WebThe New York-Philly restaurant connection forges ahead, carrying Israeli food and dumplings. Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook have new hits in Brooklyn with …
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Michael Solomonov was planting the seeds of a restaurant empire even as he was spiraling into addiction. Michael Solomonov hosts an Israeli brunch in New York in October 2017. ( Noam Galai / Getty) Michael Solomonov, the winner of the 2017 James Beard Award for outstanding American chef, should probably not, by his own reckoning, be alive.
Michael Solomonov, the winner of the 2017 James Beard Award for outstanding American chef, should probably not, by his own reckoning, be alive. For many years, this celebrated cook and restauranteur was addicted to crack cocaine.
For many years, this celebrated cook and restauranteur was addicted to crack cocaine. “I didn’t think I was a drug addict,” Solomonov told The Atlantic ’s Jeffrey Goldberg in a recent podcast episode of The Atlantic Interview.
For Solomonov, that double life meant opening a new Israeli restaurant, Zahav, in May 2008 while “using [David’s] death as an excuse” to smoke crack in his car. After an intervention by his then-wife and his business partner, Steven Cook, Solomonov went to rehab.