At the tail end of last year, the winners of the second American Express (AMEX) Israeli Culinary Excellence Awards were announced. The winners in the major categories, which contained few surprises, are highlighted below; in addition, a number of first-time winners and their restaurants are reviewed in greater detail.
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Best Restaurant: OCD
OCD, the flagship restaurant of Chef Raz Rahav – the winner of best chef in Israel in the competition last year – was previously featured on these pages. While the menu is constantly changing, the tasting menu concept remains the same; only the waiting list for reservations – now up to many months – keeps growing. Since our earlier profile of Rahav, OCD was ranked the 14th best restaurant in the Middle East and North Africa this year.
Best New Restaurant: HIBA
HIBA, the sole remaining restaurant of celebrity chef Yossi Shitrit, was reviewed on these pages in mid-2022.
Best Chef: Assaf Granit/Uri Navon [Awarded this year in tandem to a chef duo]
Celebrity chef Assaf Granit needs no introduction to watchers of cooking shows on Israeli television, although his partner in the establishment of the Machneyuda group of restaurants in Jerusalem, Uri Navon, is less well known.
Most Promising Chef: Ohad Levi – MAMO (Eilat)
Chef Levi trained in some of the leading restaurants in Israel and was a finalist on a major television cooking competition show before withdrawing in order to resettle with his family in the Arava and open his own, critically acclaimed restaurant in Eilat: MAMO, Mediterranean by the Red Sea.
Ambiance: The restaurant occupies the entire area of a small lobby in a boutique hotel that is not on the beachfront. The premises are rendered more pleasant by a wall of green vegetation. A pleasant soundtrack of eclectic music plays in the background, although the acoustics can make intimate conversation challenging. Al fresco seating consists of a few tables outside on the sidewalk. Seating is comfortable, either at wooden tables or an elegant bar in front of the open kitchen.
Drinks: Sommelier Avi Bitton will be happy to advise you both concerning the restaurant’s intriguing specialty cocktails and its wine list, which comprises very interesting, lesser-known imported vintages. Most wines are available by the bottle and the glass. There is only one beer: Estrella Damm on tap.
Menu: The bilingual menu comprises five sections: Small plates, Veggies, Sea, Pasta and Meat. There are plenty of vegetarian options, with slightly fewer vegan ones. A children’s menu is available on request. Desserts, prepared by a dedicated pastry chef, are featured on a separate menu.
Recommended: Litchio (cocktail); Potato croquettes with Parmesan and aioli; Grape salad with green herbs and pecans; Yellowtail tartare bruschetta; Fish dumpling pasta in grouper broth; and [deconstructed] Lemon meringue pie for dessert.
MAMO. Not kosher. 10 Agmonim St., Eilat. Tel. (055) 221-6062.
Lifetime Achievement Award: Rama Ben Zvi - Rama’s Kitchen
The literal Hebrew term for the equivalent award this year is [for lifelong] “Extraordinary Inspiration,” and it was presented to a decades-long pioneer in regional farm-to-table cuisine, Rama Ben Zvi. (The Lifetime Achievement Award last year went to Chef Shalom Kadosh.) .
Ben Zvi planted her own gardens and trees of herbs, vegetables and fruits in the village of Nataf in the hills of the Jerusalem corridor, and then built a rustic restaurant around the concept of using locally grown produce as the basis for the dishes on the menu. Her determination and perseverance continued to shine in recent years, when she rebuilt Rama’s Kitchen after it had burned to the ground in a devastating forest fire.
Ambiance: The décor abounds with natural wood, highlighted by a stunningly beautiful fluted ceiling and unobstructed panoramic views of the surrounding hills; on a clear day, you can see all the way to Tel Aviv. As an integral part of the restaurant’s rustic environment, it remains family- and dog-friendly. The atmosphere is unmarred by any artificial soundtrack and is equally conducive to medium-sized parties and intimate meals for two.
Drinks: Specialty cocktails mixed in-house using fresh seasonal fruit and herbs from the restaurant’s own greenhouse. There is a wine list comprising five categories curated by local winemaker Jessy Bodec and featuring vintages almost exclusively from Jerusalem hills wineries, including lesser-known boutique wineries. There are two brands of bottled beers, Maccabee and Taybe.
Menu: The multi-course menu is fixed, as if you were invited to Rama’s home, so there are no difficult choices to make. At the same time, the kitchen can cater to just about any dietary restrictions or preferences, such as vegetarian/vegan and gluten-free.
There are three set menus, served on weekends only: dinner on Thursday nights; brunch (actually breakfast) and lunch on Friday; and lunch reprised on Saturdays. During the week, the premises are reserved for private events.
Rama’s Kitchen. Not kosher. Nataf. Tel. (050) 370-0954.
Best Kosher Restaurant: Pescado – Chef Yehi Zino
This year’s award came during a banner year, in which Pescado won its first major international victory, earning a ranking of 24 among the Best 50 Restaurants in the Middle East and North Africa competition.
Ambiance: There are Inner and outer dining rooms, with bar seating in the former and comfortable chairs throughout. The atmosphere is enhanced by a mellow, understated soundtrack. The formerly al fresco seating area in front of the restaurants is now permanently enclosed.
