Israeli chef Assaf Granit's Shabour restaurant in Paris received its first Michelin star in the 2021 Michelin guide released on Monday.
Within three months of its opening in 2019, Shabour was rated as Paris’ best restaurant, according to French daily Le Figaro’s gastronomical guide, Le Figaroscope.
Shabour is Granit's fourth eatery in Europe, after two in London, and one other in Paris - Balagan.Shabour – the Hebrew letters of the name mean “broken” – is operated by Granit and his partners Uri Navon, executive chef Dan Yehoshua and manager Tomer Lenzem, and took home the title of “Best Restaurant of the Year.”
Granit was with the entire team at his famed Machneyuda restaurant in Jerusalem when they learned of the achievement during a ceremony broadcast live on YouTube, Ynet reported.
"This is crazy," Granit told Ynet after learning of the award. "As far as I am concerned the best thing about it is that we are four partners from Jerusalem who had a vision, invested the money and dared to open the restaurant," he said.
"We are telling our story," he told Ynet, "and Shabour is the connection between Jerusalem and Paris," adding that every detail in Shabour was meticulously planned and executed without the aid of architects.
"I see young people traveling with the [Michelin] guide and following its advice. It still has a lot of influence," he said.
"We add another 'baby' every year by opening a new place that brings with it the perfection and creativity and needed. Now it's all exploding," he said as he and his staff celebrated, Ynet reported.