Born in Jerusalem, Shabtai, 42, developed his love of cooking from his grandma Mutra – after whom his Miami restaurant is named. From the recipes he makes to the way he sources the ingredients, her presence can be felt throughout. “One of the most beautiful things that Mutra did was to be who she is,” he says, explaining: “I’m talking my grandma and the restaurant. We don’t want to try to impress, we do what we do in our way and because this is our story, and we are very proud of our story.”
A photograph of Chef Shabtai's grandmother, Mutra, which hangs in the restaurant (Photo: N.A. Photography)[Missing Credit]
The restaurant “is telling the story of Israel in the way of the food, the hospitality, the execution, and the way that everybody is welcoming,” Shabtai tells me. The Michelin inspectors clearly agree, applauding his “take on Middle Eastern cuisine”, “the excellent staff” and recommending that “snagging a seat at the chef’s counter is a must”.
Those familiar with the Israeli larder will recognise many of the ingredients and influences – from labneh and silan to Yemenite and Tunisian – alongside sprinklings of flavours from other world cuisines, ranging from Korean to Italian.
Mutra's 1 Perfect Falafel (Photo: N.A. Photography)[Missing Credit]
The first dish that catches my eye is 1 Perfect Falafel. What makes it “perfect” I ask? “That’s a beautiful question,” Shabtai responds. “I tell you why, because I did not invent the falafel. I just study so much in order to spin the wheel much better.
“My vision about that dish was the bottom of the pitta, this beautiful bite with the falafel, and the amba, and the tahina, and the Israeli salad, and the mushiness of the pitta – for me it was like a bite where everything works,” he says. “We call it a perfect falafel, because of the attention that we give to it. The process to serve that falafel takes three days. So when it comes to ‘perfect’, it’s the memory of the most perfect bite, it’s the sourcing of the most perfect ingredients, and the most beautiful, perfect plating that will make you understand the story behind it – not only the flavour, which I’m telling you, is a bomb flavour. You’re eating it, and you’re like, ‘what the hell is going on?’”
'Original Beet 3 Ways' is Chef Shabtai's celebration of beetroot (Photo: N.A. Photography)[Missing Credit]
“If you tried it, you would know why it’s perfect,” adds Noa Figari, the managing director of the hospitality group behind Mutra, and one of Shabtai’s inner circle.
When I ask why he thinks it’s taken so long for a kosher restaurant to get this recognition, she jumps in on Shabtai’s behalf, telling me: “I think other chefs are just not as creative as Raz. His creativity level is just off the roof, and he’s not scared of kosher. I think other chefs take it as a restriction, but Raz took it as the exact opposite. He took those restrictions to his advantage.”
Also on the call is Michael Werzberger, Shabtai’s business partner and investor. The pair met when Shabtai worked for Werzberger’s family as a private chef, and the New York businessman instantly saw his potential.
“Raz has a saying ‘food is holy’, and it’s something my family and I felt in the food before he even came up with that line. The first meal that he prepared for us was mind-blowing. The flavours, the ingredients, the way he diced his onions, it’s something we’ve never seen anywhere. In the glatt kosher, in the orthodox world, there is nobody like Raz Shabtai.”
Michael Wezberger (L) and Noa Figari (R) are both passionate about Mutra's mission[Missing Credit]
Having spoken to Shabtai for just a short time, it’s easy to believe.
“I’m a person that’s chasing perfection every single day,” he tells me near the beginning of a call, and as our time together is coming to an end, he says: “If you don’t mind, I don’t want to be rude, but with all respect, I have a few dishes that I have perfected and I want to return to my team to show them how to do them.”
Before he leaves, I have one final question. After cooking at the highest possible level all day, what does a Michelin star chef eat at home?
“I don’t think that you want to know,” he says. “I am a guy that eats what any kid in the world would love to eat. Let me have a schnitzel and ptitim, and I’m in heaven. Let me have those frozen meals. I love aeroplane food, for example. I don’t know how to explain it. I am the complete antithesis of what I eat versus what I cook.”
Chef Shabtai (centre) and the Mutra team (Photo: N.A. Photography)[Missing Credit]