Zachary Engel is executive chef and owner of Galit Restaurant, which opened in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood in 2019. His approach to Middle Eastern cooking with a focus on Midwestern ingredients led to Engel and Galit being awarded a Michelin star in 2022. Previously, he was the chef de cuisine at Shaya Restaurant in New Orleans, which won the 2016 James Beard Foundation Award for Best New Restaurant, a culminating triumph at the end of a year of many “Best New” accolades. In 2017, he followed with the James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year Award. His career includes time spent in the kitchens of Zahav in Philadelphia, Catit in Tel Aviv and Michelin-starred Madrona Manor in Sonoma County. Engel’s time growing up in a Jewish household as the son of a rabbi and his many trips to Israel are the grounding elements of his modern Middle Eastern cooking.