Shani was born in Jerusalem in 1959. His culinary passion was first instilled in him by his grandfather, an agronomist and a dedicated vegan, who exposed him to local markets, fields, and vineyards from a young age. 

In 1989 he opened his first restaurant "Oceanus" in his home town of Jerusalem. There, he developed a unique culinary language based on regional Mediterranean products: olive oil, fish, tahini, fresh seasonal vegetables and of course, the tomato.

‘HaSalon’ is his first restaurant with his partner Shahar Segal and The Better Guys company. Together, Shani and Segal continued to pioneer the Israeli culinary scene, opening successful restaurants worldwide as they go along.
To this day, they own over 40 restaurants in Tel Aviv, Paris, London, Vienna, Dubai, Melbourne, Miami, New York, Ibiza and Singapore.

He is considered the re-inventor of Israeli cuisine, with his poetic and uncompromising approach to basic, fresh, pure and local ingredients.

Starring in the TV series "Food for Thought" and appearing on the panel of judges during the past 10 seasons of Israeli "Master Chef."

Follow @eyaltomato.