Jerusalem opens its doors to foodies in culinary festival
In nod to its gastronomic diversity, Open Restaurants comes to the capital for the first time after several stints in Tel Aviv
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
It took some prodding, but Tel Aviv culinary entrepreneurs have finally brought a favorite food event to Jerusalem.
Open Restaurants, which pairs food devotees together with chefs and their kitchens, will take place from November 22 to 26 in and around the capital’s restaurants, markets and tourist sites.
The event has been held in Tel Aviv for the last three years, and usually takes place in March.
“Jerusalem was an obvious choice, with Mahane Yehuda [market] at the epicenter of it all,” said Jason Pearlman, who is handling press for the event. “The Tel Avivians didn’t quite know the nighttime scene here and you can’t appreciate what a phenomenon it is until you watch the stalls close for the night and reopen as bars and restaurants.”
The five-day festival includes some 20 food events — some free and others not — for every kind of foodie, including vegetarians and kosher and non-kosher eaters (about 70% of the events are kosher). There are also workshops, tours and talks taking place at different sites throughout the city, including the popular open-air market.
Among the particularly unusual events are a train car cocktail party mimicking the famous scene from the 1959 Marilyn Monroe film “Some Like It Hot,” with drinks and hors d’oeuvres made by Adom chef Elran Buzaglo, on November 23 and 24, from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m.
Chefs Assaf Granit, Nir Tzuk, Nona Shrier and Yahaloma Levi will take participants on a tour of the Israel Museum to view their favorite artworks and show how those pieces offered inspiration for their own specialties that will later be prepared for participants. Tours are taking place Tuesday at 6 p.m. (with Levi ), on Wednesday and Thursday at 12 p.m. (with Granit on Wednesday and Tzuk on Thursday), and again on Friday (with Shrier).
The festival will include an innovation conference looking at food technology, including a hackathon for making apps used for culinary arts, taking place on Friday, November 25, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
There’s also the chance to explore the fine art of herb foraging with chef Tomer Niv from Rama’s Kitchen on Thursday, November 24, as well as a trip to the shuk for pre-Friday food shopping, or to the more religious parts of the city to discover the many flavors of cholent, the slow-cooked meat-and-bean dish favored for Shabbat lunch.
There will be food tours in the Old City and workshops on everything from how to prepare the finest couscous to the best cheese and wine pairings.
There are events for kids as well, including making sushi, the science of chocolate at the Science Museum and baking with Roladin pastry chefs.
Jerusalem has a different kind of food scene, said Pearlman, with much diversity in a relatively small area, and the renaissance of food culture in the city. It doesn’t hurt to have international ambassadors like chef Yotam Ottolenghi or local celebrities like Granit, who know how to make the most of Jerusalem’s culinary heritage.
The numbers of attendees at Open Restaurants Jerusalem are expected to be in the thousands.
Some events are free, and others require ticket purchases in advance from the Open Restaurants website, which is in English and Hebrew. There are packages as well with local hotels, offering overnight options for tourists from out of town.
