At a ceremony held Monday evening in Monaco, France, Shabour, the Paris restaurant of Israeli chef Assaf Granit, was once again awarded a Michelin star, marking the sixth consecutive year it has retained the distinction.
The Michelin Guide ceremony took place in the presence of Prince Albert II of Monaco. Granit was the only one of the restaurant’s partners to attend the event, representing fellow partners chef Uri Navon, Tomer Lanzman, and chef Dan Yosha (known from the TV show "Game of Chefs," where he first met Granit). The restaurant’s current head chef is Eyal Alovitz, who replaced Yosha in the role.
“There’s nothing more surreal than standing in a suit on the red carpet in Monaco receiving a Michelin star while at the same time getting push notifications on your phone about sirens and interceptions back home,” Granit told ynet. “The war doesn’t stop us — it only strengthens us to keep going. The restaurant’s name is in Hebrew, the team is Israeli, Israeli music plays there. That’s a statement. We insist on normalcy and we’re doing something that’s bigger than food.”
Granit was not the only Israeli chef recognized: Matan Zaken, chef of the Paris restaurant Nhome, who holds one Michelin star, also retained his star for the third consecutive year.
Shabour opened in September 2019 in a historic building in Paris’ 2nd arrondissement, after Granit had already launched the restaurant Balagan in the city (now called Kapara). The restaurant received its first Michelin star five years ago during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There’s nothing more surreal than standing in a suit on the red carpet in Monaco receiving a Michelin star while at the same time getting push notifications on your phone about sirens and interceptions back home
Shabour’s menu plays on the line between Jerusalem and Paris — combining French ingredients and techniques with dishes inspired by Jerusalem, including spices from the Old City and memories of foods from Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market. The restaurant’s menu is seasonal and changes weekly.
Shabour is not a classic Michelin restaurant: it is known for a bold and lively atmosphere compared to the formal and traditional Michelin establishments, with diners seated around the chefs rather than at tables with white tablecloths.
Today, Shabour is considered one of the most prominent examples of Israeli cuisine on the global stage — a kitchen featuring ingredients such as tahini, eggplant, amba and freekeh that has managed to reach the highest level in terms of food, experience and hospitality.
In recent years Granit has gained significant popularity in Paris. As early as October 2019, just one month after the restaurant opened, Forbes magazine praised Shabour. Among dozens of restaurants and eateries that opened in the city, Granit’s restaurant was ranked No. 1 on a list of the 13 trendiest restaurants in Paris. The magazine praised the restaurant and predicted that a Michelin star was on the way — a forecast that proved accurate. A month after the article was published, Shabour won a major award from the Paris-based magazine Le Fooding.
“Next year I want two stars,” Granit said. “To achieve that, you have to keep working hard and pay attention to every detail, even the smallest one. I need to be with the team at the restaurant while also doing everything else I’m involved in around the world. You have to keep refining, sharpening, calibrating and perfecting everything.”
“We also have to remember that we are a private restaurant," he added. "Shabour doesn’t belong to any large group and it’s not located in a luxury hotel. It’s an independent Israeli restaurant with no investors — everything is financed with our own private money, and every small step has to be carefully calculated.”