The character arc of Yotam Ottolenghi

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 14 December 1968 in Jerusalem. Between then and now sit national service from 1989 to 1992, a Tel Aviv University master's in comparative literature in 1997, a copy editing job at Haaretz, two years in Amsterdam, Le Cordon Bleu, London pastry kitchens from 1999, the first Ottolenghi in 2002, a Guardian column from 2006, Plenty in 2010, Jerusalem in 2012 and Comfort in 2024. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Yotam Ottolenghi?

He trained as a cook in his thirties.

He was born in Jerusalem in 1968 and served in the armed forces from 1989 to 1992. He then took a combined bachelor's and master's degree in comparative literature at Tel Aviv University, on an interdisciplinary programme, finishing in 1997. He worked as a copy editor at the newspaper Haaretz and then spent two years in Amsterdam editing the Hebrew section of a Dutch Jewish weekly. At twenty nine he was, on paper, a literary academic who had drifted into sub-editing.

Then he went to cookery school. He studied French pastry at Le Cordon Bleu and from 1999 worked as a pastry chef in London restaurants, and from 1999 to 2002 was head pastry chef at Baker and Spice. Starting a kitchen career in your thirties, at the bottom, with a master's degree behind you, is the decision this whole line rests on.

In 2002 he opened the first Ottolenghi in Notting Hill with Sami Tamimi and two partners, and there are now shops across London along with the restaurants NOPI and ROVI. He has written a weekly Guardian column since 2006, originally called The New Vegetarian, and it is the thing that changed British home cooking: vegetables treated as the main event rather than the side, with the herbs and the acid turned all the way up. Ottolenghi: The Cookbook came in 2008, Plenty in 2010, Jerusalem in 2012, Simple in 2018 and Comfort in 2024.

The moments

Yotam Ottolenghi's timeline.

The 1980s

Jun 1989

National service

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Three years of service, recorded here as a date and nothing else.

The 1990s

Jun 1997

A master's in literature

Milestone, and it changed everything. A master's in comparative literature. Nothing about it points at a kitchen.

Sep 1997

A newspaper desk

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Two years at a desk, sub-editing, in two countries.

1 Jun 1998

The desk, or the kitchen

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: go to cookery school, taken, or stay in publishing. Three years later he opened the first shop, and the column that followed changed how a country cooks vegetables.

Jun 1999

Cookery school at thirty

Milestone, and it changed everything. Starting at the bottom of a kitchen at thirty, with a master's already in hand.

Sep 1999

Head pastry chef

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Three years from student to head of a section.

The 2000s

Jun 2002

The first shop

Milestone, and it changed everything. One shop in Notting Hill, which became a great many of them.

Jun 2006

The Guardian column

Milestone, and it changed everything. A weekly column that changed what British home cooks do with a vegetable.

Jun 2008

The first cookbook

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Six years after the shop, the book of it.

The 2010s

2 Sep 2010

Plenty

Milestone, and it changed everything. Vegetables as the main event rather than the side. That is the whole argument.

27 Sep 2012

Jerusalem

Milestone, and it changed everything. A book named for the city he was born in, written with Sami Tamimi.

4 Sep 2018

Simple, then Comfort

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Two more books, and the recipes finally shortened.

The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is visible in any British kitchen: vegetables treated as the main thing on the plate, by a man who did not start cooking professionally until he was thirty.

What he wrote

Books by Yotam Ottolenghi

2008
Ottolenghi: The Cookbook
The first book, six years after the first shop opened.
2010
Plenty
Vegetables as the main event rather than the side, with the herbs and the acid turned all the way up.
2012
Jerusalem
Written with Sami Tamimi, and named for the city they were both born in.
2018
Simple
The same cooking with the ingredient lists finally shortened.
2024
Comfort
His most recent book, on the food people actually want at the end of a day.

Your turn

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His started at the bottom of a kitchen in his thirties, with a master's already in hand. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.

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Yotam Ottolenghi: frequently asked questions

What people ask about his line.

What is Yotam Ottolenghi's character arc?

A master's in comparative literature, two years sub-editing at newspapers, then cookery school at thirty and the bottom of a London pastry kitchen, and then the shops and the books that changed how a country cooks vegetables.

What did Yotam Ottolenghi study?

A combined bachelor's and master's degree in comparative literature at Tel Aviv University, finishing in 1997, on an interdisciplinary programme. He studied French pastry at Le Cordon Bleu only afterwards.

What is Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi?

His book of 2010, which treats vegetables as the main thing on the plate rather than the side. It is the book that changed what a great many British home cooks do with a vegetable.

What is Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi?

His book of 2012, written with Sami Tamimi and named for the city they were both born in. It gathers the cooking of that city, and this page says nothing further about it.

When did Yotam Ottolenghi start cooking professionally?

In 1999, at thirty, after studying French pastry at Le Cordon Bleu. He worked in London restaurants and was head pastry chef at Baker and Spice from 1999 to 2002 before opening his own shop.

Does Yotam Ottolenghi write a column?

Yes, a weekly column for The Guardian since 2006, which began under the title The New Vegetarian. It has run for two decades and is arguably more influential than any single one of his books.

What restaurants does Yotam Ottolenghi have?

The Ottolenghi delis and shops, opened from 2002 across London including Notting Hill, Islington, Chelsea, Marylebone, Hampstead and Spitalfields, alongside the restaurants NOPI and ROVI. The first of them opened in Notting Hill in 2002, with Sami Tamimi and two partners.

Where does this timeline of Yotam Ottolenghi's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Yotam Ottolenghi isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to him.

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Sources

Yotam Ottolenghi, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
The Guardian, weekly column from 2006.
Publisher records for Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Plenty, Jerusalem, Simple and Comfort.