Netflix Chef Announced as Inaugural Culinary Advisory Council Member

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Oct 31, 2019, 13:05 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Netflix chef and Israeli-American restauranteur, Michael Solomonov, has been announced as Jewish National Fund-USA's (JNF-USA) inaugural Culinary Advisory Council member and will support the creation of a new food-tech ecosystem in Israel's Greater Kiryat Shmona region.

(L-R) Jewish National Fund-USA CEO, Russell F. Robinson; Owner of La Boîte and the visionary behind GCI by JNF, Lior Lev Sercarz; and Netflix Chef and Restaurateur, Michael Solomonov, share their excitement for JNF-USA's plans to create a new food-tech ecosystem in Israel's Greater Kiryat Shmona region along with their goal of creating 40,000 new direct and indirect jobs.

"I believe that we, as chefs, never stop being students, which is why I am excited to be the inaugural member of JNF-USA's Culinary Advisory Council where I will advise on the development of the Galilee Culinary Institute by JNF (GCI by JNF)," said Chef Michael Solomonov. "We are seeing a renaissance in Israeli food as American diners embrace the cultural melting pot of cuisines from my home country. GCI by JNF will be a new type of culinary school, where budding chefs will work with the unique mix of cultures and cuisines that can only be found in the north of Israel. We will teach students how to cook and how to run profitable, sustainable businesses."

JNF-USA, together with ii2020, and through a lead gift from the Horwitz-Zusman families, is driving an initiative to repurpose an existing historical building in Kiryat Shmona to create the Beit Asher Food and Technology Innovation Center on the Greenbaum Campus at a total cost of $14 million. In parallel, JNF-USA has teamed-up with chef, spice master, and owner of New York's famed La Boîte, Lior Lev Sercarz, to create GCI by JNF on the Marvin Sukonik Campus.

"JNF-USA's One Billion Dollar Roadmap for the Next Decade is investing in the Kiryat Shmona region to position the area as the next food-tech and culinary capital of the world," said JNF-USA President, Dr. Sol Lizerbram. "Imagine a future where A.I. drives 100% predictable agriculture or where we develop alternative sources of protein. Our investment in Israel's north will support this work and create 40,000 new direct and indirect jobs in the region."

"Israel's population will reach 15 million people in the coming decades and it is unsustainable for the majority of Israelis to reside in the center of the country," said Lior Lev Sercarz, owner of La Boîte and the visionary behind GCI by JNF. "Our work to bring cutting edge culinary and food-tech projects to the Greater Kiryat Shmona region is just as much about addressing global food challenges as it is about making Israel's north a destination where Israelis in Tel Aviv will choose to move because of the area's attractive opportunities."

SOURCE Jewish National Fund-USA