One-Way Ticket

Many people that 'know' me know what a great desire and pull I have to live in Israel. Something happened between age 0 to 6 that made me completely and utterly in love with my birth country. Many people will also know that I have tried living the 'Israeli' life, and have failed, miserably. First time, on a junior-year abroad thingie, I ended up spending most of the time with my fellow American students. When I moved there for two years for my Master's, well, I did my best, but it was just too lonely without my immediate family.

But, back to today. As always, I read the NY Times food columns every Wednesday. I was pleased to find an article about the new Israeli joints opening up all over Manhattan, and then a sort of panic set in. It's best summed up in the following quote I got from this article, about the newest Israeli coffee shop opening up:

"Israelis are proud, it's something that is theirs."

So, I was of course proud to see my country being represented in the foodie world here, but then I felt all territorial... yeah, ok, Americans will love it, but it's ours!! I had horrible images of Americans touring the new Israeli haunts as if we were a country in Epcot Center.

The article in the NY Times lists a few of the cool spots in the city, that have everything Israeli from shakshuka to hummus, schnitzel and falafel, and since the article is only available for free for two weeks, I thought I'd list them for you here.

Taim (means 'tasty' in Hebrew, by the way) - 222 Waverly Place (Seventh Avenue South)
Chickpea - 23 Third Avenue (St. Marks Place)
Aroma - 145 Greene Street (Houston Street)
Holyland Market - 122 St. Marks Place
Yummy Shawarmy - 71 Seventh Avenue South (Bleecker Street)
Hummus Place - 109 St. Marks Place (First Avenue)


All these places are close enough to have a sort of foodie walking tour, but since I only had one hour for my lunch, today I chose to go to Aroma. For those not in the know, Aroma is the first U.S. installment of the Israeli espresso bar. This is BIG. Especially, since Israelis are very serious about their coffee - the fact that they would want to expose the rest of the world to their coffee is warming, but at the same time, in true Israeli fashion, they want to show people what coffee is all about! Here is another man-on-the-street quote from a recent visitor of Aroma.

"I told my husband that we really need coffee here (Aroma). The coffee here is simply atrocious. We were in Canada, in the Rockies, in Vancouver, and we couldn't find any decent coffee. Americans don't understand coffee. They love their Starbucks. In my opinion, it isn't coffee. I don't know what it is - it's brown water. Finally, there is a place where you can drink coffee," she groused, and then downed a gulp.

Haha!

Well I have to be honest and say I don't drink coffee! But, this espresso bar also offered salads and sandwiches, so I thought I'd check it out.

OMG, how impressed was I???!!!! I feel like I stepped into Tel Aviv for a second!

The place is gorgeous; brand spanking new! It looks almost exactly like the Aroma chains look like in Israel - the seating includes long communal tables with fantastic swivelly red pleather chairs. You honestly feel like you could be there all day.

I had a mozzarella sandwich - the bread is fantastic! Just like home. I was sitting there, eating my fantastic sandwich, the bread was so good I almost wept. I was sitting across from a very preggers Israeli woman. In true Israeli style she had about five different cellphone conversations, and she couldn't stop saying how things were exactly as they were in Israel - the big salads, the iced chocolate. Oh, and of course, I totally eavesdropped on her conversation. I gave a small giggle when she said that by the time her friend would get there to eat with her she would have already given birth! She saw me laugh, so I think my cover was blown.

The lemonade was fantastic too! A bit on the tart side, just how my uncle makes it!

The best part is that once you order, your name is called when your order is ready. The woman at the microphone was a fantastic Israeli chick, and she said in her hoarse, three-packs a day, Israeli accent, 'Eeeeeelana!' Yes, that is how my name is said. Not, Eh-lana, not Ih-lana, it's Eeeeelana!

So even if I can't have Israel, I can have some part of it -- the food, arguably the best part!