Things To Do

Sign Up! Delicious Israel Culinary Market Tours

Inbal Baum runs culinary tours of Levinsky and Carmel Markets. She has availability on June 12th. Tours are typically about $100/person. Contact inbal@deliciousisrael.com

Sign Up! Food Tour with Gil Hovav

Adeena's friend, Gil Hovav, has graciously offered to take 15 guests on a first-come first-served 45-minute tour of Levinsky Market on Tuesday, June 13. Meet by the "Keter" store on the corner of Levinsky and Aliyah streets at 10 AM. Please email tressaeaton@gmail.com to reserve your spot.

Sign Up! One-Day Excursions to Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Acre

Adeena's friend, Gilad Gottfeld, concierge extraordinaire, has offered to organize full-day excursions to Jerusalem, Acre, and Nazareth on June 12th, 13th, and 15th. Leaving from The Carlton Hotel between 8-9 PM and returning to Tel Aviv. Price will include private round trip transportation between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem/Acre/Nazareth plus private guiding. Price between $100 - $150/person depending on size of group (probably 4-8 people). Contact Gilad at Gilad@mrfein.com

Sign Up! Urban Tel Aviv Tours: Street Art, Locals Only Nightlife, Urbanization of Tel Aviv

Street Art in South Tel Aviv Rendezvous with a local street artist and glide through South Tel Aviv’s vibrant urban atmosphere. See buildings boasting massive outdoor murals – with insight and explanation into each work’s artistry, socio-relevancy and political commentary. Local's Only Nightlife Tour Avoid being herded like cattle into generic nightlife spots geared towards tourists and without local insight. Eager Tourist will dispatch a nightlife expert to guide groups past the lines, cues and into hidden parties and new and innovative nightlife spots according to the tastes and interests of each guest or group. Architecture Tour: Urbanization of Tel Aviv: Past, Present and Future Eager Tourist works with leading local architects and city planners to guide participants, highlighting key buildings and landmarks of urban design, and offer a crash-course on Tel Aviv's urban layout, past, present and future. Contact: ross.belfer@gmail.com

Sign Up! Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda Market: Fun Joel Tours

My friend Joel Haber gives great tours of the shuk in Jerusalem. A native English speaker with a great sense of, well, fun...

Gordon Pool Tel Aviv

Adeena’s Happy Place in Tel Aviv. Olympic-sized saltwater lap pool on the promenade just below the Carlton Hotel. Open Weekdays 6 AM – 9 PM, Fridays 6 AM – 6 PM, Shabbat 6 AM – 7 PM. Single entrance: NIS 66. Daily Locker rental: NIS 12. Pro Tip: Entrance is for all day, so if you’re a lap swimmer get there early to swim your lengths, then keep our locker for the day and use it to store a change of clothes while you go to one of the northern beaches right near the hotel. Then you can go back to the locker after the beach and shower.

Tel Aviv Beaches

Beaches in Tel Aviv are free! You can lay down a towel anywhere you wasn’t and no one can charge you a dime. That being said, you will notice a beach club every few hundred yards along the beach; they all rent beach chairs and umbrellas and have restrooms and restaurants. They’re fun! Typically, beaches get fancier as they run from south to north. We love our local beach, BlueBeard, for casual hanging out. For fancier fare and service, try La La Land at Frishman Beach.

Ilana Goor Museum

This incredible museum is set in a private mansion in Jaffa with stunning ocean views and the amazing art collection of one artist, Ilana Goor, who still lives in the house. Do not miss!

Restaurant: Miznon

Eyal Shani’s deservedly mobbed casual restaurants for pita filled with long-cooked meats and vegetables with an all-you-can-eat toppings bar of tahini, hot chilies in oil, yogurt, and crushed tomatoes. Order: The whole roasted cauliflower that started it all, the baked sweet potato in a brown paper bag and the lima bean masabacha. Note: There is also a location at 23 Ibn Gabirol Street.

Restaurant: Dok

A great little restaurant where everything is made in Israel (even the tonic for their gin and tonic!).

Restaurant: Santa Katarina

Order: Whole Roasted Kohlrabi, Toasted with Steak and Schug Butter, Salad with Cherries (or whatever else is seasonal).

Restaurant: Brut Wine Bar

A little wine bar/chef hangout. Open late, great wines, very louche and cool.

Restaurant: Halutzim 3

A little chef restaurant with great seasonal Italian-ish dishes. Order: Pork-stuffed challah, fennel salad and Jerusalem Artichoke Gnocchi.

Restaurant: Habasta

Our neighborhood hang - great seasonal menu of vegetables, seafood, pasta, and more. Amazing wines. Great Vibe.

