North Tel Aviv Beaches

The north Tel Aviv beaches are now easily accessible by foot and by bike thanks to the opening of a new bridge between the Reading power station and Tel Baruch beach. The bridge also makes it possible to ride your bike or even walk from the Tel Aviv Port all the way to Herzliya Pituach.

The bike path runs along side the Sde Dov airport on one side and the almost untouched beaches of Tel Baruch. There’s a parking lot at the northern end of the Tel Baruch beach but as we know most people are lazy and won’t walk 10 minutes south from the where they left their car. It is well worth the walk. The beach is beautiful although there’s no lifeguard service. Kids will enjoy watching the planes land and takeoff from the airport.

The bike path continues north and a little inland before you pass the Gush Hagadol and Azorei Chen developments. Just past the Sea and Sun complex is the entrance to the Hof Tsuk, Tel Aviv’s perfect beach. This is Tel Aviv’s only beach that has an entrance fee. During the beach season Tel Aviv residents (you must have a valid resident’s card on you) are admitted free while others pay between 6-9 NIS depending if it’s a weekday or weekend. In the Sea and Sun complex there’s Sitara for breakfast but down on beach is Cafe Mona, the beach hangout for a light meal overlooking the sand. Approximate round trip from the Tel Aviv Hilton to Hof Tzuk by bike is 14 km, about an hour round trip.

Mona Beach, Hof Tsuk

If you have the energy you can jump back on your bike and head north on the gravel road (right off the parking lot ) for another 15 minutes, the Herzylia Marina is yet another stop for coffee or caloric intake.

Bike rentals in Tel Aviv are available at Ofun at the corner of Ben Yehuda and Nordau or at Cycle on Ben Yehuda just north of Alozoroff.

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RUN TLV RUN – TEL AVIV MARATHON 2010

Tel Aviv, 5:45 A.M., Friday May 14, 2010…be there with your running shoes on. After last year’s success the marathon is back but begins and ends in Ganei Yehoshua. T in Tel Aviv is not a runner but is thinking of registering just to get one of those great marathon shirts. (joke!)

There are four courses to choose from – the complete 42 km run, the half marathon, the “urban” 10 km run or the 10% run. (you can do the math)

Early registration is over on April 24th so this is the week to make the big decision although runners can register until May 10th. There’s still time to train.

Advice to the organizers: An English language website would do wonders for attracting foreign runners!

Even if you don’t run make sure to come out and support those that do!

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Earth Day in Israel - April 22, 2010

A long line of events will mark Earth Day in Israel on April 22, 2010. The "green agenda" of the day will include: the Green Globe award ceremony for environmental excellence, Earth Hour in which 14 cities will shut off their lights for an hour, the Pratt award ceremony for excellence in environmental journalism AND a free concert (20:00) with Danny Fortis, Shlomi Shaban and Dana Adini in Tel Aviv’s Kikar Rabin.

At 20:00 lights in homes, offices, factories and other structures will be shut off for an hour in fourteen cities as Israel marks Earth Hour. (exact start time varies by city) This symbolic and educational act aims to increase awareness of the vital need to reduce energy consumption and thus the adverse impacts on global climate and to underline the public's capacity to bring about change. Participating cities include: Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba, Kfar Saba, Eilat, Ashkelon, Dimona, Yavne, Modi'in Maccabim-Reut, Ness Ziona, Petach Tikva, Rishon Lezion and Ra'anana.

The Pratt Awards and Conference on the Media and the Environment will take place in Tel Aviv on the subject of media coverage of sustainability and the environment. Organized by the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership and the Pratt Foundation the conference will emphasize the need for reduced exploitation of the earth's resources in order to cope with climate change.

While the lights are out enjoy a romantic dinner by candlelight at one of Tel Aviv’s restaurants who are joining the Earth Hour celebration – Espresso Bar, Bellini, Badolina and Avantgarde to name a few.

