The Best Damn Risotto I Have Eaten In (17) Years!!! thanks, Il Pastaio!!

This is just a “short” note to discuss a risotto I ate last night at Il Pastaio, which for lack of a better word, was @#$% ing Transcendent! Ethereal! Sublime! Exquisite! Celestial!! In any case, you get the point that it was delicious. It was this: Lemon and Saffron Risotto. The Arborio rice was al-dente- [...]

Thai house! finishes TLV’s “the Fab Five”!

For anyone foolish enough to go looking for a good, authentic, Thai meal in TLV, I have one thing to say: “It’ll end in tears”. Unless, of course, you go to “Beit Thailandi” (or, in English, “Thai House”.)  This place is not only an old and venerable TLV institution, more than 9 years old, but [...]

Il Pastaio! in the TLV Top 5!

“Il Pastaio”?? “what, is this some new place in town??” This is what I hear every time I mention that I love this place. The fact of the matter is, Il Pastaio has been open in TLV for more than 18 years- or, , similar to “Dog Years”, that means about 18,650 “TLV restaurant years”. [...]

Yoezer Wine Bar! Unsurprisingly, in my TLV’s Top 5!

Sometimes, you just feel like Getting Away From It All- And when that happens to me, and I can’t grab a last minute ticket out of here, I head for Yoezer. Yoezer, for me, is one of those rare spots which when I am sitting there, makes me feel like a million bucks. The atmosphere [...]

Yoshi! in my TLV’s Top 5!

“Japanese food and TLV.”  Hmm. Something in this sentence seems wrong… Well, until Yoshi (Yossi Holu) came along, that is. I’m very sorry to say this, but the fact that there are “Sushi” bars on every block in TLV, does not mean for ONE SECOND that I would eat at these places- In fact- I [...]

The Only 5 restaurants I will eat at in TLV!!! I’ll start with Picola Pasta

*NOTE*     This post will be in 5 installments! “Oh, you’re a Chef! In Tel-Aviv! Great! Can you please recommend to us your favourite places? We heard a lot about XXXX  and XXXX”……blah blah blah This is my sad fate upon people learning of my occupation. Now at the risk of sounding like a Snob, a [...]

2009 Oyster Season starts now! eat! eat! eat!

If there’s one thing I simply cannot get enough of- it’s oysters!! The season has just started this week, so I thought, what better time to write about the celestial joys of the noble Ostreidae ?!   First of all- I find it a crying shame that many people here in Israel have never tried [...]