Kosher review: 1868 dairy restaurant
When you’re in Jerusalem don’t miss the kosher dairy sister of the 1868 meat restaurant
There’s nowhere more beautiful than Jerusalem in the autumn. Its fall foliage and stately streets are the prelude to a truly exciting gourmet meal at 1868, whose meat restaurant surpasses many non-kosher restaurants. And yet we approached the dairy restaurant with suspicion: What new things could it possibly have to offer?
Chef Menachem Katz has joined entrepreneur Menachem Pinto in a partnership that is a gift to their customers. Katz, one of Israel’s most brilliant young chefs, has worked with Chef Aviv Levy - a genius in his own right - to put together a menu that is a paean to culinary creativity. Pinto exudes happiness and amiability, making his restaurant the kind of establishment you’d like to frequent.
1868 is located in a very old stone building, with an entrance that lets nature in. Arrange to get there at twilight, when the cool Jerusalem air begins to descend gently. Put differently, this may be a classy restaurant, but you can get seven courses for NIS 230 a person. What you save on food you can spend on wine.
Brilliant risotto, great fish Carpaccio
Order the asparagus with soft-boiled egg and caviar sauce for your appetizer and wild risotto in a velvety soup with garlic. The asparagus lies majestically on the plate, sprinkled with a bit of soft-boiled egg, and the addition of the caviar makes it perfection itself. Something seemingly banal made us realize how very serious 1868 is.
A bite of asparagus produced an abundance of flavors, but we asked ourselves how in the world they made it crisp. Then we saw with our own eyes that someone in the kitchen uses a stopwatch to measure how long the asparagus boils. The risotto is brilliant in its simplicity. The combination of garlic soup and pecorino with a mound of risotto produces a winter symphony.
The fish Carpaccio was the pinnacle. There was perfect harmony between the type of food, the serving dishes, and the flavors. When you order the Carpaccio you get a flower made from tissue paper, and only when you try to smell it will you discover that it’s Carpaccio and the garnishes surrounding it are tuna slices.
Another “must” dish is the ravioli filled with ricotta and whipped parmesan. This is a dish that demands a half a minute of silence, even if you’ve never eaten such a thing, and even if the parmesan is melted in cream and sprayed onto the plate. Ah, this is insanely delicious.
Don’t pass up the steamed grouper, served with a gnocchi and porcino mushroom concoction, imported from Italy. This is the first time you’ll eat in reverse order, first the gnocchi and mushrooms, then the fish. The range of flavors in the gnocchi and mushrooms borders on sensory abuse, for your tastebuds will demand more and more. For dessert don’t waste yourselves on the sorbet: there are works of art like the chocolate.
After groaning about how much you ate, you’ll realize that in fact, you sat in a box of surprises at a birthday party, and someone made sure that wherever your hands went, you got a surprise.
1868 Café and Dairy Restaurant, Derech Bet Lehem 32, Jerusalem, tel: 972-2-672-5366
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