Itay Eyal, Chef and Farmer

I’m Itay. I’m a Farmer, shepherd and a chef at ILU.

started my journey at “Salva Vida” in Tel Aviv, where I was first introduced to high-level cooking and discovered my drive to learn, develop and exceed in this profession.

I graduated with distinction from “Bishulim” culinary school in 2017 and at the end of the year, I was announced alongside 6 other chefs, as one of Tel Aviv’s culinary rising talents by TimeOut magazine.

In 2018, I was granted the opportunity to work at one of the world’s most revolutionary restaurants, 2 Michelin star Blue Hill at Stone Barns, lead by chef Dan Barber. Barber and the restaurant are pioneers of the ”farm to table” movement, using fine dining to highlight producers, create market-driven menus and elevate vegetables to the centre of the meal, to ultimately express a region’s true abundance.

After a year at Blue Hill, I embraced the values that I learned there and decided to discover more about farming and how ingredients end up on our plates. This led me to the UK, where I worked as a farmer and shepherd. After 5 years travelling the world, staging in the best restaurants in NYC, Philadelphia and the UK, I returned to Israel with a new perspective on our land.

Today, I cook at Pronto Restaurant in Tel Aviv, and I’m Head of ILU’s Vegetable Garden Project, alongside my life partner, chef and farmer, Emma Woods.