Only Memories Remain

For nine years now I have been visiting the Alegria vegan restaurant on Ibn Gabirol Street in Tel Aviv quite regularly. Full disclosure: The restaurant is located right in front of the Walla building.

Disclosure 2: I'm vegan. Last week I fulfilled a small dream and stepped into the huge shoes left by beloved waitresses from the past such as Noa, Brit and Shahar, and served customers dishes from the beloved kitchen. It's not that I changed my profession to waitressing in the middle of life, it was a one-time but noteworthy case in the short history of vegan restaurants in the city, and in the country.

A short reminder: There was a time when Ibn Gabirol Street was a pilgrimage center for vegans from all over the country. Beyond falafels and chickpeas, Harel Zakaim opened Sultana on the street, which offered a unique vegan shawarma wheel; Roy Herzog presented for years a changing daily menu of mounds, hills and mountains (according to the size of the portions) in Herzog; Gali Langa convinced her father Michael to turn Falafel Mevorach into a strictly vegan place that sold the tastiest hamburger in town. Older vegans probably remember Buddha Burger selling vegan burgers in front of Rabin Square before anyone even knew what it was.

All these businesses no longer exist. Some succumbed to Corona, the rest succumbed to the light rail works. Alegria will soon join this glorious list of successful and beloved businesses that we have lost.

The rumor about the closing of the old vegan temple started spreading its wings recently in groups of vegans and vegans on social networks, and I specifically came to the restaurant to check if it was true. Unfortunately, the owner Maya Aloni clarified to me that the rumor is very true. "I should have closed two years ago," she added sadly, while clarifying that she does not make any money on any portion that goes out through Walt.

As happens many times when rumors about the closing of a mythical place begin to circulate, this time too people remembered the place and the invitations did not stop coming. The demand for the "Empress Salad" - one of the best vegan dishes in Israel - was so great that Maya feared she would be stuck without lettuce.

But it doesn't matter at all. Walt takes a crazy share of every order, the state takes its share, and so does the municipality - which does not give a shekel of discount, despite the light rail works that make sitting in the place unattractive.

Gourmet in the neighborhood. Alegria

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‏‎פוסט משותף על ידי ‏‎Alegria‎‏ (@‏‎alegriatlv‎‏)‎‏

Alegria, named after Maya's late mother, is a one-woman show. When they tell her "we heard you are closing" she lets the pain break out of her. There is no "you". It's just her. She manages the place, takes the orders, serves the dishes and makes sure that each of them meets the high standard of the place, down to the crunch level of the lettuce.

And she can barely stand on her feet. Not only metaphorically and economically, but also physically. When I saw that she was injured and could barely walk, I decided to volunteer and help her get dishes out of the kitchen.

It was a bit of a sad closure. Alegria has always been a restaurant with gourmet food on the one hand, but with a warm neighborhood feel. A place where the customers and waitresses address each other by name. I don't even remember how it happened, but the retired waitress Naa once remembered that I like pomelo, and left me in the kitchen a huge pomelo from her family's field in the north.

Not much remains of this happy and lively place. The waitresses have been replaced by Walt couriers who ride motorcycles on the sidewalk, and although Maya offers 1+1 deals on drinks, it's hard to spot a real happy hour in the place.

And that's before we talked about the granita that is mixed on the spot non-stop, and provides a vegan iced version based on real coffee, or the pantry products that are sold here such as breads, cheeses, egg salad and more. Everything is fresh, and vegan, of course.

Anyone who has ever eaten Alegria's Caesar Salad knows that there is no exaggeration here. This is one of the special and finest dishes in this city, and not only in the vegan genre, but in general. And none of this matters, of course, if every salad delivered does not bring in any profit for the restaurant. None of this matters, of course, if the municipality refuses to facilitate businesses that collapse due to the never-ending works. None of this matters if another vegan business collapses and leaves the community with memories.

I wish something would change and the place would remain, or at least be sold to an investor who wants to invest. If not, Alegria will join the list of legendary vegan places that were and are not.

Alegria, 165 Ibn Gabirol, Tel Aviv