Ron Ben-Israel (; born 1957) is an Israeli-American

pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier (; feminine pâtissière, ) is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bistros, restaurants, bakeries, b ...

. He is the executive chef and owner of Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He is known for his wedding and special occasion cakes as well as for his detail in sugar paste flowers. From 2011 to 2013, he hosted the cooking competition TV show Sweet Genius. Ben-Israel has also been a judge on a variety of

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

shows, including Cake Wars, Chopped,

Guy's Grocery Games '' Guy's Grocery Games'' (often nicknamed ''Triple G'') is an American reality competition television series hosted by Guy Fieri and his son Hunter on Food Network. Each episode features four chefs competing in a three-round elimination contest ...

and Worst Cooks in America.

Biography

Ron Ben-Israel was born in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. His mother was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and was rescued from the ghetto by American volunteers, later immigrating to Israel. His father, Moshe, lost most of his family in

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, and survived

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

. His father worked in the printing industry, while his mother worked in map-making for the government. Ben-Israel grew up in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. He loved baking in the kitchen as a child. He attended the Thelma Yellin High School for the Arts, specializing in dance.

Dancing career

Ben-Israel started a dance career at age 21, right after discharging from the army. He specialized in

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...

. He danced with the Israeli dance companies Batsheva and Bat-Dor over a period of some 15 years, and toured internationally. Near the end of his dancing career, he moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Baking career

In 1993, while living in

, Ben-Israel retired from dancing, in part due to having developed

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

. He started a new career in cooking, doing temporary jobs making cakes and designing shop windows. In 1996, he fell in love with baking. He was discovered and mentored by Betty Van Nostrand and

Martha Stewart Martha Helen Stewart (, ; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail business woman, writer, and television personality. As the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, focusing on home and hospitality, she gained success through a variety ...

who saw one of his cakes in a window. He was disappointed by the American approach to baking (vegetable shortening, powder sugar, plastic columns, plastic figurines) and set to create more elegant and delicate cakes, digging into his Israeli background where the pastry culture was more international. He designed a cake for the very first issue of ''Martha Stewart Living Weddings'' (1995). He launched Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in 1999. He was tagged “the

Manolo Blahnik Manuel "Manolo" Blahnik Rodríguez (; born 27 November 1942) is a Spanish fashion designer and founder of the eponymous high-end shoe brand. Biography Blahnik was born in Santa Cruz de la Palma, in the Canary Islands (Spain), to a Czech father ...

of wedding cakes" in a 2003 issue of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. His television appearances include ''

'', the Bravo Network, ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...

,'' the

, and the ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

''. From 2011 to 2013, Ben-Israel was the host and judge of the

competition show '' Sweet Genius''. Ben-Israel appeared as a guest judge on Season 2 of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

Baking-parody show '' Nailed It!''. He has also appeared as a guest judge on Season 3 of Netflix's '' Sugar Rush'' and on Food Network's The Big Bake.

Private life

Ron Ben-Israel is gay.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Israel, Ron Pastry chefs Food Network chefs Living people Israeli male chefs Israeli television chefs American male chefs American television chefs Chefs from New York City Israeli LGBTQ dancers 21st-century Israeli Jews Gay Jews Israeli gay entertainers Israeli emigrants to the United States Israeli people of Austrian-Jewish descent Israeli soldiers Israeli male dancers Modern dancers Gay dancers 1957 births 21st-century American Jews LGBTQ chefs