After 12 years, Jerusalem’s Hachatzer to serve last liver pâté
Chef Motti Ohana shutting doors of upscale kosher joint to concentrate on second venture Medita, but not before offering farewell tasting menu
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Hachatzer, one of Jerusalem’s best-known upscale bistros, will close its doors as Chef Motti Ohana moves to focus on his other restaurant, the more casual Medita.
“I thought the right way to end 12 years with beloved customers was to offer a special experience,” said Ohana. “The restaurant is at the peak of its success and I want to leave it with a good feeling.”
The kosher Hachatzer — whose name means “the courtyard” — is marking the move with five days of a special, NIS 250 tasting menu, from November 25-29, drawing from favorites such as sweetbread risotto, beef carpaccio with garlic confit and liver pâté with cherry-tomato jam.
Ohana — who is known for bringing sweetbreads and grilled spleen to the menu, as well as butcher’s tenderloin and other lesser-known cuts of beef — was responsible for transitioning the restaurant from its former identity as the famed, non-kosher Etzel Pini Bachatzer, once located downtown in the Finegold Passage, to its location on Bethlehem Road, with a kosher menu and clientele.
He and his business partners opened Hachatzer 12 years ago, situated in what is now a far corner of The First Station complex, a disused train station reconfigured as restaurant and strolling complex on Bethlehem Road. They created a fine dining experience for kosher diners, along with a creative menu and well-trained staff.
They opened Medita, a simpler sister restaurant to Hachatzer, four years ago, in Beit Hanatziv, a Hebron Road strip mall and office complex.
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