Eats Cafiteria is a joint initiative of ex-Master Chef participant, Michal Epstein and Yonatan Koevary, ex-partner at Loveat coffee chain.
The place recently opened as part of Beit Chana, a cultural and wellness center situated at a beautiful Bauhaus building from the 1930’s.
In Neve Tzedek, one of the most vibrant neighborhoods of TLV, is Meshek Barzilay. The restaurant offers an organic, mostly vegan, menu. It operates around the clock and offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. They also have a rotating seasonal specials menu and in addition host cooking workshops.
Pronto is an Italian restaurant, founded in 1988 by film director Rafi Adar (who just announced his departure from the restaurant). In 2010 Chef David Frenkel joined him to create a classic Italian cuisine combining mediterranean ingredients.
A while back we visited Nithan Thai, and wrote all about it. Today we share with you what’s going on in its backyard. BackDoor by Sunny is an Asian inspired bakery which is located, you guessed it right, right at the back of Nithan Thai. The bakery was opened a few months ago by Sunny Deri, one of the most esteemed pastry chefs in Israel today. Since our visit, though, Deri decided to leave due to “incompatibility with Nithan Thai’s chef” according to Time Out magazine (Hebrew).
Nithan Thai has been through a lot since it had opened a year ago. It first started as a Royal Thai restaurant, offering an authentic experience that “treats each guest as a member of royalty”. Publications began circulating claiming a crazy weeks-long waiting list and reviews talked about subpar, kitsch food. The inclusion of Thai girls in traditional outfits whose job is to wash guests hands was met with skepticism and awkwardness.
Lately many restaurants in Tel Aviv started serving brunch over the weekends. This is perfect for us, seeing as how we mostly go out to eat on the weekends. We are always looking for new places that serve more than just the all-Israeli-breakfast that had become so prevalent lately.
Shuk Levinsky is becoming a very interesting neighborhood in the culinary sense. With new restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries and gastro pubs, opening up constantly, and lot of available parking space nearby (a rare commodity in Tel Aviv), it has become one of our favorite go-to areas. To name a few interesting establishments: Ouzeria expanded to open the sister restaurant Ouzeria Next Door (fantastic food, high VFM but we didn’t enjoy the service), a great and decadent American bakery named Sweet Box opened up (don’t miss their huge decadent cinnamon bun) and Fifi’s, a tiny Thai place which created a buzz and amassed long queues.
The Italian restaurant Magazzino was opened almost a year ago by the same people behind the burger chain Moses, Zozobra and the pizza joint Tony Vespa. The huge, urban hangar is situated right in the heart of the construction works on Harekevet street, making access harder. However, there’s a big parking lot right at the entrance to the restaurant. The place is aimed towards large groups and families. This was evident when we visited on a Friday lunch and saw it packed with parents and their kids. We were seated right by the entrance, where every person opening the door also gifted us with a gust of hot and humid summer air. It didn’t help that next to us sat a couple with a baby which once in a while tried to verify that their large stroller could not, in fact, move through solid objects like our chairs and table.
EatWith is a new(ish) and unique way of dining. Basically, you go to a stranger’s house to eat dinner prepared by said stranger, with other strangers who came to the stranger’s house. Sounds weird? Well, it is. But It’s also very fun! It provides a way to get a glimpse into other people’s life, listen (and tell) interesting stories as well as share your passion for food with other foodies. I’ve been subscribed to the EatWith newsletter for a while now, waiting patiently for a specific host’s event to be scheduled. As luck would have it, just a week ago, Summer Endevors by Urbano was announced.
Friday morning, Shuk Tzafon is packed with people grabbing food and loading their baskets for the weekend. Entirely unbeknownst to many of them, a huge, spacious deli had opened just a minute’s walk from their very location. Agatha is more than a deli, though, as it offers a casual dining experience where you can get a taste of the great quality ingredients it has to offer. If you always envied the Europeans for their ostentatious delis, you’ll just love Agatha. Visiting there will make you forget you’re in Tel Aviv, if just for a few blissful moments.