The Iceman Cometh to Tel Aviv

Israeli illusionist Hezi Dayan is currently standing in a block of ice in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square. Dayan is attempting to break David Blaine’s 2000 record of 54 hours.

The giant ice cube weights 8 tons and was manufactured in such a way that it would stay clear for the entire time that Dayan is inside. The project is a joint effort by the magician himself and Israel’s lighting wizard Gil Teichman and sponsored by the King George restaurant and the appliance company Pilot.

Hezi Dayan will emerge from the sub zero temperatures at exactly midnight to welcome the 2010 and to bid farewell to the coldest 64 hours of his life!!!!

Inside Out Champagne Glass

As you sip your bubbly beverage on the 31st consider doing so from a Champagne glass by Dutch designer Alissia Melka-Teichroew.


The InsideOut glasses are beautiful, fun, and stylish, and boast some practical advantages, too: the double-walled glass provides insulation, keeping beverages cold for much longer than conventional barware.

There’s still time to Fedex a set of these handblown glasses in time for Thursday night! Available at Red Envelope and the Moma Store.

Most importantly, Have a Safe and Happy New Year's celebration.

NewYear’s Eve 2010– Tel Aviv

It seems that more than the usual number of Tel Aviv restaurants are offering special menus on the 31st to usher in 2010.

Below are a few establishments and some of their more interesting dishes being served on New Year’s Eve (most restaurant sites are in Hebrew only):

Adora - 226 Ben Yehuda, Tel: 605-0896 (195-250 NIS pp depending on which seating)

Baked cheese dough filled with Italian artichokes and Camembert served with an asparagus salad an confit of tomatoes, grilled beef filet in a rich sauce of chestnuts and butter roasted asparagus, risotto with vegetables, porcini mushrooms, Arab spinach (sabanach), a touch of cream served with crème fraiche and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Tazzo D’Oro – 6 Ahad Ha’am, 516-6329 (160 NIS pp)

Beet carpacio and mascarpone seasoned with walnut oil, roasted fennel and lemon with thyme and garlic confit, Drum fish (“musar") on tomato and Jerusalem artichoke risotto

Catit – 6 Heichal Ha’Talmud, 510-7001 (590 – 690 NIS pp depending on which seating)

Yellow tail sashimi with a panko crust in miso cream, veal ribs with fresh porcini, Jerusalem artichokes, black lentils and spinach, cheeses from the Negev’s Kornmehl Farm.

Pushkin – 27 Montefiori, 535-1501 (1,000 EURO per couple + coat and tie for men)

Special menu AND Santa Claus and a DJ. (Hey, I’m just reporting the news)

Wishing all T in Tel Aviv readers a Happy and Healthy 2010!

Pull: The Power of the Semantic Web to Transform Your Business

David Siegal wants to become Apple’s next CEO. Read up on him and you’ll understand why he just might be the right guy.

But before David becomes Steve Jobs' replacement he’s got a new book coming out - Pull: The Power of the Semantic Web to Transform Your Business. Haven't heard of the Semantic Web? It’s already here and will soon become what WWW really means. Actually, it will help our computers or whatever hardware is next to understand the meaning (semantics) behind the words on a web page.

I haven’t read the book (yet) but have known David a long time. I did read his great book “What Is Worth Doing" (it's out of print, sorry) and am familiar with his important web design book “Creating Killer Websites” which one reviewer wrote: “is to the Net what Joy of Cooking is to food”. Need I say more?

NYC based Siegel is also a chocolate afficienado and conducts guided chocolate tastings!

Hospital Review – Assuta Ramat Hahayal

There are times when one has to take a break from “food and fun in Tel Aviv” to check into the hospital for knee surgery. T in Tel Aviv did so last week and am happy to report that all is well.

The old Assuta Hospital was a rather industrial looking building on Jabotinsky Street in the heart of Tel Aviv. The new Assuta Hospital is a contemporary glass and marble complex located in the hi-tech area of Ramat Hahayal. Check in was quick and easy and the hospital staff was pleasant and efficient. I’m not a medical professional but everything that I saw looked like it was state of the art. At the old Assuta I brought an airline mask to cover my eyes during an MRI. At the new Assuta the technician told me to leave the mask behind because there was a colorful back lit slide of tree branches over my head instead of ceiling tiles. Nice touch.

For fans of hospital food I’m sorry I can’t give you a full report as I was only a day patient. I was offered a sandwich once I was back in the ward to wait out the anesthesia. The sandwich was on a whole wheat baguette and filled with Bulgarian cheese, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. Later I heard a nurse offer another patient an avocado or tuna sandwich. My sandwich wasn’t bad at all. (Of course I had been on a fast pre-op so most anything would have tasted good at that point)

Parking is ample. Beware though, Habarzel Street is now a one way street (north) and early in the a.m. the office traffic is pretty bad and at about 16:00 it gets bad again.

Assuta also has a full medical tourism department offering top of line services at lower costs than in the U.S. and western Europe. At least that’s what the website says. Located directly across the street from the hospital is the new Leonardo Boutique Hotel.

There are many restaurants for non-patients and visitors in the area – Hudson Brasserie, Arcaffe, Pasta Mia, Tel Aviv’s Sushi Samba and Moses all have branches in the area.

Winter Has Arrived in Tel Aviv

Israfood 2009...The Pizza Cone

Better known as the "food show", Israfood 2009 was held in late November at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds. Over the next few weeks T in Tel Aviv will post about a few (there were only a few) highlights of the show.

One of the strangest booths was of Coneinn. I don't know about you but I like my pizza fresh out of the oven, with a thin crust, not overly saucey or overly cheesy. Coming soon to Israel is the "new way to eat pizza". In a cone. Yes, in a cone. I could not bring myself to taste a pizza cone so I'm unable to give an objective review of this product. However....I did hold a cone in my hand and boy was it heavy. Looked like one of those rubber versions of sushi that you find in the windows of restaurants in Tokyo. Actually it looked more realistic which was what frightened me.

The cones are available in a number of flavors and are kosher which means the ham and cheese version shown on the Coneinn site will not be coming to Israel. But that means that tuna, vegetable, margarita, spinach and mushrooms probably will.

There are even three different preparation modes suggested - fast - 3 minutes in the microwave, traditional - 25 minutes in the over or (get this) gourmet - the oven/micro combo of 8 minutes and 30 seconds.

The Coneinn website is wonderful so if you have a few minutes and need some light entertainment take a look.

Cookies for Chanukah

T in Tel Aviv was in Spices last week and came across some very cute and colorful cookies for Chanukah made by Cookiss. Turns out that the company not only manufactures decorated cookies (thoughout the year) but also sells all you would need to do the decorating yourself.

Cookiss has a store in Yehud and also sells online (Hebrew site only). There’s still time before Chanukah to place an order online or by telephone and they do deliver throughout Israel.

BTW, Spices will be offering cooking classes for kids during Chanukah vacation at both the Bilu Center and Tel Aviv stores.