Hotel dining rooms are not usually where Israelis expect to find market tacos, Vietnamese street food, loaded meat sandwiches or falafel from a Tel Aviv institution. Dan Hotels is trying to change that this summer, bringing a rotating lineup of chefs and food vendors into its Eilat properties in an effort to make the hotel buffet feel less predictable.
The hotel chain is expanding a culinary program at its three Eilat hotels in August, following a pilot held in July at the Dan Eilat Hotel. The program will now also include Dan Panorama Eilat and Neptune Eilat, with guest chefs and food businesses serving selected dishes as part of the hotels’ dinner service.
The July program featured meat expert and food blogger Ruben Maislos, Haimiko’s fricassee, Rafael Ben Oliel, known as Rafa, and bourekas from Carmel Market. The chain said the August expansion follows the success of that initial run.
The project is curated by David Kishka, a culinary entrepreneur and chairman of the Israeli Association for Culinary Culture. It reflects a broader effort by hotels to offer guests more localized and experience-driven dining during the busy summer vacation season, rather than relying solely on standard hotel menus.
Among the participants in August is TACO TIA, a Mexican street food restaurant from Haifa’s Talpiot Market, which will serve tacos with fillings including asado, spring chicken and red tuna. The restaurant is scheduled to appear at Dan Eilat on Aug. 5-6, 2026, and at Neptune Eilat on Aug. 19-20.
Chef Renan Blumenreich of KOMATA, a Japanese chef specializing in high-end meals
(Photo: Lior Ashkenazi)
Chef Renan Blumenreich of KOMATA, a Japanese chef specializing in high-end meals and a former contestant on “The Chefs’ Games,” will serve stuffed steamed Japanese buns at Dan Eilat on Aug. 12-13.
The Vietnamese restaurant 26 PHO, also from Haifa’s Talpiot Market, will serve dishes including chicken nems, Vietnamese bun salad with bean noodles and chicken or tofu, and chicken meatball skewers in caramel. It is scheduled to appear at Dan Panorama Eilat on Aug. 5-6 and at Dan Eilat on Aug. 19-20.
HaKosem, the Tel Aviv institution led by chef Ariel Rosenthal and marking its 25th year, will serve hummus, falafel and fried eggplant at Dan Eilat on Aug. 26-27.
Dan Hotels will serve food from Hakosem restaurant in Tel Aviv
(Photo: Yaron Brenner)
Maislos, a food blogger with more than 600,000 followers and a prominent figure in Israel’s meat scene, will serve dishes including pulled meat sandwiches, loaded burgers and chorizo in a bun. He is scheduled to appear at Neptune Eilat on Aug. 5-6 and at Dan Panorama Eilat on Aug. 19-20.
The program is aimed at hotel guests and will be folded into the regular dinner service, rather than operated as a separate food festival. For Dan Hotels, it is also a way to tap into the popularity of Israeli street food and market-based restaurants at a time when Eilat hotels are competing for summer vacationers.