’s “Reimagine” plan for northern Israel includes several initiatives that will strengthen communities north of Israel’s Highway 79 that have historically been underserved and under-resourced.
That work and more will be the focus when Solomonov and Cook accept their Tree of Life Awards at the gala later this month. The room will be filled with those whose support for the land and people of Israel is similarly non-negotiable, as well as with those who appreciate everything the prolific duo has done promoting Israel’s diverse culinary landscape.
“We've spent the bulk of our careers trying to champion the story of Israeli cuisine and culture, and a lot of what we do is intangible, but to be able to be part of something that's tangible and will have a huge impact on some hard-hit communities,” Cook said, “is really rewarding.”
For more information about the upcoming event or to join the waitlist, visit jnf.org/epatreeoflife or contact Samantha van Adelsberg at [email protected].
This article was written in collaboration with JNF-USA.
