Michael Solomonov, an American-based chef praised for his modern Israeli cuisine, has been named best chef in the United States at the “culinary Oscars”.

Mr Solomonov, 38, took the Outstanding Chef prize last night at the James Beard Foundation Awards for his work at restaurant Zahav, meaning ‘gold’ in Hebrew, which he opened in Philadelphia in 2008.

Born in Savyon in Israel but raised in Pittsburgh, Mr Solomonov turned his focus to Israeli and Jewish cooking after his younger brother David, who served in the Israeli army, was killed on Yom Kippur in 2003.

The chef, who recently opened a new falafel restaurant in Philadelphia, said he is “incredibly lucky that my work is my life’s work”.

Mr Solomonov was honoured at last year’s James Beard awards when his book Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking won the Book of the Year award. He will also be featured in an upcoming documentary, In Search of Israeli Cuisine.