Restaurant: North Abraxas

Restaurant: Claro

Restaurant: Shila - Sharon Cohen's Kitchen & bar

Bakery: Lehamim

Our friend Uri Scheft's flagship bakery for babka, cheese sticks, seeded focaccia buns and much much more. Great place to sit for a coffee as well!

Bakery: Milk

Incredible babka. Everything top quality and small-batch. Don't miss!

Visit: Levinsky Market

Tel Aviv's southern market. Not a covered market like Carmel, it's a city street with offshoots. A great place for pitzuchim (roasted nuts/snacks: our favorite is California, 53 Levinsky St.) and spices (Go to Habshush, 18 Halutzim Street; they will vacuum seal the spices for you. Ask for the baladi za'atar; closes 3 PM!). Check out Levinsky 41 (same address) for great coffee and the best gazoz in the world: sparkling water on tap flavored with macerated fruits, syrups, fresh herbs and now, house-made fruit kefir. Yum! The best halvah in Tel Aviv is here, at TK. Great restaurants and cafes in the area: Salimi (Nachalat Binyamin 80) is a lunch-only Persian joint. Get the skewers and Gormeh Sabzi; on Fridays get Gondi (Chickpea-chicken meatball soup) and Ash Rimonim (pomegranate meatballs). Check out Haluzim 3 (same address, dinner only) for the signature pork-stuffed challah; Ouzeria (Matalon 44; lunch and dinner) for Balkan-Israeli deliciousness (stick with small plates).

Coffee

Cafelix was the third-wave pioneer and there are branches all over town. Tel Aviv: Sgula 15 (in the Noga area of Jaffa; Shlomo Hamelech 12 (near the Ha Carmel Shuk/Shenkin St) and Merkhavya 6 (in Florentine). Also in Jerusalem in the Machane Yehuda Market. La Cortado has a sweet location at 43 Nachlat Binyamin St., (between Carmel Market and Levinsky Market). In the north, there's Cafe Xoho (17 Gordon Street) for American-style coffee and even matcha lattes and NOLA (Dizengoff 197) for American-style desserts & good coffee. Guide to coffee drink names: Americano: closest to an American black coffee, usually an espresso watered down with hot water. Hafuch: Israeli cappuccino, a little more milk-to-coffee ratio than cappuccino, a cross between a latte and a cappucino. Ice Cafe: Usually either a frozen frappuccino-type item also known as a barad, or at least a very sweet super milky cold coffee. If you want an American-style iced ask for an Americano Kar Al Kerach (Americano on Ice).

Cafe: Levinsky 41 Cafe

Famous for its wonderful coffee and gazoz (artisanal seltzer) made with macerated fruits, fresh herbs and even flowers. Yum.

Cafe Sheleg

Sweet spot for breakfast, coffee. Boho and chill, near the shuk.

Mersand Cafè

A classic in central Tel Aviv since 1955. Copious outdoor seating. It's not about the menu so much as the Israeli cafe experience. But the food is basic and good: great breakfast and coffee, fresh bread, and copious people watching.

Street Food: Shawarma

Shawarma - meat carved off a spit into a pita or onto a platter - is a staple here. There are many good ones but my faves are Dabush, a chain (I usually go to the one on a corner of Rabin Square at Ibn Gabirol Street 64). Dr. Shakshuka in Jaffa (Beit Eshel 3, Jaffa) makes hand carved lamb shawarma from an old family recipe. I also like Keter HaMizrach (Ibn Gabirol 115, Tel Aviv). Their shawarma is studded with pistachios. Yum!

Street Food: Falafel!

There is so much good falafel in this town! But the best are HaKosem (Shlomo ha-Melekh St. #1; open all day till late, closed sundown Friday night- Saturday night); Gabbai (Bograshov 25, open 10:30 - 10:30; closed sundown Friday night-Saturday night) and also a great place for sabich, schnitzel sandwiches and a rotating selection of soups); and the falafel stand in front of TK in the shuk (7 shekels!)

Street Food: Sabich

Sabich is a combination of Salad (Salat), Egg (Beitzah), and Eggplant (Chatzilim), often with Israeli salad and cooked potato. It's a classic street food sandwich and you'll want to try it before you leave. Go to Sabich Frishman (Frishman 42), Hasabich Shel Oved in Givatayim ( a cab or bus ride away; Sirkin 7); Sabich Hasharon ( 68 Nahalat Binyamin Street).

Street Food: Bourekas

Wow, a flaky pastry filled with cheese, potatoes, spinach-and-cheese: How can you go wrong? The best are found at Penso in Levinsky Market (43 Levinsky Street); The Original Turkish in Carmel Market (49 Hacarmel, at the top of the shuk near Allenby Street); Leon in Jaffa (17 Olei Zion Street); and Amikam near Rabin Square (Ibn Gabirol 21). If you get a "complet" boreka you're asking for one of the bigger specimens split open and smeared with hummus; topped with a sliced egg and a pickle. It's great! A "Bulgarit" has a delicious salty Balkan cheese inside and a short, buttery crust. You also can't go wrong with potato or spinach!

