Omri McNabb

The Climb

Cordon Bleu training gave Omri McNabb a formal base, and the head-chef posts at Herbert Samuel and Popina in Tel Aviv pushed that training into service. Those early kitchens set the tone for the work that followed: exacting, controlled, and resistant to clutter. In Berlin, as head chef at Night Kitchen, he carried the same discipline into a new city, building a career that moved with purpose and kept its polish. Today, as head chef of The Palomar, Omri McNabb continues to work within that frame: trained, mobile, and consistent in the way he turns structure into style.

Today

At The Palomar, the cooking stays anchored in seasonal ingredients without drifting into vagueness. The signatures read clearly: dishes with familiar outlines, sharpened into the present tense. Memory and immediacy sit side by side on the plate, and the arrangement is built to land with clarity first, surprise second. Bread is part of that opening language too. Manakish, a Lebanese flatbread, has been used as a new bread at The Palomar, adding another regional marker to the start of the meal. It is a quiet but deliberate move: generous, measured, and attentive to how a table begins.

Signature

Omri's signature dishes include manakish and potjiekos.

In Their Words “This dish is inspired by siniya – which is a Middle Eastern casserole usually cooked in Jerusalem with lamb.” “This dish is one of my favourites, and one of the most popular at The Palomar.”

Recognition

The clearest recognition comes through the dishes that have become attached to McNabb’s London kitchen. The grilled aubergine carries a double status: personal favourite and guest favourite. That overlap matters in a dining room where inheritance and appetite meet in the same place, and where a single plate can stand in for a wider cooking identity. At The Palomar, the work is also defined by the meeting of Israeli and Mediterranean traditions. Tahini, cucumber yogurt, cherry tomatoes, Lebanese flatbread, lamb neck, and green harissa appear as named parts of the cooking, not as loose references. The result is a kitchen language that stays legible while still feeling active, shaped by travel, rigor, and steady refinement.