Sami Tamimi is a Palestinian chef and author living in London. He is the co-owner of six delis and restaurants in London. Tamimi is also the co-author of several bestselling cookbooks, including ''Ottolenghi'' (2008), ''Jerusalem'' (2012) and ''Falastin'' (2020).

Early life

Tamimi grew up in a Muslim family in the

Old City Old City often refers to old town, the historic or original core of a city or town. Old City may refer to several places: Historical cities or regions of cities ''(by country)'' *Old City (Baku), Azerbaijan * Old City (Dhaka), Bangladesh, also ca ...

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...

. Tamimi moved out of his family home at 17. He started his career as a porter at Mount Zion, a Jerusalem hotel. Tamimi quickly became a chef at Mount Zion and after a number of jobs he became head chef of Lilith in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. An English customer at Lilith offered Tamimi a job. He accepted and in 1997 he moved to London to run the kitchen at the bakery Baker & Spice.

Collaboration with Yotam Ottolenghi

In 1999 while Tamimi was running Baker & Spice,

Yotam Ottolenghi Yotam Assaf Ottolenghi (born 14 December 1968) is an Israeli-born British chef, restaurateur, and food writer. He is the co-owner of seven delis and restaurants in London and the author of several bestselling cookery books, including ''Ottolengh ...

visited the store. “It was completely magical,” Ottolenghi said. “I saw all these walls and counters covered with a marvelous mix of food. There were Middle Eastern salads, Italian Caprese salads, rotisserie chickens, even char-grilled broccoli.” Soon after Ottolenghi started working there. Tamimi was in charge of the savories and Ottolenghi was in charge of the pastries. The two became friends and talked about going into business together. In 2002 Tamimi became partners with Noam Bar and Yotam Ottolenghi in the deli Ottolenghi in Notting Hill. They have expanded to more locations and now this group runs the restaurants Rovi and Nopi. Tamimi and Ottolenghi have written two critically acclaimed cookbooks, ''Ottolenghi'' and ''Jerusalem''. The latter has won many awards, including the International Book Award from the James Beard Foundation in 2013, and it has been credited with starting many cookbook clubs. Tamimi and Tara Wigley coauthored the cookbook ''Falastin''.

Personal life

Tamimi lives with his partner Jeremy Kelly. He writes, paints and composes Arabic poetry.

Published works

* ''Ottolenghi: The Cookbook'' (2008) (with Yotam Ottolenghi) * ''Jerusalem: A Cookbook'' (2012) (with Yotam Ottolenghi) * ''Falastin: A Cookbook'' (2020) (with Tara Wigley)

Awards and recognition

*2011 ''

Condé Nast Traveler ''Condé Nast Traveler'' is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine published by Condé Nast. The magazine has won 25 National Magazine Awards. The Condé Nast unit of Advance Publications purchased ''Signature'', a magazine for Diners Club memb ...

'' "Innovation and Design Awards", NOPI, winner of the Gourmet award *2012 Restaurant and Bar Design Awards, "Identity" category for the restaurant Nopi *2013

James Beard Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

"International Cookbook" for ''Jerusalem'' *2013

Guild of Food Writers The Guild of Food Writers is the professional association of food writers and broadcasters in the United Kingdom. It has around 550 authors, broadcasters, columnists and journalists amongst its members. History On 12 April 1984, a number of lea ...

Awards, "Cookery Book Award" for ''Jerusalem'' *2013

Gourmand World Cookbook Awards A gourmand is a person who takes great pleasure and interest in consuming good food and drink. ''Gourmand'' originally referred to a person who was "a glutton for food and drink", a person who eats and drinks excessively; this usage is now rare. ...

, the Dun Gifford Award winner for ''Jerusalem'' *2013 International Association of Culinary Professionals Awards, winner of the International award and the Best Cookbook award for ''Jerusalem'' *2013

Observer Food Monthly ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

"Best Cookbook Award" for ''Jerusalem''Guardian News & Media press release: Observer Food Monthly Awards announces winners for 2013 , GNM press office
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Retrieved on 23 September 2015.

References

External links

profile at the Ottolenghi website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamimi, Sami Living people British cookbook writers Gay writers People from Jerusalem Businesspeople from London James Beard Foundation Award winners 1968 births Palestinian writers Palestinian chefs