Today we’d like to introduce you to Inbal Baum.
Inbal, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was raised in Maryland as a first generation American – my parents immigrated from Israel before I was born. From a young age, I had a deep connection to Israel – and its food – as we would come visit family every few years. During those visits to Israel my memories are of family, food and lots of love, so I always wanted to come back.
It took some time and a few twists in life, as I went to University in California and ended up traveling the world before I came back to New York to study and practice law for a few years. A few years of law practice was enough for me to realize that it wasn’t the right career for me. After the intensity of the NYC law life, I headed to Mexico to study to be a yoga instructor. At this point, I realized that Israel was calling me, and the time was right. I moved to Israel and realized that in all of this searching, I want to find what I LOVE to do and to get rooted in it.
About ten years ago, I had a light bulb moment when a friend was visiting me in Israel and we spent the whole time with my taking him to my favorite food places and introducing him to the special vendors and families that I had met in my time here. We left the city and drove to the wineries and goat farms for incredible artisanal cheeses, and it was then that I had the revelation that THIS is what I love to do. I was deeply passionate about food, talking about food, showing people food, talking about Israel and talking about Israeli food :). This led to my founding Delicious Israel (www.deliciousisrael.com), which is now Israel’s leading culinary tour company.
In light of the tourism plunge caused by corona, I took this passion to an online way of sharing my food passion, and that is through Delicious Experiences (www.deliciousexperiences.com), which is a platform connecting the world’s best chefs to guests for private (virtual) workshops.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Can it ever be a smooth road? 🙂 It is hard for me to imagine that! The beauty of the bumps is that the smooth sailing feels great afterwards. Then again, smooth sailing for too long sometimes leaves me itching for the bumps, which may just be human nature.
I think globally, this pandemic is for sure the biggest struggle we have ever known for tourism. In Israel I am always holding my breath a bit because we have war time and border struggles more often than anyone would care to have. Over the 10 years of running my company, we have seen tourism zero-ed out at least three times. This pandemic is different – it has decimated global tourism and global travel. I am certain that it will bounce back with time, and Israel is resilient in times of crisis.
On a more micro-level, one of the biggest challenges in these times is that because I have built a career and life around doing the things I love, it takes constantly evaluating and checking in. As we grew as a company, I started to do more management, rather than being the one to personally guide our guests. This was important for the growth, and made it possible for more people to enjoy their time in Israel as we had more passionate guides to show them around, but it also meant that I was doing less of the part that I loved. Even today, I am constantly checking in to be sure that I have enough “passion” moments that make the journey feel worthwhile.
Please tell us about your business.
Delicious Israel provides personalized food tours and cooking workshops throughout Israel. Our culinary experiences range from eating street food at the best stalls in the markets, to fine dining and high-end wine/spirits tastings.
I am proud of so many things about the company, but to name a few:
– we care deeply about the relationships we have with our vendors. We are bringing guests to places that we visit when we are not guiding, and these are places we want to show off like proud parents. 🙂
– the Delicious guides are passionate hosts that truly love being with our guests. This isn’t a job, it’s their love, and they excel at it. We also have an extensive training program to be sure that they understand all of the nuances of hosting and guiding, which is so much more than taking people to eat. We connect deeply with our guests and often become friends right off the bat.
– what sets us apart is that from first email/communication, until well after the experience, we genuinely care about our Delicious guests’ experiences. We understand that people work very hard and this is a time when they want to be led and relax into a memorable experience. We won’t be happy until every guest has that!
– our flexibility and drive to do what we love… which leads to Delicious Experiences
Delicious Experiences was born during the COVID19 pandemic once we realized that though people are home there is a way to feel whisked away around the globe, or even locally. We are incredibly proud of the private, hands-on, interactive workshops and sessions which are led by James Beard Award winners (like Kevin Fink who was nominated for Texas’ Best Chef for 2020!), Michelin-star restaurant owners, NY Times best selling cookbook authors, and acclaimed sommeliers, mixologists, food photographers, food writers, and more from around the world! We are the only existing platform that offers this level of private, interactive access to such incredible culinary personalities.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Eating! Any memory that pops to mind that makes me laugh and smile is usually centered around a food experience, and usually enjoyed with my family. Then again, the first memory that came to mind is how my big brother and I used to be smushed in the back of my parents’ tiny car and he would pound on my shoulder. Now that I see my two young kids interacting like that, I can really appreciate how much love was in those moments.
Pricing:
- Delicious Israel tours and cooking experiences: from $90+
- Delicious Experiences: from $100+
Contact Info:
- Website: www.deliciousisrael.com; www.deliciousexperiences.com
- Phone: +972525699499
- Email: inbal@deliciousisrael.com; inbal@deliciousexperiences.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/deliciousisrael; instagram.com/deliciousexperiences
- Facebook: facebook.com/deliciousisrael; facebook.com/deliciousxp
- Other: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293984-d2390044-Reviews-Delicious_Israel_Private_Culinary_Walking_Tours-Tel_Aviv_Tel_Aviv_District.html
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