Chef Idan Bushari Starts Over with a New Kosher Fish Restaurant in Ashdod
Idan Bushari, known as “Pompi,” says he has turned a corner after years marked by drug addiction, recovery, a reality-TV win and the painful closure of his restaurant Kilmotraz. Now 36, newly married after three years with his partner and focused on family and stability, he is opening a new kosher fish restaurant in Ashdod called Sa Tuo. He says the new venture was built over six months with an investment of 6 million shekels.
Bushari said the shutdown of Kilmotraz, two years after it opened, was traumatic. The restaurant had been successful both culinarily and financially, he said, but could not continue in its Herbert Samuel space because of debts tied to the previous owners and the Brown Group. After searching more than 10 locations for a new home, he eventually gave up and decided to end that chapter. He described the setback as leaving him in debt, isolated from friends and facing public criticism, though he said the addiction, not the real him, caused the damage.
Instead of immediately launching his own place, he went back to work under his mentor, chef Assaf Granit, in the steakhouse at Jerusalem’s Machneyuda group. Bushari said he did everything there, from dirty work to grill duty, and that the two years were crucial for his personal and professional growth. He also said winning “The Next Restaurant of Israel” gave him exposure, but there are no shortcuts in the restaurant world, even after reality TV.
The new restaurant sits on the second floor of a site overlooking the sea and a large fitness complex in Ashdod, with a half-Olympic pool at its center. By day it will serve light, nutrition-conscious meals to gym users, and by night it will become a venue for food, music and atmosphere. Bushari, who grew up in a traditional home, said kosher food can be excellent and carefully prepared, and that Ashdod’s audience wants it. He said he did not consult Granit before signing, because this time he built everything from scratch himself. He added that he is done with reality TV and now wants to focus on family life and the restaurant.
