New chef, kosher menu: Brown Hotels undergoes culinary overhaul

Brown Hotels, which was recently acquired by Israel Canada after running into financial difficulties, is appointing chef Nissim Levi as chief chef. Levi will lead the group’s hotels in Israel, Cyprus and Greece, as well as the Tel Aviv George Hotel, which will become kosher.

In addition to acquiring Brown, Israel Canada deepened its hold on luxury hospitality in Tel Aviv when it also entered the George Hotel and added it to the chain’s premium collection. The hotel was built by Elco, from the Electra Group, at a huge investment of about 500 million shekels. With its entry into the hotel’s operations and management, Israel Canada made a significant strategic decision to appeal to a wider Israeli audience, converting its culinary operations there to kosher.

Chef Omri Cohen, who most recently served as chef of the West Side restaurant at Isrotel’s Royal Beach Tel Aviv hotel, has been recruited as chef of the flagship restaurant. Within about two months, a new kosher chef restaurant is expected to open at the hotel under the two chefs’ direction. The restaurant will be based on a contemporary Israeli menu, aimed at bringing the roots, aromas and authentic flavors of the Israeli home and serving them in a modern interpretation using the highest-quality ingredients.

The new appointments at the chain, which operates 41 hotels in Israel and abroad, come against the backdrop of dramatic ownership changes. Brown Hotels was put up for sale after falling into a financial spiral and significant economic difficulties. This followed an aggressive and too-rapid expansion strategy, which led to a broad footprint that did not match the company’s financial capabilities. In the end, Israel Canada stepped in and bought most of the chain’s hotel operations as part of a debt arrangement, in a deal whose amount has been updated to about 131 million shekels.