HERZL 16 & DISCO TOKYO
Herzl 16 is both the name and address of this fabulously
hip café-cum-restaurant-cum-nightclub operating from
an outdoor courtyard swathed in ivy. It’s poorly signed
and the entrance is easy to miss, but the inner sanctum
is breathtaking. Wrapped in a 1920s building housing
media-and-design studios, this hotspot is full of regulars
served by staff dressed in bum bags, Doc Martens
and skimpy bike shorts. The restaurant has a strong
following for its pan-Asian menu with popular dishes
like shakshuka with tomato curry, soft tofu and
coriander. The adjoining restaurant and bar, Disco
Tokyo, concentrates on smaller, izakaya-style dishes
(with ceramic plates handmade by the chef’s mother),
while the drinks list features wine from the Judean
Hills, Israel’s up-and-coming wine region. Herzl St 16,
+972 03 554 4300, herzl16.co.il, discotokyo.co.il/en
BUREK
Only open two nights a week and located in the centre
of a loft, Burek’s open-plan kitchen is as important as
the food itself. Cutting-edge chef and TV personality
Barak Yehezkeli encourages diner interaction, all
the while discussing his inspirations and ingredients
(somewhat necessary when they are as unusual as harif
sauce made with green almonds). The restaurant serves
an expensive prix-fixe menu, but the atmosphere is
casual and vibrant as patrons are encouraged to walk
around to tunes spun by a DJ. Vegetables have been
picked that morning, fish caught that day, and the wine
is from boutique Israeli wineries only. Dessert is the
ultimate spectacle; Yehezkeli spends a theatrical 20
minutes smearing, scraping and dolloping everything
from poached fruit to frozen crème brûlée and almond
tuiles on a long table covered in paper, before everyone
is invited to gather round and dig in. Tsrifin St 39, +972
03 751 6893
HASALON
Innovative chef and MasterChef Israel judge Eyal Shani
is the face of Israel’s food and restaurant revolution.
He is affectionately nicknamed the King of Cauliflower
after the golden, buttery heads of brassica that feature
on his menus, and runs multiple venues including
North Abraxus where food is served without plates,
pita palace Miznon with branches worldwide, and
the jewel of his empire, HaSalon. Located in an old
warehouse down a desolate alley, HaSalon is open
just two nights a week with the second dinner sitting
turning into an epic party with raucous dancing
on tables. The food is equally vibrant with piles of
rainbow vegetables, hunks of meat and stacks of herbs
lining the energetic open kitchen. The restaurateur
is obsessed with tomatoes so expect to see them in
all their glory. Ma’avar Yabok 8, +972 52 703 5888
Left: Tel Aviv
beach scene.
PREVIOUS PAGES
Left: view from
Frishman Beach
of Dan Tel Aviv
hotel. Right:
Bucke’s Original
Bucke Tray
including roasted
vegetables
with feta,
potato salad,
hummus, tuna
salad, scrambled
eggs, tahini
with chickpeas,
and labne with
tomato salad.TEDER, ROMANO & NUWEIBA
In the gentrifying Florentin neighbourhood of south
Tel Aviv, a nondescript graffitied door in a grungy
historic complex masks Teder, a late-night outdoor
beer hall and live-broadcast radio station heaving with
hipsters. Tables and chairs are in mismatched plastic,
and the menu consists of just two types of tire-sized
pizza that only chef Eyal Shani (see previous) could
make this thin, crisp and packed full of flavour. Sister
venue Romano is located on a wraparound balcony
overlooking the piazza. It serves a menu that includes
Shani’s brilliantly eccentric descriptions; dishes change
nightly, but you can expect focaccia-wrapped vegetables
escorted by freshly whipped tomatoes and calamari
handkerchiefs served with lively greens in paper bags,
before finishing off your evening with free shots of arak.
Tucked away in the corner is Nuweiba, an intimate bar
filled with vinyl that can be played by DJs on request.
The multi-purpose complex also hosts concerts, events
and exhibitions. Derech Jaffa 9, +972 77 275 9605BUCKE & HAMANIYA
Those queuing for a table at the unassuming Bucke
café are placated by free samples of their famous
chocolate-chip cookies. This neighbourhood café is
also known for its large sharing platters, such as their
signature dish, the Original Bucke Tray: an impressive
platter piled with mini mountains of scrambled eggs,
green salad, roasted vegetables with feta, tuna salad, velvety
labne with tomato salad and tahini with chickpeas. It’s
humble, hearty food and the kind that makes you feel
as though you’re sitting in a friend’s living room. Sister
café Hamaniya focuses on health food and serves mainly
plant-based dishes, smoothie bowls and superfoods loved
by celebrities and exercise junkies (the co-owner is also
a yoga teacher). There’s also a mini home-décor and
plant shop. Bucke, Ahad Ha’Am St 91, +972 03 748
6831 & Yehuda HaMakkabbi St 40, +972 03 554 1262,
bucke-cafe.com; Hamaniya, Basel St 37, +972 03 946 3990HA’ACHIM
Owned by brothers Yotam and Asaf Doktor,
Ha’achim is a bustling, modern-day shipudiya
(skewered-grill house) of hearty food cooked from
a contemporary perspective. Mains cooked over coal
are served with mezze plates to share such as the
creamy house labne with dried mint and nuts, or
hot masabacha, a hummus-and-tahini style dish
topped with whole chickpeas. It’s worth dining here
for the chunky fattoush salad alone, a bowl of sweet
tomatoes, crunchy cucumber and feta tossed with
char-grilled challah bread. There’s an all-you-can-
eat weekend brunch, which as preferred by most
Israelis is a savoury affair. The soundtrack comes
courtesy of the Nadir Israeli Music Project,