Smoked meat seems to be having a moment, and the newly opened Tzvi restaurant offers excellent smoked meat in a cozy, beautifully designed space in Rehavia. Husband and wife owners Meira and Elad Hayut, who also own the Pepa café next door, offer a variety of meats that are smoked in their small restaurant kitchen – all at a reasonable price.
Tzvi refers to Elad’s grandfather, who was one of the founders of Moshav Hazor’im in northern Israel and the director of an agricultural school there. While Café Pepa is named for Meira’s grandmother, Tzvi honors Elad’s grandfather.
The couple left Germany separately just before the war, and much of their family was wiped out in the Holocaust. Elad remembers summers spent on his grandfather’s farm.
Chef Elad has cooked in some of Israel’s finest restaurants and has a clear philosophy about his food.
“Our concept is to use top-of-the-line meat which comes fresh from Argentina,” he said. “All of the sauces and condiments are made here, except for the Tabasco. We get our bread from a small bakery nearby. We want clean, precise food.”
His idea is that the restaurant will be not only a place for special occasions, but for families who don’t feel like cooking dinner, or for couples on a date night.
I met my friend Gilya Hodos, who was visiting from Philadelphia to attend two weddings in Israel and is an avid foodie. We started with the bread platter (NIS 35), which came with house-smoked bresola, paper-thin slices of dried and smoked beef, along with olives and cherry tomato confit. It was an excellent start to the meal.
If you are dining alone, go for the 350-gram platter
We then shared the large smoked platter (NIS 260), with a total of 700 grams, which was more than enough for the two of us. It came with brisket, asado, chicken, sausages, and picanha, all smoked in-house. All of it was good, but the picanha was outstanding. This cut of steak, with a fat cap on top and a deep, beefy flavor, has become popular in Israel – and for good reason.
The platter was served with campfire potatoes, onions, coleslaw, and corn on the cob, all grilled. There was also homemade chimichurri, which was delicious.
If you are dining alone or are a teenage boy looking for a snack, go for the 350-gram platter for NIS 135.
They also offer steaks: a 350-gram entrecote steak for NIS 185 and a 300-gram sirloin for NIS 135. Both come with the same side dishes as the smoked platter, and while I didn’t try them, if they are as good as the smoked meat platter, they offer excellent value for money, and I will be back to try them.
If you don’t eat red meat, you can get a smoked half-chicken for just NIS 78.
They also serve burgers and sandwiches, a vegetarian platter of side dishes for those who don’t eat meat, and a whole fish for NIS 120.
Just wow: The pleasant surprise of a pareve dessert
Along with the meat platter, we shared a huge house salad (NIS 48) of lettuce, croutons, capers, anchovies, and Worcestershire aioli. It was basically a parve Caesar salad. It was delicious.
I often skip dessert at meat restaurants as I find parve desserts often aren’t worth the calories. But I had to try the chocolate Chantilly mousse (NIS 45) with Lubeca chocolate, olive oil, sea salt, and hyssop leaves. Just wow.
On Fridays, they offer Shabbat takeout. They have also opened a butcher shop where you can buy their meat to make at home.
Tzvi is a small restaurant with only 30 seats, including some at the bar. It is a great addition to the Jerusalem scene, and I wish them well.
Tzvi
1 Harav Chaim Berlin
Call: 050-3089817
Open: Sun.-Thurs., midday-4 p.m., 6-11 p.m.; Fri. 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Kashrut: Tzohar, all meat is Chalak
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.