Meet our Maker | Michael Rantissi

Which restaurant / cafe are you from? 
Kepos Street Kitchen and Kepos & Co

What inspired you to create your 'flavours of the world' dish? 

Pistachio and orange blossom cake with blood orange syrup and fresh blood orange.

A lot of my cooking inspiration comes from the food I had growing up in Israel.  There are a lot of nuts used in Middle Eastern cooking, for sweet and savoury dishes so in this dish I have used the pistachios. When creating dishes, I always think of the textures of the ingredients I am using.  Citrus is also used a lot in Middle Eastern cooking so I’ve chosen the blood orange to go with the pistachio cake.  I was trained in classical French cooking, and still incorporate some of those techniques in my dishes. 

Go-to meal after a long day at work? 

Anything that Kristy my wife has cooked as it is always so delicious (and I didn’t have to cook it!)

What's your favourite dish to whip up for loved ones? 

When entertaining family or friends at home, we tend to be adventurous in whipping up food, so it's never really the same.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

This could also be the answer to go-to-meal after a long day at work and that would be a glass of whiskey and a handful of pistachios.

We know, for the time being we are no longer able to travel due to Covid, however if you could, what would be your destination of choice and why?

My wife, Kristy and I were meant to be in London and Istanbul in early August, but obviously had to cancel the trip so those two destinations would still be on the cards for when we are able to travel again.  We picked London for their food scene and wanted to try some of their more refined restaurants and old school food markets.  Istanbul for their vibrant food culture and history.