Ever present
EYAL SHANI • Good People Group
WORK • Thursday Routine
EYAL SHANI • chef • Good People Group
Neighborhood you work in: South Beach
City you live in: Tel Aviv
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
Thursday morning is not something I try to control or predict. One of my goals is not to imagine in advance what will happen, but to wait for the moment to come alive, and to trust myself to be fully inside it. Only the moment exists. Everything else dissolves.
In Miami, I arrive without expectations. Suddenly, there is a surprise: something is different. My brain tries to calculate, but I prefer to respond instinctively, searching for a kind of “virginity” in myself, a fresh way of seeing.
In Tel Aviv, at my restaurants HaSalon, Miznon and others, it’s very different. The last years have been about holding everything together and rebuilding: creating new concepts, opening new places, and giving people hope. I’m speaking with hundreds of team members, reshaping menus, reconstructing what has fallen, and trying to bring light. Thinking leads, but action must follow.
What’s on the agenda for today?
Today is about preparing for the grand opening of Naked Tomato at Moxy South Beach — our newest concept here in Miami — and staying fully present inside that energy. Tonight is our opening party, and I’m excited to celebrate with Miami. We’re making changes to the menu in the moment. I don’t like to arrive with fixed ideas. I prefer to see, to feel, and then respond, adjusting the menu instinctively, shaping it in real time. That last-minute movement is where the creation becomes alive.
At Naked Tomato, I’m thinking a lot about skewers as a form of art, each piece carrying a different story, a different flavor, and only when you finish the skewer does the full story become complete. We are evolving what those stories are, and I hope to have a more complete story by this evening.
Any bar or restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
I love to walk and discover places without a plan. In Miami, I really love the traditional Cuban restaurants, and eating dishes such as black beans, or tamales. Puerto Sagua in South Beach is a favorite. These kinds of restaurants create an energy, where I get the feeling that it’s a place of freedom and ease. While I’m here, I’ll also spend time at Bella, our Italian concept that’s also in South Beach, which we opened earlier this year, to see how the team has translated the vision.
Any weekend getaways?
West Palm Beach is very meaningful to me because of Malka, our kosher restaurant we opened a little over a year ago. It’s a place I miss, not just for its beauty, but for the fire. The open fire, the charcoal, the burning wood: it creates something alive.
What was your last great vacation?
At the beginning of winter, I went to my small house in northern Tuscany. It’s more than 600 years old. We renovated it, but it still feels ancient, almost unreal. You hear nothing except the sound of water, like standing next to Niagara Falls.
This past year, a large rock fell from the cliff and blocked the path to the house, so it became unreachable. When I realized this, I told my wife, “Let’s go to Venice.” She had never been. We arrived during a storm. The water, the wind — it was wild, but beautiful. We went to Harry’s Bar, something very timeless, very simple. Sometimes these unexpected changes become the most meaningful journeys.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I recently purchased the Leica M6 film camera. I’ve always loved Leica as a brand for the quality, the history, and the precision. There is nothing quite like it. I had my eye on the M6 for many years, but I was never generous with myself. Last week, I decided to change that and allow myself to indulge. What makes it special is the way it teaches you to see. You have to train your brain to work manually, to be patient, to be precise, and in doing so, you begin to tell stories in a new way.