Jonathan Food Club is one
of the best restaurants I ate at. Chef Yonatan Roshfeld gives everything he has
to give here – and it is a lot! Fresh top quality ingredients, accuracy and
personal touch in every plate and extraordinary combination of flavors!
Yonatan Roshfeld, the
well-known Israeli chef judge “Master Chef” was born and raised in a
Kibbutz. A son of a German father and a Moroccan
who studied in CAnnes and worked in a Michelin 3 stars restaurant, Roshfeld cooks
in two restaurants - Jonathan Food Club and Captain Curry. Jonathan Food Club
is a contemporary European Mediterranean chef restaurant with Roshfeld’s signature
in everything from food to wine and it is considered one of the best
restaurants in Tel Aviv.
Jonathan Food Club is
situated near the old station of Tel Aviv, facing the beach. The décor has oriental
style that reminded me a British officer club at the Indian colony in the previous
century. The restaurant started as an Indian restaurant but has recently
changed to an International chef restaurant.
The restaurant has a
number of areas with a private dining area on the second floor with a beautiful
sea view and an open kitchen (glass walls enabling the guests to see Roshfeld
cooking).
The menu at Jonathan Food
Club is small but varied and it is always changing according to the season, the
availability of ingredients and Roshfeld’s mood. However, its structure and
offering is rather consistent with vegetables, fruit de mere, fish, pastas,
beef and lamb. Some of the plates are offered as half plate as well, perfect
for tasting! We took advantage of this and shared a few courses.
Starters
We started with warm fresh
bread, served with sour cream and Zaatar. A basket of warm buns baked here with
Anis scent.
The vegetables in the
menu were grown from “Heritage Seeds by Benny Lifshitz” conserved original native
holy land biblical crop. These are the highest quality vegetables in the market
today, if you look carefully, you’ll notice this in the food – young zucchinis (often
named zucchini flowers), palm cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, etc.
Chinese Asparagus “hanged youghurt” & wild garlic
Two huge pieces of Chinese
asparagus with hanged yoghurt (Labneh) seasoned with chives. The gentle
sourness of the yoghurt and the stinginess of the chives fits wonderfully with
the asparagus! While I did not taste all the food here, I think this one is one
of the best – so simple yet so good!
Salad from Tomatoes that grew this week in the “Arava”
As much as this salad looks
simple it is excellent! The different types and colors of fresh firm ripe sweet
tomatoes with the rest of the ingredients (I could feel small radish, chives,
basil, and boiled egg) is so yummy!
The salad in the
photograph is “half” plate.
Main Courses
“Nudi” Ricotta, Parmesan Reggiano & Sage
Soft but solid Ricotta Gnocchi
served in a bath of cream of spinach with egg yolk in the middle. Well done
although I needed to add salt. The egg yolk made it a bit heavy for me so I had
it without it. The Nudi in the photograph is “half” plate.
Beef Fillet “Jacques Chibois”
Beef Fillet made exactly
to order with crunchy edges and red center. Wonderful red wine jus with pepper. The
surprise was the beans that melt in the mouth. We also had the tomatoes and
onion that was served as part of this plate. I loved every bite! Accurately made
just like in France - a masterpiece!
Desserts
Roshfeld’s desserts are
at the level of a French Patisserie! We tried two.
“Weiss” Chocolate Triplet
Three flavors of fluffy chocolate
Ganaches covered by a thin dark chocolate disc. The ganaches were not too sweet
and were so good!
“Brittany” Apple pie, Almond cream & Apples in Calvados
A base of warm butter
cake with caramelized apples and a ball of light cream. Served with caramel
cinnamon ice cream. This dessert is
excellent! So accurate and tasty in every bite. The ice cream has an
extraordinary flavor!
Drinks and Alcohol
Jonathan Food Club offers
different types of Nespresso coffee that is brewed here with different blends
of Arabica and Robusta from South and Middle America. It is not capsules! Also the
tea is of high quality.
The wine and cocktails
menu is wide, there is also a deal of wine tasting offered for around 100 NIS. This
month it was of Flam winery, and for 95 NIS per person the deal offers 3
smaller glasses of wine (altogether 2+ glasses of wine) of White, Rose and Red
wine. The red wine was Flam Merlot Reserve 2008 – a really good deal!
During dinner, as we sat on the bar, the bar tenders offered us shots and the atmosphere was getting warm making dinner not only food but also fun!
Information
Prices: food 38-188 NIS,
desserts 52 NIS.
Our food: Bread 22 NIS,
Asparagus 68 NIS, Salad (half) 38 NIS, Nudi (half) 48 NIS, Beef Fillet 178 NIS,
and Desserts 52 NIS.
Overall, dinner at Jonathan
Food Club costs 20-30% more than a normal restaurant but the value for money is
accordingly – excellent ingredients and Roshfeld’s touch that makes food here
to something you won’t find elsewhere! Dinner here is a wonderful culinary
experience!
Jonathan Food Club, 6 Koifman
st. Tel Aviv, open Mon-Sat 18:30-24:00, 03-6960707 Not Kosher
Disclosure: I was a guest
of the restaurant
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