Drinks: A few specialty cocktails, listed in Hebrew only. There is a domestic-cum-international wine list that is surprisingly comprehensive within the constraints of kashrut, with selections of white, rose, red and sparkling vintages. There is one foreign beer on tap, alongside Israeli and imported beers in bottles.
Menu: Three sections. Appetizers, fish appetizers, main courses. All fish, one steak, no pasta. A long list of daily specials mainly starters and side dishes. The main course is mostly grilled fish. Not many vegetarian or vegan options are available.
Recommended: Taramasalata; Yellowfin tuna on challah; Sashimi amachi with bottarga; Fish eggs in Moroccan sauce.
Pescado. Kosher. 1 Martin Buber St., Ashdod. Tel. (08) 852-3063.
Best Casual Dining Restaurant: M25
Ambiance: As the category name suggests, unpretentious (and often crowded), with basic wood tables and chairs filling every available space in several dining areas – al fresco in an alley of the marketplace alley and an inner courtyard, as well as opposite and open kitchen and counters and refrigerated cases displaying a dazzling array of cuts of meat.
Drinks: There are four uncomplicated specialty cocktails, plus an exclusively Israeli wine list totaling three whites and three reds. There is also domestic beer in bottles.
Menu: This is a restaurant for carnivores, co-founded by Yaron Kestenbaum, a highly trained chef who established the restaurant as an offshoot of his eponymous premium butcher shop across the street.
All of the beef is the result of years of research into discovering the best breed of cow for steak, which was determined to be Holstein; and all the compost-fed cows are sourced from one ranch near Ashkelon, The meat in the restaurant is aged 3-4 months, and each cut has its own dish.
Moreover, M25 is dedicated to the proposition of no-waste, utilizing nose-to-tail, including offal. Diners who have no interest in beef or lamb would do well to seek their nourishment elsewhere.
Recommended: Merlot steak, Denver cut, Arais, Tahini salad, Grilled sweetbreads, Beef tartare. Malabi for dessert.
M25. Not kosher. 30 Simtat HaCarmel, Carmel Market, Tel Aviv. Tel. (03) 558-0425. [Additional branch: 15 Brodetsky St., Ramat Aviv. Tel. (03) 934-0248]
Related awards were also bestowed in the following categories:
Special Appreciation: Chefs Eyal Shani and Shahar Segal, co-founders of the now international chain of Miznon restaurants
Best Street Food: Jasmino
Best Established Institution: Ezba, traditional Arab cuisine, celebrating more than three decades of excellence in the rural Galilee
Best Innovation in agricultural technology: Ilsar Truffles from the Golan Heights, for its biotechnology that cultivates black winter truffles.
Best Baked goods/Confectionery: tied between Ika Chocolates and Amita Bakery
Best wine menu (restaurant/wine bar category): Brut
Additional award classifications included Media and Documentation; Agriculture; Production and Raw Materials.
The AMEX Israeli Cuisine Festival and Awards [competition] was conceived and organized by David Kichka, an impresario who designs numerous projects around gastronomy, and Nirit Weiss, a co-founder of the Karvat-Weiss PR agency.
Other corporate sponsors this year besides American Express were Brown Hotels, Recanati Winery, Sugat and Carasso Real Estate.
The venue of the awards ceremony this year was Hotel BoBo, by Brown Hotels. This property’s own claim to culinary fame is the home of Chef Meir Adoni’s Kitchen Bar Meli Melo.
Bonus review: Chef’s Choice, recommended by Ohad Levi – Pedro
Ambiance: Pedro is a neighborhood bistro plus wine bar that has become somewhat of a citywide Institution, by virtue of its excellent value and lively atmosphere.
Al fresco seating in the front patio, bordered by abundant vegetation and lighted fountains. Nightly entertainment alternates among Israeli evenings, live bouzouki performances and music played by a DJ.
Indoor seating is either at an enormous bar or large tables, while the outdoor bar fronts a busy taboun. The furniture throughout is basic wood, with the chairs uniformly hard.
Drinks: In addition to specialty cocktails, there is a rather extensive, all-Israeli wine list; although only a few vintages are available by the glass, there are often special prices on wine, or evening with no corkage fees. Long list of domestic and imported beers.
Menu: The lengthy bilingual menu features a whole page of Starters followed by Main Course sections with the headings Steaks, Fish, Seafood and Pizza from the taboun. Two nights a week are devoted to steaks/beef and seafood/fish, respectively, served at specially discounted prices.
In addition, there are plenty of vegetarian/vegan options, as well as a children’s menu and a menu for snacking at the bar. The Hebrew-only dessert menu lists five final courses, including one vegan dessert.
Recommended: Grilled mushroom with buche cheese; Mussels in garlic sauce; Seafood chraime; Shrimp in blue cheese sauce; Black pasta with artichoke; Semi Freddo crème brûlée for dessert.
Pedro. Not kosher. 14 Shderot Ye'elim, Eilat. Tel. (08) 637-9504.