From Restaurateur to TikTok Star: Robi Michael's Culinary Journey
Translated & summarized from Mako by baba
Former restaurateur Robi Michael, who lost millions during the pandemic, has found success as a food blogger on TikTok and other platforms. He cites difficulties with Israeli staff as a reason for not returning to the restaurant industry. Michael now offers digital courses and frozen kubbeh, collaborating with the Machneyuda group. He emphasizes authenticity and his audience's success in his content creation, while also prioritizing family life.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Robi Michael pivoted from owning four restaurants to becoming a TikTok food star after losing millions in the pandemic.
- He refuses to return to the restaurant business due to challenges with Israeli staff and high labor costs.
- Michael's digital kubbeh course and frozen product line are gaining popularity, with a new collaboration in Jerusalem.
- His authentic, energetic content style has garnered hundreds of thousands of followers across social media platforms.
- He prioritizes his audience's success in cooking his recipes over viral trends and maintains a strong family focus.
Robi Michael, a former restaurateur who lost millions during the COVID-19 pandemic, has reinvented himself as a successful food blogger and content creator. Before the pandemic, Michael owned four businesses and employed over 100 people. He attributes his decision not to return to the restaurant industry primarily to the difficulties in finding and retaining reliable Israeli staff, describing them as transient and often treating the job as a temporary stop before or during military service or studies. He also notes the high cost and service limitations of foreign workers.
During lockdown, Michael began posting recipe videos on TikTok, which quickly gained traction, leading to millions of views and a significant online following. He now shares detailed recipes and humorous couple's videos with his wife, Rachel. His culinary expertise, honed in the demanding restaurant world, has been channeled into a digital course on making Kurdish kubbeh, drawing on extensive research and family traditions. He has also developed a line of frozen kubbeh, which will soon be sold at the Pita restaurant in Jerusalem as part of a collaboration with the Machneyuda group.
Michael emphasizes that his shift to content creation allows him more control and predictability compared to the restaurant business, where he felt he was constantly managing staff issues. He highlights that while the work is demanding, it is self-reliant, unlike the constant need to 'babysit' employees in a restaurant. He also revealed that he lost over 6 million shekels during the pandemic with no compensation.
His online success is attributed to his authentic and energetic presentation style, which contrasts with more polished food bloggers. Michael believes that personality is key to audience connection in the current social media landscape. He prioritizes his audience's success in replicating his recipes over viral trends, aiming for genuine culinary achievement for home cooks. He also maintains a strict policy against discussing politics, even with friends, and has chosen to keep his son, Assaf, out of the public eye until he is old enough to decide for himself.
Michael's personal life has also seen a resurgence, with his relationship with his wife Rachel, whom he previously separated from due to prioritizing work, now being central. Rachel is a significant creative force behind his content, including the popular kubbeh journey series. He is also developing new products from Kurdish cuisine, aiming to give the cuisine more prominence.
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