Gil Hovav

Gil Hovav (גיל חובב) is an Israeli TV presenter, journalist, restaurant critic, and cookbook author.
==Biography==
Hovav was born in Jerusalem on March 17, 1962. His father, Moshe Hovav|he|משה חובב, was one of the first Kol Yisrael announcers, and his mother Drora Ben Avi|he|דרורה בן אב"י was the daughter of Itamar Ben-Avi and Leah Avoshded|he|לאה אבושדיד. Hovav is the great-grandson of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, who immigrated from the Russian Empire. 
Hovav studied at the Rehavia Hebrew High School and theHebrew University and completed a graduate degree in French literature and general studies.
===Journalism Career===
From 1989-1993, Hovav worked in the newspaper Hadashot as a reporter in the Shabbat supplement, criticizing restaurants and culture. Then he worked for the newspapers Ha'ir and "Haaretz" as a restaurant critic.
In 2000, he founded the book publishing house "Toad", which publishes the cookbooks, novels, and collections of short stories that he wrote and compiled.
===Television Career===
Hovav presented and wrote several cooking programs on television. These include the first two seasons of the food series Garlic, Pepper and Olive Oil|he|שום, פלפל ושמן זית on Channel 1 (2000-1998), "Ushim Shuk" on the Channel 2 concessionaire Telad (2001), "Captain Cook" on the Channel 10 (2002-2003), "Making a Holiday" on Channel 3, "Gil Hovav and the Extras" on Channel 3 (2005), "The Israeli Food Parade" on Channel 2, "The State's Dish" on Channel 2 (2008), and "The Flying Chef" (2009-2011).
In 2009, he began presenting the program "A Matter of Taste" on Channel 23, in which he was hosted in the homes of people who "have something to say about books, and the world in general", cooked dishes from literary classics, and took his interviewees to a bookstore where they received and explained their choice of three books. The program ended its broadcast in 2013.
In 2011, the IDF airwaves began airing the "Roaring Night Birds". The program was dropped a year later.
In 2013, he presented the program "Meals that made history" on Channel 23. Each episode depicted a recipe related to a historical period covered in the episode and featured interviews with historians and archaeologists.
In 2017, he directed the tourism program "Open Skies" in request 12.
In 2019, he started presenting the "Ochle Israel" podcast belonging to the Making History Network|he|עושים היסטוריה. The podcast includes restaurant recommendations, recipes and other food related tips.
==Personal Life==
Hovav lives in Tel Aviv with his partner Professor Danny Halperin, a computer scientist at Tel Aviv University. They have a daughter whose mother is Deborah Frishberg (a former basketball player in Hapoel Haifa and the Israeli national team and a member of Kibbutz Ein Dor).
==Written Works==
* Kitch (קיטש) : Jerusalem, Keter. 1995
* My Family's Kitchen: (Illustrations - Noam Nadav). 1996
* Sun, sea and food: Mediterranean cooking. (Together with Ayelet Latovitch, Dalia Penn-Lerner; photos - Nelly Shafer) (Moden, 1998)
* Gifts from the Kitchen (Moden, 1999)
* Making a business at a young age (Together with Tzipi Lavi; photos - Billy and Aviram) (Toad Publishing, 2001)
* Ten diets: how to choose the diet that suits you best. (Together with Ruthi Aviri Bar-El; illustrations - Yizhar Cohen, photographs - Ariel Shafran, Toad, 2003)
* Red, white and everything in between: wine for people like you and me (Ther, 2004)
* Gil Hovav and the Extras: The Recipe Book of the TV Show (Toad, 2005)
* Candies from the sky (illustrations - Noam Nadav) (Toad, 2007)
* The Sweets of Gil Hovav (photos - Moti Fishbein) (Toad, 2008)
* Grandma's food (dish photography - Itiel Zion; portrait photography - Reli Abrahami; recipe research and editing - Eli Hoffner) (Toad, 2008)
* How to have fun (Moden, 2009)
* Cooking with 5 ingredients (Toad and Moden, 2012)
* Confessions of a Kitchen Rebbetzen in English, (Toad and Moden, 2012)
* Twenty-four doors (Moden, 2015)
* A Little Book About the Big World (Moden, 2020)
* Closer from afar: Short stories and novella. (2021)
Category:People from Jerusalem
Category:Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni
Category:Haaretz people
Category:Israeli publishers (people)