Alon Shaya

Shaya was born in Bat Yam, Israel and raised in Philadelphia, where he moved at the age of four.[2] He attended Harrington High School and the Central Montco Technical School.[3] He trained at the Culinary Institute of America.[4]

Shaya began his culinary career as an intern at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. He also cooked in restaurants in St. Louis and Italy.[5] He moved to New Orleans in 2001,[6] and later opened his namesake restaurant there. He opened the Pomegranate Hospitality company in 2017 [7] and two new restaurants, Saba in New Orleans and Safta in Denver.[8][9][10]

Shaya was fired from the Besh Restaurant Group in 2017 when initial sexual harassment allegations were being publicized by employees of the company.[11][12] He sued Besh to remove his name from the eatery[13] but lost that case in an out of court settlement in 2018.[14]

In 2019 he took chefs from his restaurants to Israel on a culinary tour so they could incorporate those tastes and flavors in the American establishments.[15] He also participated in Galileat, a food workshop in Galilee.[16]

In 2020 he presented at a Blackberry Farm event.[17] He is a brand ambassador for Camellia Brand.[18]

He was a judge on the 15th season of Top Chef.[11]

In 2010, Shaya was named one of Esquire Magazine’s “Chefs to Watch”  and in 2012 he was named Chef of the Year by Eater New Orleans.[19]

He listed as one of the “50 People Who are Changing the South” by Southern Living Magazine in 2015.[20] He was also listed as one of the “50 Most Influential Jews in America” by the Forward.[2]

He was nominated for five James Beard Awards and won two:[21]

• 2015: James Beard Award for Best Chef, based on his cooking as the executive chef at Domenica[8]
• 2016: the Shaya eatery was awarded the James Beard Foundation Award for the country’s best new restaurant.

He won the “Youth Advocate Award” from Liberty’s Kitchen, and was honored by InspireNOLA Schools for his work with Edna Karr Charter High School.[22]

He has contributed to KITCHN magazine.[23] In 2018 he published Shaya: An Odyssey of Food, My Journey Back to Israel (Knopf).[24][25]

In 2016, Shaya partnered with his high school home economics teacher, Donna Barnett,[26] to form the Shaya Barnett Foundation, which brings culinary education to high schools.[27]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Shaya turned his closed restaurants into soup kitchens offering free meals to furloughed hospitality-industry workers.[28][29] He also partnered with chef Edward Lee in founding the Restaurant Worker Relief program.[30]

He is a chef fundraiser for No Kid Hungry, Alex’s Lemonade Stand, and DC Central Kitchen/Martha’s Table.[22]

Shaya is married to Emily Ostuw,[1] and lives in New Orleans.[31]