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Independence Day 2010 – Tel Aviv

What’s happening in Tel Aviv on Independence Day eve?

Yehoram Gaon, Ilanit and Sarele Sharon headline the show and fireworks in Kikar Rabin starting at 21:00. A young child friendly show starts at 20:30 in the courtyard of the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center with Israeli folk dancing starting at 11:00.

On Independence Day itself the IAF will put on its annual air show which starts at about 11:50 off the shores of Tel Aviv near the Opera Tower.

The next day the barbecues and picnics begin…..

The Passover holiday left Israel’s beaches and parks looking like garbage dumps. There’s no other way to described the mess that was left. Fortunately the media covered the mess which will hopefully influence how the public cleans up after visiting the beaches and parks next Tuesday – Independence Day.

In the last year eco-friendly picnic ware has become readily available in Israel so there’s no excuse for using plastic. At Tel Aviv’s Eden Teva healthy supermarket there are plates, bowls, cups and cutlery made of corn. Various websites are selling both the corn and palm based products. At the Meitav store on Salame in South Tel Aviv bamboo plates are sold in bulk at very attractive prices.

Enjoy the holiday but please clean up before you leave the party!!!

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Mevashlim 2010

The Tel Aviv Fairgrounds is the place to be for those that love cooking and baking at the first “Mevashlim” (cooking in Hebrew) fair running from Wednesday thru Friday. In addition to deals and demonstrations there are also cooking workshops to be held each day. Most of the workshops are already sold out but some have space available. (All in Hebrew)



There are also lectures by well known chefs including Tamar Cohen Zedek from Cucina Tamar, Ilan Bar from Iceberg Ice Cream and Eyal Lavie from Rokach 73. The lectures are free but limited to 50 participants.

And there’s more! On the main stage there will be cooking demonstrations by more well known chefs including Meir Adoni and Yonatan Danon from Catit.

Advance ticket purchase will give you 10 NIS off the full price of 40 NIS and you’ll be entered in a raffle for some pretty nice cooking equipment.

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New Israeli Cuisine Comes to NYC

The week before Passover brought Israeli cuisine to New York with a visit by Israeli celeb chef Haim Cohen. Cohen prepared a special meal for James Beard Foundation members. Cohen is the host of Israel’s popular Garlic, Pepper and Olive Oil cooking show. The wines for the evening were from the Yarden and Ella Valley wineries. In a post dinner q & a Cohen noted that his main cooking inspiration is his mother’s cooking.

Haim Cohen

The New York Times Knowledge Network offered the online course The New Israeli Cuisine with New York Times Food writer Joan Nathan and Janna Gur author of the wonderful Book of New Israeli Food. and editor of Al Hashulchan, Israel’s leading cooking magazine.

Janna Gur

For the James Beard Foundation dinner, Cohen prepared a Labane Cheese Tortellini (see recipe below) which the Israeli Consulate of New York blog has provided. B’Te’Avon! (Bon Appetit!)

LABANE CHEESE TORTELLINI WITH ZAHATAR AND OLIVE OIL

Ingredients:

Labane cheese
Dry zahatar
Olive oil
Atlantic salt
Pasta dough 400 grams pasta flour 4 medium size eggs

Method:

1. Place flour and eggs in a food processor and pulse until mixed.
2. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
3. With a pasta machine, roll 1/4 of the pasta dough 7 times on number 1, folding each time to 3.
4. Then pass the rolled dough through the machine until you reach number 7.
5. Cut the rolled dough into 1.5-inch squares.
6. Scoop 1 teaspoon of labane cheese into the center of the squares and fold in half to form a triangle and then join the corners of the base of the triangle by overlapping. Freeze.
7. In a bowl, mix 2 Tbs of zahatar with 6 Tbs of olive oil.
8. Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Put frozen tortellini in the boiling water. Remove them when they float to the surface.
9. Put pasta in a serving dish. Spoon the zahatar oil on top of the tortellini and sprinkle with a little salt.