A Culinary Vision Takes Root in Israel’s North

Some places make you hungry before you’ve tasted a single bite—and the Galilee Culinary Institute by JNF, which incorporates the Rosenfield School of Culinary Arts, is one of them. For Chef Ran Pollak, that feeling hits close to home.

When you step onto the GCI by JNF campus nested in Israel’s far North, something shifts. Maybe it is the landscape— basalt stone underfoot, wild sage pushing through volcanic soil. Or maybe it is the kitchen itself, with its flour mill, wood-fired hearth, and pastry stations. Though the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing conflict have delayed its official opening, now slated for late 2026/early 2027, this ancient land has time and patience, and the feeling is that GCI is exactly what the North has been waiting for.

Ran Pollak, head chef at GCI by JNF, grew up on these grounds. His parents were pioneers who left Tel Aviv when he was barely walking to help found Ani'am, a moshav in the Golan Heights. His mother cooked with what he calls “supreme grace,” introducing Chef Ran to ingredients and flavors that were anything but ordinary.

When he first entered the GCI by JNF kitchen, his eyes went straight to the tandoor—an ancient clay oven often used to bake unleavened flatbreads. “I had never used one before, and it immediately sparked my curiosity,” he recalls. “I chose a profession where learning is infinite, and things like this make me wake up with a smile.” That sense of discovery is exactly what GCI is designed to inspire.

Steve Dabrow, the institute’s chairman and an established food industry executive, describes the campus by how it feels. “You’re in the most beautiful part of the country,” he says. “Everything here revolves around food—and food creates smiles, laughter, warmth.” When Chef Ran and his team cooked for the Jewish National Fund-USA board during GCI’s soft opening in January 2026, the feeling was more than excitement. “Everyone knew this was the launch of something historic,” Dabrow says.

The inspiration is already rippling outward. Local artisans and entrepreneurs are looking at GCI by JNF with hope for their futures. Tour groups are inquiring. Hands-on workshops in pastry, chocolate, and bread—made from grain milled on site—as well as the 100-seat restaurant are generating early buzz, with reservations likely to fill months in advance. Some are already envisioning weddings here. The landscape itself feels like a canvas for opportunity.

For Jewish National Fund-USA, whose strategic investment made GCI by JNF possible, that is the point. It is not just a school or a restaurant, but a signal—to chefs, entrepreneurs, and families alike—that the North is a place of creativity, growth, and possibilities. From the classroom to the kitchen, from local farms to regional businesses, the circles of impact continue to widen, turning individual inspiration into community-wide growth.

Chef Ran measures success more simply: “I want people to leave asking themselves—when do we come back, and who do we bring with us?”

Click here for an exclusive Raw Trout & Fennel Salad recipe from Chef Ran, inspired by the flavors of the Galilee

Join the journey of the Galilee Culinary Institute by JNF. Learn more at galileeculinaryinstitute.com