Restaurant review: "Boker Gov" and Shavuot delights

A Secret Brunch Spot Revealed in Tel Aviv

In the building that once hosted the filming of "Layla Gov" with Gidi Gov, lies a hidden café known to only a select few. Maariv’s restaurant critic managed to sneak in for brunch and report back.

Have you ever discovered a hidden garden near your home that you never knew existed? That’s exactly what happened to us, only in a culinary version. Just 100 meters from our home, behind a heavy, closed door with no sign outside to reveal what’s happening inside, lies a beautiful, meticulous, high-end café we had no idea about. Directly across the narrow street is Cafe Haohel, where we frequently hang out. We never imagined that just 30 meters away was another secret, hidden place.

"Backstage Café," located in the hotel of the same name, used to serve as the Ohel Theater and the G.G. Studios, where Beshidur Chai with Dan Shilon and "Layla Gov" with Gidi Gov were filmed. The cultural backdrop gave the place its name, Backstage. The historic building, established in 1940, is a meticulously preserved heritage site. The rooms are not identical but all are exquisitely designed, with a central atrium where sunlight gently filters through.

The café operates only in the morning, serving a theatrical brunch: each table is decorated in a different style. At our table, the menu was a clutch purse, and the salt and pepper shakers were disguised as a lipstick (salt) and a nail polish bottle (pepper). At another table, the salt shaker was hidden inside a book. Quite amusing indeed.

After the amusement comes the food: each table receives a three-tiered tray with a variety of small dishes such as smoked salmon, watermelon with feta, quinoa salad, and more. Nothing extraordinary that you haven't encountered elsewhere, yet the presentation adds a chic touch. The buffet table offers a satisfying variety for a wonderful breakfast. The selection is quite limited, yet there’s enough to leave everyone satisfied.

Those imagining an endless buffet like those in large hotels might be disappointed – here, it's a single table about four meters long with all the dishes. The highlight is the main course – we chose sunny-side-up eggs on savory French toast with Gouda, and bread pudding with egg salad – two meticulously crafted dishes with a delicate twist that make clear the difference between a standard café and one that feels like a private club. The price, by the way, is not cheap (NIS 145 per diner), yet it seems like a recommended place to celebrate special events. Who knows, you might even meet Gidi Gov there.

Backstage Café, 6 Bilinson Street, Tel Aviv (not kosher).

Worth Every Shekel: The Former Basketball Player Who Created the Best Cheesecake in TownMichal Epstein has three State Cup trophies. As an active basketball player for 18 years – including in the Israeli national team and the American college league – she never imagined she had a hidden talent in a completely different field – food. Today, together with her partner, she is the owner and chef of EATS, a cafeteria with two branches in Tel Aviv.

To make a long story short, it seems Epstein has created the best cheesecake in town: a carrot cheesecake, which is essentially a combination of two cakes, topped with sour cream Chantilly and crumble. Let me tell you, there’s cheesecake and then there’s EATS cheesecake. A moist, beautiful cake inside and out, with a particularly delicate sweetness. It’s not easy to part with NIS 160 for a cake, but this time it’s truly worth every shekel.

We haven’t been to the café itself yet – we’ve heard they have excellent green couscous, a creative lunch box, and also great quiches – but we will note that on the Shavuot menu, you can also find the triple cake – three parts of cake with different flavors forming a whole circle, mushroom and spinach bread pudding, chard and leek gratin, and a few other intriguing dairy dishes.

EATS, 1 Adam Hacohen Street and 20 Sheinkin Street, Tel Aviv, 03-5594486.

Food News: The Dessert Market ReturnsThe Dessert Market returns to Tel Aviv for the second time: today and tomorrow (Thursday and Friday) at the air-conditioned Sarona Market, offering the best of Israeli produce at dozens of stalls: the best bakers, the most talented pastry chefs from the north and south, local chocolate experts, and Israeli pastry geniuses, and countless justified reasons to put aside the diet, guilt, and mainly, the feelings of remorse. Among the exhibitors: Or Yosef from Kibbutz Erez, whose patisserie is still closed, will bring sweet hope from the envelope: creamy and tall kremshnit and her famous avocado dessert and iconic mushroom dessert.

Fish and CheeseSpecial cooking workshop ahead of Shavuot: “A Celebration of Fish and Cheese” led by the excellent chef Eyal Lavi (Rokach 73), as part of the Dan Gourmet culinary studies center by ORT. The workshop will teach, among other things: smoked salmon wrapped in phyllo filled with asparagus, ricotta, and pecorino; sea bass fillet filled with leek, mushrooms, and saffron in a crispy phyllo wrap; and kadaif mille-feuille, mascarpone cream, berries, and reduced balsamic. Additionally, a perfect cheesecake workshop led by pastry chef Ronny Freddy Mordechai will be offered. NIS 480, to register: 1-700-502-999.