NY EAT TREATS

And a quick recount of some of the New York food related goodies we enjoyed: breakfast at Sarabeth's, some quick shopping at Citarella and Fairway, morning coffee at Sweetleaf Long Island City, hot chocolate at the City Bakery, afternoon coffee at the Ace Hotel, Jacques Torres spicy hot cocoa at the Chelsea Market, a yummy organic vegan lunch at Angelica Kitchen and (maybe the culinary highlight of our trip) pumpkin muffins at Van Leeuwen in Greenpoint.

Today's treats

An oatmeal cookie @ Bakery (wheat free!) and a coffee @ Cafe Marsand.

Morning Coffee #5

Today's coffee @ Bakery (the cafe/bakery next to Brasserie).

Bakery
70 Ibn Gvirol
Tel Aviv
tel 03 6967111

Morning Coffee #4

Today's morning coffee @ Hemda.

Hemda
חמדה עוגות
109 Ibn Gvirol
Tel Aviv
tel 074 7024664

Morning Coffee #3

Today's morning coffee @ Kaymak.

Kaymak
49 Lewinsky st.
Lewinsky Market (Shuk Levinsky)
Tel Aviv

Morning Coffee #2

Today's morning coffee @ Hatachtit.

Hatachtit
9 Lincoln st.
Tel Aviv
tel 03 5618759 / 057 9378649

Morning Coffee #1

Took our morning coffee at Taza D'oro, a favorite cafe from our former neighborhood, Neve Tzedek.

Tazza D'oro
6 Ahad Ha'am st.
Neve Tzedek, Tel Aviv
tel 03 5166329

Cafe Mersand

We met J for breakfast at Cafe Mersand, one of our favorite places to sit for coffee in Tel Aviv. Mersand has been around since the 1950's and has a loyal clientele who have been sitting here since then. They changed ownership a couple of years ago and we love their logo designed by Hatayas. This was not our first time writing them up as we have briefly reviewed them before. This time around we had a Turkish Breakfast which was delicious. A small bowl of couscous, hard boiled egg, hummus, green olives, labane cheese, whole wheat bread and shredded halva (super sweet and super good).

Mersand
Frishman 18 (the corner of Ben Yehuda)
Tel Aviv
tel 03 5234318

Cafe Tamar

Cafe Tamar has been around the Tel Aviv cafe scene since the 50's and has been serving the bohemian art and literary set ever since. Now, you can since next little old ladies with done-up hair and the occasional actor/poet, while the mythological Sara Stern serves you coffee, the way it used to be.

An americano coffee and a tuna salad

Sara behind the cash register

Cafe Tamar
57 Shenkin street (the corner of Echad Ha'am street)
Tel Aviv
tel 03 685237

Elkali

Another morning coffee (with a side of work).

Elkali
Elkali 1 (off of Basel Square)
tel 03 5440795

Cafe Michal

Went out to brunch with R and I to Cafe Michal, a local cafe in our neighborhood. They always have the prettiest flowers, but their location is a bit noisy.

Cafe Michal
230 Dizengoff st. (corner of Jabotinsky)
Tel Aviv
tel 03 5230236

Breakfast at Pua

Pua
Rabbi Yochanan 3
Shuk Hapishpeshim, Jaffa-Tel Aviv
tel 03 6823821

Kaymak @ Shuk Levinsky

Lately we've been doing some of our grocery shopping at Shuk Levinsky, an open air market in the Florentine neighborhood of Tel Aviv. After an hour of arguing with vendors and stocking up on nuts and spices it's nice to sit down and take a break, read the newspaper and have a sandwich. Kaymak is the perfect place for this. Choose between their delicious sandwiches and daily specials. The company is warm and the arak flows freely.

An Iraqui sandwich special: techina, fried eggplant, hard boiled egg and lettuce on whole wheat gebetta .

Orange gazoz (home-made soda pop) and cucumber sticks.

Turkish coffee and a carrot muffin.

Kaymak
49 Levinsky street
Shuk Levinsky
Tel Aviv

Mizrachi Cafe

While at the market we stopped off for lunch at an old Jerusalem favorite...  Mizrachi: the perennial student hangout/uber-Jerusalem scene. Here basta (market stall) owners sit side by side the B+B (Bakah boheme). You can order a cafe botz, "mud coffee", though we prefer their excellent cappuccino. They also offer daily baked goods and a menu of salads, sandwiches and soups.

Mizrahi
12 Shazif street, Machaneh Yehuda Market, Jerusalem
tel 02 6242105

Mushroom tortellini in butter and sage.

Feta ravioli with greens, pear and parmesan.

Coffee and cake: this is the place with the best coffee in Jerusalem, hands down.

What They Ate... Beta Caffe, Ramat Aviv

While waiting for our new stove to arrive, L was kind enough to take us out to lunch at her favorite local cafe. "I'm gonna order the Beta salad" she said grinning (she always does). As the waiter sat us down at a cozy side table L got a bit more risky: "I want the fish". So she ordered both and we got a chance to share it.

The Beta salad is a fun twist on the famous Israeli salad. The simple mix of chopped cucumber, tomato, red pepper and red onion is combined with al dente rice and black lentils. It's tossed with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice and an extra lemony tehini dressing is served on the side. It's fresh, simple and excellent.

The grilled sea bream on baked butternut squash sprinkled with coconut flakes was served over black lentils and topped with red basil. It was also very well prepared.

Beta cafe is located 10 minutes walk from the University at the old commercial center of Ramat Aviv and is a quiet comfy place to sit over a cup of coffee with lunch or dinner (with extra room for your laptop or dog).

L was very satisfied, and so were we.


Beta Salad

Grilled sea bream on baked butternut squash

Beta Caffe
Brodetsky 17, Ramat Aviv tel: 03 641 2285

More on where to eat and what to do in Tel Aviv!