When OCD is a good thing
Review: Chef Raz Rahav’s new venture in Jaffa vaults to the forefront of Israel’s elite restaurants with a unique nine-course meal experience that is a surprise every time.
Rarely has there been as much buzz about a new restaurant as has surrounded OCD, opened earlier this year by Chef Raz Rahav, when he returned from working at Kitchen Table, a Michelin-starred establishment in London. In short order, OCD was picked as one of Tel Aviv’s Top 10 restaurants for 5776 by Time Out Magazine.
The concept at OCD, whose decor is industrial, is quite different: the restaurant serves a fixed, nine-course menu at two seatings nightly, 7pm and 9:30pm. No-one sitting on the plush suede barstools at the modified horseshoe bar surrounding the open kitchen knows what is on the menu until dishes are served—with a verbal explanation only, in Hebrew or English—by one of the kitchen staff, directly from the plating area. At any given time, up to three dishes are being prepared and plated in full view.
When reservations are taken, the restaurant asks whether any dietary restrictions or preferences apply, and the kitchen makes adjustments to individual menus accordingly.
There is an extensive, bilingual wine and alcohol list, suggesting a choice of four or six pairings—at a surcharge of NIS 109 or NIS 164 respectively—on top of the NIS 208 fixed price for the meal. There is a sommelier on staff, presumably to advise on pairing choices.
An opening amuse-bouche was served at 7:15pm, with the first dinner course arriving at 7:30pm: red snapper tartare flavored with fig vinegar alongside a tomato mousse, topped with a thin wafer of fried seaweed. What was remarkable was that the tomato component was white—because it was made only from the water in which the tomato was cooked. The result was a condiment that complemented the tartare rather than competed with it—and the first indication that there is serious talent at work in the kitchen.
The delicately flavored tartare and mousse were extremely light; and even though we had been instructed to mix them, each was terrific eaten on its own. This course was also the introduction to a theme that was to repeat itself throughout the evening: the small portion was gone all too quickly, leaving the wish that there had been more to begin with.
The second course was cured amberjack, with gin-soaked cucumber, pickled onion, an aioli with oregano oil and powdered capers, and popped buckwheat. This time the components of the dish cried out to be combined, the aioli adding a gentle touch of heat to the extremely fresh fish, while the tiny hard grains added some welcome crunch to the wonderful interplay of flavors and textures.
As we waited for the third course, a second, minuscule amuse-bouche was served: fried mochi with shallot cream, cured chopped sardines, and pickled shallots. Too small even to bite into, the whole thing gets popped into the mouth, where it set off a mild explosion of flavor. It took about as long to hear the explanation of the ingredients as it did to eat.
The third course had the most elegant presentation so far: Jerusalem artichoke soup with beef tartare atop a garlic confit, garnished with chips of dehydrated Jerusalem artichoke. The velvety soup added extra flavor and moisture to the melt-in-your-mouth tartrate.
The next course was steamed European sea bass in an exotic stock of vanilla, pumpkin and shrimps, on a risotto of oats atop a black garlic cream. While the texture of the oat risotto was a distinct novelty, the slightly frothy broth enhanced the perfectly cooked fish without overwhelming it; an oatmeal tulle rounded out this extremely creative dish.
The fifth course was yellow corn chowder and pickled white corn with stewed beef brisket that had been slow-cooked in ginger and wine. This dish—topped with a tasty tuile of cured, dried brisket that resembled crisp bacon—had the least harmony of ingredients, with a slightly acerbic aftertaste; nevertheless, it was compelling in its complexity.
The sixth course was veal sirloin aged 32 days in duck fat, in a cognac-mustard sauce, accompanied by roasted onion and baby turnips (also basted with duck fat) and seared plum. The tender, pink and succulent veal was the centerpiece of the most substantial course of the meal, and certainly one of the best.
The final three courses were all desserts, starting with a honey parfait (dusted with carrot powder) that was the texture of chiffon, surrounded by candied hazelnuts, raisins, and goat Gouda cheese. Factor in carrot and sage cream and an earl grey and lime jelly, and you have a symphony of flavors adding up to another dish you hated to see end.
The star of the eighth course was a dish I never could have imagined: bay leaf crême brûlée, alongside a scoop of rhubarb sorbet with hibiscus cream and a meringue. Both this and the dish that followed—a lemon ice cream bar covered with white chocolate and studded with almond crumble—were sweet and refreshing, as desserts are meant to be.
At 9:15pm, Chef Rahav thanked the diners for coming, and received a spontaneous round of applause in reply.
OCD is definitely a unique—and rewarding—culinary experience; and since the dishes on the menu rarely repeat (or even it they did), one that is definitely worth repeating.
Not kosher
Tirtza St. 17, Jaffa
Tel. (03) 556-6774
