Chef Avi Biton Admits He Uses Stock Powder at Home

In a new episode of Walla’s video podcast “Medabrim Ochel” (“Talking Food”), host Ron Yochananov speaks with chef and restaurateur Avi Biton about authenticity, social media, restaurant culture, and the gap between cooking for the camera and cooking from the heart. The conversation, filmed in the Walla studio, centers on whether food can still feel genuine when every dish is expected to look good online and generate buzz.

Biton is unusually candid. Asked how authentic he really is, he says, “Whoever knows me knows my fussiness and the smile you’re talking about, that’s me,” adding that he genuinely loves everything from delicatessens and home cooking to catering and coffee shops. He also admits that some of his work was done for money or publicity, but says he will never use a product in sponsored content if he does not like it or believe in it. He then reveals that he once avoided using canned tuna, though he always ate it, and now has no problem with it. He also says with a smile, “I use stock powder at home,” explaining that he may add it to cholent or schnitzel seasoning because “it’s umami.”

The discussion turns to oversized, heavily stuffed food that dominates social feeds. Biton rejects the trend, saying he dislikes the idea that a place is considered good simply because it piles half a kilo of shawarma or 20 schnitzels into a pita or baguette. He says excess is not always better, the proportions are wrong, and the style becomes more marketing than cuisine. He also distinguishes between content creators and people whose DNA is rooted in cooking, saying he is both, but first and foremost a recipe person. For him, restaurants are “my oxygen pipe.”

Biton also addresses influencer culture, saying there are no free meals by default, though he sees value in creators with real audiences and genuine recommendations. He questions the authenticity of those who declare every meal “the best of my life,” and says he even insisted that his old cooking show “Maximum 24” film the mistakes, because “there are mishaps in the kitchen.” Later he discusses labor poaching, saying it exists across industries, but in restaurants the field is so small and personal that it feels especially wrong. He says he has eight food businesses, is not in all of them every day, but his DNA is present in each one through management decisions, ingredients, specials, tastings, and sometimes service shifts.

The episode also includes a surprise challenge with products from Rami Levy, where Biton improvises a warm-cold chickpea salad with oil, sweet paprika, stock powder, pickles, and pickle brine. In a “take it or leave it” segment, he says he would accept a prime-time cooking show with a chef he dislikes, and he would tolerate leftover pizza in a child’s bag, but draws a hard line at a street stall where someone scratches his back with a ladle. Biton closes by saying he wants to keep making money from what he loves, and to stay relevant without chasing every trend.