WE'VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY
Once upon a time in Israel - especially in Jerusalem - you could count
the really good restaurants on the fingers of your hands - and still
have some fingers left over.
There was "A La Gondola" on King George; "Chez Simon" on Rehov Shamai
and "Mishkenot Sha'ananim" in Yemin Moshe. And that was that. All are
gone now.
If you wanted to make the trek into Tel Aviv - and it really was a
trek lasting some two hours, more or less, each way - through Latrun
on a two-lane road and then via Ramle, and driving through orchards if
there happened to be an accident along the way and you needed to get
past the traffic tie-up - you could find a few more "good" restaurants
- the very pretentions "Versailles" which I think was on Allenby,
"Toutoun" in Old Jaffa and "Alhambra" on Jerusalem Boulevard also in
Jaffa.
We've really come a long way, baby. In Tel Aviv - to be sure - there
are a plethora of seriously fabulous restaurants - restaurants that
really make my mouth happy. But it's Jerusalem that's the big
surprise. We have "Arcadia' and "Cavalier", which can stand up proudly
against any restaurant in the world - non-Kosher - and we also have
wonderful Kosher restaurants that I voluntarily go to - "Canela", and
"Gabriel" and "Tzachko" - for instance. I say voluntarily because
although my kitchen is Kosher, my stomach isn't - but these places are
absolutely worth eating in - Kosher or non-Kosher.
Today, my great and good friend Yoav - who is a "feinschmecker" by
anyone's standards and knows and loves fine food and wine although he
can't cook worth a damn - took me out to lunch - as he often does. He
is such a gentlemen that he gave me my choice of restaurants - among
which was a fairly new place called "Colony". I've been hearing only
wonderful things about the restaurant - but, someow, never managed to
get there - until today.
What I've been missing. The restaurant is in an absolutely
non-descript area which is fast becoming one of the "in" places for
fine food and entertainment. There is "Colony", "Pini Etzel Hatzer",
which opened two weeks ago after being a Jerualem fixture in the
center of town for years, then moving to Tel Aviv and then back here,
"Schmiel", a dairy restaurant whose marvelous youghurt soup I copied
when I got home, and the "Ma'abada" - where I saw Shalom Hanoch and
Ninette perform recently.
The restaurant - which bills itself as "Salon - Bar - Restaurant" - is
imaginatively decorated - and has seating both outside and inside.
There is a long bar, lounge seating on some of the most beautiful and
interesting chairs I've ever seen, a dining terrace, a lounging
terrace, and seating on three levels inside. As it was very hot today
we chose to sit inside - as did all the patrons.
And now to the best part - the food. There is an imaginative menu -
with only a few of the items not terribly original I must say - but
all beautifully presented. And judging from the completely empty
plates that went back to the kitchen - all the food was superb. Yoav
began with a gazpacho, served in a gorgeous bowl - which looked
beautiful, and which he said was delicious - and I began with a whole
hatzil baladi - a small roasted eggplant - which was obviously burned
on an open fire as it should have been, so that it had that
distinctive smokey taste - served in a bowl on a bed of creamy tehina
and harissa - a somewhat spicy relish which was the perfect foil for
the mild eggplant and tehina. My mouth was singing. As was Yoav's -
since he tasted - and tasted - my eggplant.
While we usually try to order different main courses when we dine
together - today we were both in the mood for the special - two
fillets of bouri - which is close in taste to American striped bass -
served on a bed of perfectly spiced and seasoned quinoa - and which
had flakes of sea salt, not just as a seasoning but as an integral
part of the dish. My mouth continued singing.
Of course, we drank a bottle of Gamla Chardonnay - perfect and light
to suit the day and the food. It's easy to finish a whole bottle of
wine when the conversation and food are good - and lunch goes on for
several hours. There was an individual loaf of good dense bread on
each table - and we finished with intense dark expressos, as we are
not dessert eaters but like espresso after a meal.
Naturally, we looked at the other tables to see what people had
ordered. We were sitting on a raised level and it was easy to see what
was going on. Most tables ordered the hatzil baladi as one of their
starters, the pastas were original and a lot of people ordered that,
and several people were eating entrecote steak with potato puree -
whose aroma was intoxicating. The table next to us had some kind of
dessert which looked divine - I'm not sure what it was as I didn't
even glance at the dessert menu but I will next time.
I loved the many different shapes of plates they used - each shape
perfectly complementing the food being served. And did I mention the
service? Warm and gracious and competent without being overbearing or
intrusive.
I don't know what lunch cost as I was a guest - but judging from the
menu prices and the wine list - which is relatively small but well
thought out - I would imagine that lunch cost approximately 200
shekels per person - which, when you think about it, comes to about 50
dollars American - much less than it would cost for a comparable meal
in New York.
Even their business card is classy - and I'm putting it into my card
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