A culinary find in Haifa: Brooklyn 17 brings the pizza bar to Israel - review

When’s the last time you had a cocktail or a sublime fusilli with pistachio cream sauce with your pizza?

Although a pizza bar is quite uncommon in Israel, Brooklyn 17, located in Haifa’s Carmel district, boasts not only a wide variety of gourmet pizzas and pasta dishes, but it also doubles as a neighborhood sports bar, with original cocktails, mocktails, wines, beers, and a sports screen.

Owner Elad Goldsteen said that the idea came to him while traveling back and forth in recent years to New York. A successful board game designer who also adapted the popular game Codename for its Hebrew version Shemcode, Goldsteen in recent years frequently attended game conferences in Manhattan.

Brooklyn 17 doesn’t need to worry about the competition, though, because it offers something different from the cookie-cutter pizza-to-go places we all frequent. It doubles as a family-style restaurant with reasonable prices and great food, and as an evening venue for bar goers who enjoy pizza or a ceviche appetizer with their drinks.

Homey and tastefully decorated, Brooklyn 17 has a number of tables inside spaciously situated, stool seating outside, and a sleek bar running across one wall.

The kitchen is strictly dairy, but the restaurant doesn’t have a kashrut certificate. Although it is closed on Friday nights, it opens in the later afternoon on Shabbat.

According to Goldsteen the doughs, sauces, and desserts are all created in-house, and the pizzas are made from sourdough fermented for 72 hours, hand-stretched, and baked in a stone oven imported from Naples.

My companion and I sampled one item from each course: starters, salads, pizza, and pasta. And, of course, a cocktail. The frozen margarita (NIS 47) was oversized and refreshing after a day in the heat. There’s a whole slew of cocktails to choose from, including a number of mocktails for teetotalers, as well as premium American whiskey and 14 types of wine by the glass.

For starters, we tried the polenta (NIS 61), made from scratch on the premises. Featuring sliced mushroom, truffle oil, and fresh corn, the richness and creaminess were out of this world and left us wanting more.

Other starters for next time include ricotta ravioli – handmade pasta stuffed with ricotta cheese and pecorino, in a butter and pepper cream sauce with lemon zest (NIS 48); focaccia (NIS 34); and ceviche (NIS 62).

I can’t say enough about the Hawaiian pizza (NIS 70), one of the three special pizza that night, in addition to the five regulars on the menu. Goldsteen said he makes the crust like they do in New York – a soft crust with plenty of toppings. At 32 cm. (enough for one diner, but better for two), it was oozing with Alfredo sauce and Parmesan, and topped with pineapple chunks.

If pineapple isn’t your thing, try the Gratin Pizza (cream sauce, Parmesan, potato gratin, crushed black pepper, and mozzarella; NIS 68); the Spinach & Four Cheeses Pizza (cream sauce, spinach, and a special blend of four cheeses – mozzarella, aged Gouda, pecorino, and Parmesan; NIS 70); or The Heart Pizza (tomato sauce, Parmesan, cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, arugula, olive oil, and reduced balsamic drizzle; NIS 72).

The aforementioned pasta with pistachio cream (NIS 65) might be worth a special trip to Haifa, and I can still taste it in my mind. Cooked al dente, the fusilli was the perfect combination of chewy and supple, and the sauce was to die for. Other pasta options include Marinara (NIS 60), Rose (NIS 65), and Porcini cream (NIS 65).

Guilted by Goldsteen, we agreed to try one of the dessert offerings, choosing the ice cream sundae (conjuring up images of hot fudge and whipped cream). Although refreshing and delicious, it was instead a rich brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, pistachio crumble, and maple (NIS 39).

On our next visit, there’ll be an opportunity to sample the Tiramisu Sundae – American vanilla ice cream with coffee liqueur biscotti, espresso, and cocoa (NIS 39); the Basque Cheesecake with a berry glaze (NIS 39); the Nutella Pizza topped with Nutella, pistachio crumble, and American vanilla ice cream (NIS 52); or one of the five American-style milkshakes.

I may have joked about returning to Haifa especially to go back to Brooklyn 17, but its unique dishes and cocktails, as well as its reasonable prices, make it a perfect choice for lunch or dinner on your next trip to the city. You can be sure that I’ll be back there the next time Haifa beckons.   