James Beard Award-winning Chef Zachary Engel is Executive Chef and Co-owner of Galit in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2022 and is a space for community, where hospitality professionals, guests and suppliers come together and celebrate food and drink in a respectful, friendly and caring manner. Galit’s menu focuses on a seasonal and localized approach to dishes of the Middle East, alongside a unique and forward-thinking beverage program.

Before moving to Chicago, Chef Zach was the Chef de Cuisine at Shaya Restaurant in New Orleans, where he led a talented team to take home the 2016 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant, a culminating triumph at the end of a year of many “Best New” accolades. In 2017, he followed with the James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year Award. His career includes time spent in the kitchens of Zahav in Philadelphia, Catit in Tel Aviv and Michelin-starred Madrona Manor in Sonoma County. Chef Zach’s time growing up in a Jewish household as the son of a rabbi and his many trips to Israel are the grounding elements of his modern Middle Eastern cooking.