Michael Rafidi

Michael Rafidi is the chef and owner of YELLOW, a Levantine-inspired cafe, and chef and owner of Michelin-starred Albi, located in Washington, D.C’s Navy Yard neighborhood. In June 2024, Rafidi was named Outstanding Chef by the James Beard Foundation in recognition of his menus, which reflect a creative update to traditional Arabic cuisine.

Inspired by his family's roots in Ramallah, Palestine and his grandparents' home cooking, Rafidi spent many years in some of the country's best kitchens before he opened Albi in early 2020. Before making his mark on D.C.'s restaurant industry, Rafidi spent six years working alongside Michael Mina as Executive Chef of the lauded French restaurant RN74 in San Francisco, and as the Mina Group's Corporate Chef. In this role, he supported the culinary management of the group's multinational properties and was pivotal in opening eight of those concepts. Having grown up in Maryland, Rafidi spent time at other respected East Coast restaurants, including Blue Duck Tavern in D.C. and Talula's Garden in Philadelphia. He also staged at Chef René Redzepi's internationally acclaimed Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, an experience that fostered his appreciation for foraging and other culinary techniques from around the world.

Rafidi was recognized as Eater DC's Chef of the Year in 2017. He was a 2018 finalist for Rising Star Chef and a 2022 finalist for Chef of the Year in the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington's RAMMY Awards. In February 2022, Rafidi was named a James Beard Semifinalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic, and a finalist in the same category in 2023. In May 2022, Albi was first awarded a coveted Michelin Star.