Adir Michaeli
Baker/Owner, Michaeli Bakery | New York
December 2020
Adir Michaeli has always been drawn to a challenge. After growing up in central Israel and serving his time in the Israel Defense Forces, the 21-year-old waited tables in hotels, jumping between jobs to pay for his first baking course. Once he learned the basics, Michaeli was determined to work with the best pastry chefs in Israel. He found a job at the InterContinental David Hotel in Tel Aviv, where he met his mentor, acclaimed Pastry Chef Roni Fredy Mordechai. Mordechai became not only Michaeli’s baking guru but also essentially a chemistry teacher. Even after Michaeli clocked out, he would stay late just to keep practicing with Mordechai.
Ready for a new hurdle, Michaeli set his sights on Lehamim Bakery in Tel Aviv. Although they weren’t hiring at the time, Michaeli assured the manager that he’d be the best worker they’d ever had. He was hired, and just one year later, he became the executive pastry chef.
In 2013, Lehamim Chef and owner Uri Scheft, together with Rinat Tzadok and Michaeli, brought Breads Bakery to New York City, where the bread and pastries (especially Michaeli’s chocolate babka) found national recognition. Michaeli left Breads in 2016 to tackle the ultimate challenge: opening his own bakery. In 2019, he founded Michaeli Bakery on the Lower East Side, where New Yorkers can pick up Michaeli’s takes on classic Israeli baked goods, such as burekas, rugelach, challah, and babka with his own name on it.
2020 StarChefs New York City Rising Stars Baker Award Winner presented by Butter of Europe
