Ori and Elderoy

Elderoy was born in 1973 in Cape Town, South Africa; the youngest in a family of ten children. He grew up during apartheid regime, where, due to his background, he faced a path full of obstacles.  Unsure of the direction of his life, he graduated from high school knowing he had limited opportunities for a successful career.  Fortunately, one of his sisters had succeeded in moving to the United States, opening a door for Elderoy to move to New York City.

Upon arrival in New York in 1993, Elderoy’s goal was to further his education.  He attended Laguardia Community college, studying business.  To pay for his tuition, he sought employment as a busboy in a restaurant.  Quickly, Roy realized that the foodservice industry was his calling, but desired to work in the kitchen, rather than the front-of-the-house.  Having no kitchen experience, the chef of the restaurant told him he had to wash dishes for a year before getting a chance do any food preparation.  Soon, however, it became evident that Elderoy was serious about becoming a chef, and he was promoted to prep cook.Cooking came so naturally for Elderoy that he gave up school to follow his passion.  Over the next nine years, he worked in various restaurants in New York, learning the ropes of kitchen life.

In 2002, Roy moved to Los Angeles where he began working for Gino Angelini and Jason Travi ,the chefs that would hone and refine his cooking skills, and lead him to the style of cuisine he knows and loves today.  Under the tutelage of Angelini, a native Italian chef, Roy learned the basics of simple Italian cuisine.  While working with Jason Travi, he began to cook more Mediterranean-style food.  When the opportunity came for Travi to open up his own restaurant, Fraiche, he asked Roy to be his second-in-command.  As a sous chef, Roy began to understand how manage a kitchen staff, and eventually took over as head chef when Travi left to start a family.  Today, Roy is the executive chef of Fraiche, where he continues to turn out consistently good food, in a style that is best described as European-style comfort food with a strong Californian influence

Ori Menashe

It was seven years ago while on a yearlong backpacking trip throughout the remote villages of South America that Ori discovered his passion for cooking. With financial resources running low and the level of culinary skills amongst the group limited, Ori became the unofficially elected chef of the group, cooking dinner most nights with only his imagination and whatever local ingredients he could gather.

Upon return, Ori moved from his native Israel to begin his culinary career in Los Angeles working as a line cook for Gino Angelini at the newly opened La Terza restaurant and as a line cook for its sister restaurant, Angelini Osteria. After working though the ranks, Ori eventually became La Terza’s Sous Chef before assisting in the opening of both Pizzeria Mozza and subsequently at All’Angelo as the Chef de Cuisine.

In April of 2008 Ori left All’Angelo to work once again with his friend and closest mentor, Gino Angelini, as the Chef de Cuisine of Angelini Osteria. During Ori’s continued tenure at Angelini Osteria the restaurant has been voted best Italian restaurant in Los Angeles two years in a row by Zagat magazine and describes his cooking style as Italian with a Mediterranean influence from the food he would help his father cook during his childhood in Israel.

“Mainly, I became a chef because nothing else makes me happier than seeing the people closest to me enjoy something I created”. Ori Menashe