EATING IN TEL AVIV

Tel Aviv as a food capital might not have the splashy inventiveness of Copenhagen or the Michelin tally of San Sebastian, but its approach — everything fresh and locally sourced, prepared with minimal fuss — is exactly how we want to eat right now.

The street food — hummus, falafel, tabbouleh — has always been legendary. This is a city where the pita joints and hummusiyas are de facto social hubs (“they are so packed you often end up eating outside, next to a doctor and across from a soldier,” says Israeli-born American chef Michael Solomonov), and the frenetic, massive markets where locals haggle for measures of za’atar and nosh on olives at wine bars stretch on for blocks. Over the last decade, chefs like Eyal Shani and Raz Rahav have been using staples synonymous with the country—eggplant, bulgur, cumin, chickpeas — and honoring home-style Israeli cooking by keeping their dishes simple. (Shani’s Miznon chain — which is also in Vienna and Paris — roasts a whole head of nearly un adorned cauliflower that draws lines out the door.)

It makes sense New Israeli cuisine has achieved global status, as anyone who’s tried to book a table at London’s Ottolenghi knows. But what really sets Tel Aviv apart is its other attributes — white sand beaches, Bauhaus architecture, a relentless club scene that can win over even the staunchest of homebodies. And the city is eminently walkable — which makes getting your sabich near Meir Park that much easier.

Where You’re Sitting Down to Eat

No one in town does New Israeli food quite like celebrity chef Eyal Shani, whose empire includes pita chain Miznon (with succulent chicken, lamb, and roast veggies) and chef’s table–style HaSalon. It’s no wonder the Paris Miznon and his seven-year-old Tzfon Abraxas made our “Where in the World to Eat” list for its chraimeh (fish baked in spicy tomato sauce), vibrant beet carpaccio, and whole roast cauliflower, which is arguably the most trending Israeli dish around the world these days. Shani now has some hometown competition: Yossi Shitreet, who makes every ingredient count at Mashya, also near the city center. His salad of charred watermelon, black quinoa, and sea bream crudo may bring you back again for dinner the next night.

If it’s hyper-local fare you want, there’s two-yearold Claro, a high-ceilinged dining room in an iconic Templar-style building a short stroll from the Sarona Market, where weekend brunch means green shakshuka — a mini-skillet of yogurt, feta, spinach, eggs, and challah—topped with herbs from the restaurant’s garden and made with ingredients from nearby small farms and producers.

Arguably the most upscale take on the movement comes from Raz Rahav, a 25-year-old wunderkind whose eight-monthold restaurant OCD, 15 minutes south of the center, has two nightly seatings and is booked out weeks in advance for his nine-course tasting menu, which may include purple sweet potato tuile, grilled duck hearts with corn cream, and bay leaf crème brûlée with celery sorbet. After all that food, you’re sure to need a digestif — grab a nightcap around the corner at Par Derriere.

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THEN THERE'S THE STREET  FOOD

Falafel

Our go-to for fried chickpea balls is Falafel Gabai, just a few blocks off Frishman Beach.

Rugelach

Try the crescent-shaped pastries filled with chocolate, Nutella, or another sweet from Jaffa’s Abulafia Bakery

Sabich

It’s pita with eggplant, egg, potato, tahini, onion, and hummus. Get it at Ovadia’s Sabich, just south of Meir Park.

Borekas

Phyllo dough stuffed with olives, pickles, and eggs and/or meat — the best are at Original Turkish Bourekas at Carmel Market.

Kibbeh

For a grab-and-go snack, pick up these rolls of ground lamb, pine nuts, and bulgur in Hatikvah Market.

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MAKE A DAY OF IT IN JAFFA

This historic hood in the south of the city resurged a couple of years back thanks to immigrants from France, Iran, and elsewhere who opened bars, bistros, and galleries here. Jaffa is a microcosm of Tel Aviv itself—  a place where young tech types meet over citrusy margaritas, and cyclists zoom past gossiping savtas (grand-mothers) in narrow Old Town alleys lined with hundred-year-old churches, historic synagogues, and mosques like the 1812 Mahmoudiya.

To get there, you can take a longish walk (45 minutes) along the promenade from Gordon Beach — or rent a Tel-O-Fun city bike for a ten-minute ride. You’ll know you’ve arrived once you spot the recently restored Clock Tower, one of seven in the country built under Ottoman rule.

Continue a few blocks south to the Flea Market, where locals hawk a hodgepodge of rugs, vintage threads, pottery, and silverware (hit up the ATM beforehand —  the stalls are cash only). But don’t miss the indie boutiques two blocks west of the market. At Zielinski & Rozen, perfumer Erez Rozen will blend a personalized scent from oils like lavender and lilac.

Right across Ami’ad Street, homewear and fashion designer Sharon Brunsher sells slinky dresses and knitted leather tanks. Take a breather at the five-month-old Ramesses café, where you have to get the tender lamb kebab. Then walk to the Jaffa waterfront to watch surfers riding one last sunset wave, and Instagram a shot of the mosque and Old Jaffa in the background. Après-sunset, grab a gin and tonic at Anna LouLou, a small, grungy underground bar with DJs, mismatched furniture, and dancing.

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Inside Claro

YES, YOU CAN (AND SHOULD) GET LOST IN THE FOOD MARKETS

Carmel

You’ll find both the traditional (Yemenite jachnun pastry stands) and the trendy (microbrew spot Beer Bizaare) inside the city’s largest market, which has food stands, lunch trucks, coffee and cocktail bars, and restaurants, all a ten-minute walk from the city center. Just remember, it’s closed on Saturdays.

Levinsky

This five-block-long emporium comes to life on Fridays, when locals from the nearby Florentin neighborhood kick off the weekend with hummus from Garger HaZahav and espresso at Café Levinsky. Souvenir-seeking travelers should hit up spice shop Pereg for petite packages of dried Israeli chilies and sumac.

Sarona

More upscale compared with the others, this central glass-ceilinged spot has over 90 shops and restaurants popular with an after-work crowd who sip Israeli chardonnays at the sleek Tasting Room wine bar before feasting on prime rib at Arais.

In magazine "Condé Nast Traveler", New York, October, 2016, excerpts pp.39-44. Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

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