Olive was created in 2016 by husband and wife team Elinor & Arkadi. They met in Los Angeles after they had individually immigrated from Israel to California. The couple was eventually drawn to the Bay Area due to its incredible produce and culinary community, and it was here that Olive Catering was born. Between them, they have over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Outside of Olive, their other greatest collaboration is their baby, Sol.
Elinor Nahmani
Operations Manager
Elinor grew up in Beersheva and is of Moroccan descent. She graduated from UC Berkeley in 2017 with a degree in Film & Media. She was exposed to the culinary world early through her dad, who is a chef, and her mom, who is an amazing cook and a gracious host.
Before launching her business, she was working in the corporate world doing tech sales. While she previously never imagined following the same career path as her father, she now loves her life in the culinary field, and couldn’t imagine doing anything other than running Olive.
Arkadi Kluger
Executive Chef
Arkadi came to Jerusalem as a 6-year-old with his family from the Russian city of Rostov. He grew up watching his mother and grandmother cook traditional Russian dishes.
Throughout the years he dabbled in various restaurants and catering stints, and in 2014 he was invited to embark on a life changing adventure on the Food Network show “The Great Food Truck Race”. His team’s food truck “Middle Feast” was the winner of season five. The prize money allowed him to open up a food truck in Los Angeles, which he operated until moving up to the Bay Area to launch his next dream, Olive.