Frozen Yogurt: Tamara

Great place for tart frozen yogurt with toppings and paletas (popsicles) in lots of local flavors. There is another branch at Ben Yehuda 96.

Fresh Juice

Tel Avivians are all about the fresh juice and we're not talking about for detoxing purposes. Belly up to La Fruiteria by Itzik Mitzik (King George 87), Tamara (Dizengoff St 171) and Tamara (Herzl 16) for fresh juices, smoothies and acai bowls. The guys and gals who work behind the counter have PhDs in diagnosing you with a juice cure. Hangover? Sore throat? Or just want something delicious and hydrating? They've got a ginger-papaya-passionfruit cure for you.

Shop: Nachlat Binyamin Arts and Crafts Fair: Tuesdays and Fridays

A great place to pick up gifts in this outdoor artists' pavilion: jewelry, pottery, handbags, art, crafts, Judaica - they've got it all.

Shop and Tour: Bauhaus Center

A great spot for learning more about Tel Aviv's Bauhaus architecture and great gift shop to boot. English walking tours on Fridays at 10:00 am for 80 shekels.

Shop: Asufa

All Israeli-design 100% of the time. A good place to pick up everything from kitchen gadgets to hip Judaica.

Eating in Jerusalem: The Shuk

Lots of good eating in Jerusalem centers around the shuk. Warning: everything is closed from sundown Friday until Saturday night or Sunday. Machneyuda ( Beit Yaakov Street #10) isn noisy, fun and yummy. Open for lunch and dinner. Yudaleh, across the street is a fun restobar with with amazing food (get the shikshukit) and smaller than Machneyuda. Only open for dinner. Khachapurri (Hashikma 5; open for lunch and dinner) specializes in the cheese-filled balkan dough pockets and is great. Hashipudia, also known as Yehudit (hashikma), is one of the more modest skewers places in town. They have all the standards (kabab, pargit (dark meat-chicken), steak) and is one of the few places in town you can still get a kaved avaz (foie gras) skewer. Great bread made on the spot in her taboon. Open for lunch and dinner. Azura (In the Iraqi shuk) serves long-cooked items in pots; a favorite. Mordoch (down the hill at 70 Agripas) for Iraqi kubbeh soup (filled semolina dumplings in broth).

Travel: Petra, Jordan

Petra is truly one of the seven wonders of the world. You can do it all in a one day turnaround: a quick flight from Sde Dov, Tel Aviv's soon-to-be-obsolete charming inner-city airport), a border crossing, guided tour, and return to Tel Aviv before dinner. Or you can drive down to Eilat (Israel's southernmost city, about a 4 hour drive from Tel Aviv , sleep over, cross the border in the morning, tour, and then cross back in to Israel. Of course you can take a longer trip to Jordan... NOTE: You have to get a Visa from the American Embassy which can be done while you are here. Or you can organize your trip in advance. Day Trips or longer excursions can be booked by Gilad@mrfein.com

An Insider's Day in Jerusalem with Jessica Steinberg: Part I - Breakfast

Jessica Steinberg, Culture Editor of Times of Israel (and the person who set us up! Mabrouk) , came up with this perfect Jerusalem day: My perfect day in Jerusalem would be on a weekday, when the sun is shining warm and the skies are blue. There are several options for breakfast, but the most obvious choice is Kadosh, the classic Jerusalem cafe on Heleni Hamalka Street downtown, where a husband-wife team operate the bakery and kitchen of this second-generation operation. I love to sit on the sidewalk outside, watching the world go by while I eat every bite of the Kadosh smoked salmon on croissant, or their version of the croque monsieur, or perhaps just an omelette, but with that delectable basket of brioche, croissant and bread at my fingertips, a cup or two of cappuccino to head and tail my meal.

A Perfect Day in Jerusalem: Part 2 - Shopping

After breakfast, I may just saunter down the block to Shoofra, one of my favorite Israeli shoe stores, where the shoes are imported, but the service is oh, so local. This is the shoe store for people who love shoes, and aren't ashamed to display that flagrant happiness. (Fun fact: On Purim, when people exchange baskets of goodies, Shoofra Jerusalem sent a basket of Kadosh treats to Shoofra Tel Aviv.) While I'm in the neighborhood, I'll stroll around a bit on the adjacent streets, including Ben Sira, Koresh and Yanai, and seeing what's new and different on this particular block that's gentrified over the last decade, adding some interesting furniture stores, galleries, antique shops and, yes, some more clothing.

