Israel’s Tastes of the Valleys Festival, taking
place between 29.1-11.2.2017, is a culinary festival featuring the best
restaurants in the northern valleys of Israel with special menus, wine tasting
and food fairs that will take you on a journey of local cuisine.
Tastes
of the Valleys Festival
This year, The Tastes of the Valleys Festival
is celebrating 13 years and is bigger than ever. During the festival, 11
leading restaurants will serve special menus, including local wine, with prices
ranging from 79-109 NIS. I visited three of these restaurants and some of the
places that will be open during the festival.
iCook – Chef Doron Bar On
Whether you want to taste local food “from the
farm to the table” or learn how to cook it yourself – Doron’s studio at
“HaYogev” is the place for you. Doron serves here brunch and lunch made of
fresh local ingredients that he finds within a radius of 40 km around his
house. He knows each and every vegetable and local farm and dairy, and his
specialty is creative fusion kitchen full of flavors, herbs and smells. Doron
also gives cooking classes at the studio in Hebrew and English, during which he
teaches his expertise and all the tricks to cook healthy and tasty, without
adding sugar.
Doron
Bar On – Farm to Table
Brunch at Doron’s studio is a celebration of
tastes. An especially sweet ad red tomatoes Shakshouka, fresh bread straight
from the oven, crème fresh that is made in the neighboring farm, homemade
marmalade, and plenty of salads made of the season’s vegetables excellently
seasoned with herbs from the garden. An extraordinary meal you won’t find
anywhere else! During lunchtime, he serves meat and fish, there are child
meals, and vegan and gluten free plates. 
Brunch
at iCook
Carmel Farm
Before leaving HaYogev, we stopped by Carmel
Farm, where the Carmel family grows special vegetables – Salanova lettuce, snow
peas, asparagus, kale and more. Hanna Carmel met us at the Salanova greenhouse
to show us how they grow the vegetables environmentally friendly and without
using pesticides.
Anat
Carmel – Carmel Farm
The vegetables are sold on the farm’s store and
it is an opportunity to stock up for a better price. Information: Carmel Farm.
Carmel
Farm Store – HaYogev
From HaYogev, we headed east towards Bet She’an
to Kimmel BaGilboa.
Kimmel BaGilboa
Kimmel BaGilboa is a don’t miss out restaurant
in the northern valleys not far from Afula, on the lower hillside of the Gilboa
mountain. It is easily found on the road between Afula and Beit She’an. The
restaurant is a real gem. Nice settings, great service and excellent food. The
menu is very diverse.
Kimel
BaGilboa
Kimel
BaGilboa – View
We had light starters and dessert meal at
Kimmel. For starters we had (left to right, top to bottom) bread with dips,
roasted eggplant with lentils and tahini, beet salad with cheese, chicken liver
pate, and mushroom risotto. Everything was excellent, and the risotto – to die
for!
Kimel
BaGilboa – Starters
For dessert we had a warm apple pie with ice
cream (the best dessert for the winter), tapioca with fruits (vegan), brownie
with chocolate mousse, and cream puff served on excellent raspberry sauce.
Except the tapioca that I did not taste, all the desserts were superb!
Kimel
BaGilboa – Desserts
With the meal we had new wines from Carmel
Winery (kosher) called Vats: Red, Rose, and white. They are all blends, and the
red wine is aged 6 months. The name 4 Vats (or 2 Vats) was picked because the
wines were made in small quantity of 2-4 barrels.
Carmel
Wines
The restaurant is not cheap, which makes the
Tastes of the Valleys Festival an opportunity to have a full meal, with wine
for a reduced price of 79-109 NIS.
Another restaurant that is part of the Tastes
of the Valleys Festival is the Gilboa Herb Farm restaurant.
Gilboa Herb Farm Restaurant
Herb Farm restaurant is located on the Gilboa
mountain hillside overlooking the valley of Jezreel. The restaurant was
established by Pnina and Yossi Mass who were evacuated from Yamit settlement
when the Israeli government returned Sinai to Egypt. The couple moved to the
Gilboa and opened a Fresh herb farm for export. They built the restaurant with
their own hands, Yossi constructed the building himself, section after section,
and Pnina learnt to cook from chefs in Europe. The restaurant became famous for
its fresh international cooking and is now the main business of Oren, their
son.
Gilboa
Herb Farm Restaurant
The restaurant has a lovely view of the valley
of Jezreel.
View
from Gilboa Herb Farm Restaurant
At the restaurant we had starters, main
courses, and dessert ‘tapas’.
For starters we had Focaccia with dips, the
farm salad, chicken liver salad and polenta. I especially liked the fresh salad
that contained some nice surprises such as sweet potato crisps. For main courses
we had salmon with risotto, beef filet cubes and beet gnocchi (which we
shared). While some of the dishes were a bit too salty for me, I ordered my own
plate – a beef filet – and asked for it to be made medium well and less salty.
It was excellent – so yummy!
For dessert we had ‘tapas’ – a nice option for
a small portion of something sweet after a full meal, or to share a few kinds
of desserts: crème Brule, ice cream with Halva and Dates syrup, and mascarpone
coffee cream.
During the Tastes of the Valleys Festivalthe
restaurant will host a Jazz evening.
Information: Gilboa
Herb Farm
If you are already in the area, why not taste
some local wines? Nahmani winery is located nearby.
Nahmani Winery
Nahmani winery is a small, privately owned
winery. David Nahmani makes wine in his back yard and the wines are named after
his daughters. David and Francis (his wife) will welcome you (RSVP required) in
their little winery for a short tour and wine tasting. David makes red wines
for 10 years now, including blends. He buys grapes from farmers in Israel and
ages them for 2 years in oak barrels. The result is round wines with heavy body
who have won a few prizes.
Another attraction in the area is Afula’s new
food market.
Afula’s New Food Market
Afula’s new food market has been reopened
recently and is developing rapidly. The market square is expanding and in the
process of opening more food stands and pop up stores. The market will be a
not-to-miss attraction in Afula and the area. During the festival a big fair
will take place here, with shows, children activities and shopping
opportunities.
Afula
new food market
If you are in Israel during the Tastes of the
Valleys Festival, it is the best time to go to the valleys, also because the
winter is the high season in this quite hot area. But you can always go to the
valleys year-round and enjoy the views, tastes, and wines.
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