Perfect Day in Jerusalem Part 3: Culture

Culture calls, so I first stroll over to the Print Workshop, at 38 Shivtei Yisrael, which artists use as a workspace, but which also functions as a kind of ad hoc gallery and great place to find affordable prints of local artists' work. From there, I just may stroll over to 12 Shmuel Hanagid Street and the Artist's House, a small but vibrant art gallery situated in what was the original Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, where the small galleries offer the opportunity to view current, contemporary Israeli art. It's time for coffee, of course, so I'll walk up the pedestrian part of Bezalel Street, where I could delay my coffee and stop in at Sofia, a great clothing boutique of curated Israeli designers, or at Anat Friedman, a Jerusalem clothing designer whose shop is just a few doors down from Sofia.

Perfect Day in Jerusalem, Part 4 - Coffee & Wandering

When I'm finally ready for that cup of hafuch, there's the option of sitting at one of the outdoor (or indoor) tables at the Bezalel Cafe, or heading to my ultimate destination, Nocturno, a Jerusalem hangout that also functions as an entertainment space at night. I may drink that coffee inside or outside, but I'll be sure to head upstairs to the First Floor, a collection of young designers and artisans, who make jewelry, clothing, accessories, pottery and other items in their small studio/shops of this open space. Is it time for lunch yet?

Perfect Day in Jerusalem, Part 5: Shuk & Lunch

It's a short walk over to Mahane Yehuda (the shuk) with an abundance of lunchtime options. I like to enter from Nisim Bachar Street, a main drag in the neighborhood of Nachlaot, home to students, hipsters and religious hippies. I allow myself to get a little lost in the maze of narrow streets that lead to Agrippas, the market's main street. I'll wander around the shuk gathering fresh greens and seasonal fruit, spending too much at Basher Cheese and picking up fresh bread at Teller. At lunchtime, I'll have to decide between or a bowl of beet ravioli at Pasta Basta. Or shoul I hit Crave for a taco bowl (save it for dinner!) or go local and choose kubeh soup at Azura in the Iraqi part of the market? It's June, so I choose the slightly seared tuna at Fishen Chips with a glass of local microbrew Shapiro Beer. I'll count calories tomorrow. If I need another iced coffee -- it is possible -- I'll stop in at Roasters, 20 HaAfarsek, where the cold brew is strong and cold--the perfect dessert.

Perfect Day in Jerusalem, Part 5: Culture (Movies, Design Week, Jerusalem Festival)

The sun's hot and I'm feeling droopy, and Adeena said to describe my perfect Jerusalem day, so I'm going to head over to the Cinematheque to see whatever's playing in the late afternoon at Jerusalem's famed arthouse theater overlooking the Hinnom Valley. You'll need to cab over. By the time I emerge, the sun will have gone down, leaving a light sky but less heat, and the possibility of exploring a different corner of my city. It's the season of the Israel Festival, when the Jerusalem Theater brings avant garde artists and performers to this corner of the Middle East, so maybe I'll snag some tickets for the night, and walk over to the theater. If it's any day between June 8 and 15, it's Jerusalem Design Week, based at Hansen House, a former leper colony remade into an art space. Luckily, those two locations are right near Talbiyeh, a swanky -- for Jerusalem -- resto bar (as we like to call it here), owned by the folks from Machneyuda.

Perfect Day in Jerusalem, Part 6: The First Station

But I may take the easy way out, and walk over to the First Station, the refurbished 1800s-era train station just five minutes away from the Cinematheque, with an easy outdoor bar and an array of restaurants, including Adom, a well-known bistro with a great wine selection (not kosher), and Hakavan, a short walk down the train track, situated in a renovated switching station, and with a fun, Middle Eastern menu of kebabs, hamburgers and mezze platters. I may hang around to see if there's any free performance under the First Station tent, but it's also an easy stroll home, under the stars and the navy blue sky, where the breeze is just cool enough to draw the blanket up for a great night's sleep.

Israel Festival Jerusalem: June 1-18

2 1/2 weks of world-class dance, theater, film and other cultural events.

Adeena's Israeli Food Articles

Some things I've written about Israeli food for Food & Wine, Conde Nast Traveler, Gourmet and The Wall Street Journal...

Daily & Weekly Bike Rentals

Tel Aviv is a bikers' city. To get in on the action, you can rent a bike for the day or week. Many people now used electric bikes, which go up to 14 miles per hour and keep you cooler than conventional biking. That being said there are bike lanes everywhere and biking is a GREAT way to get to know the city. Caveat: bike theft IS an issue in Tel Aviv, so make sure to ask your rental company what their policy is. Also you could ask your credit card company of they cover theft (or travel insurance I am sure would). We like Pole Position bikes: they are very professional, speak English and have a good selection of regular and electric bikes. Prices range from about $35/day for Electric to $20/day for a conventional bike. Cheaper by the week, more expensive by the hour. This entry is linked to them so give them a holler!