6 authentic Israeli restaurants and Jewish delis
Are hummus, falafel and shakshuka calling your name?
Call it falafel fever or the Yotam Ottolenghi effect, but Israeli food is hot in the Bay Area. By early 2020, three highly anticipated Israeli or Israeli-inspired restaurants will open in the Bay Area: Oakland’s Pomella, San Francisco’s Shak Shuka and San Jose’s Meso — which is opening this month. And AL’S Deli, which opened earlier this year from chef-owner Aaron London of Michelinstarred AL’S Place, continues to land on best-of lists for its fresh, creative take on Israeli street food.
Where else can you go for a creamy hummus bowl or a drippy, stuffed pita in the Bay Area? Whether you’re craving classic Jewish dishes, Israeli comfort food or both, here are five standout spots, from Cupertino to Berkeley and San Francisco.
Oren’s Hummus
Oren and Nancy Dobronsky started with one Palo Alto shop to showcase heaping bowls of creamy, just-the-right-amountof-tahini hummus from Oren’s native Tel Aviv. Today, all four restaurants are bright, modern and totally casual, with a plethora of authentic Israeli eats, from warm, puffy stuffed pita sandwiches and large Israeli salads to a very Bay Area green shakshuka. But it’s those hummus bowls topped with everything from roasted cauliflower and golden raisins to pomegranate-braised lamb shoulder that keep hungry diners salivating for more.
DETAILS » Open from 11 a.m. at 19419 Stevens Creek Blvd. in Cupertino. Also in Palo Alto, Mountain View and San Francisco; orenshummus.com
Saul’s Restaurant & Delicatessen
Berkeley’s iconic Ghourmet Ghetto restaurant and deli is known for its housesmoked pastrami, baharat-spiced and grilled chicken liver and potato pancakes, which you can order in bulk for Hanukkah. Instead of reinventing the New York deli, executive chef and co-owner Peter Levitt has created — and continues to evolve — a unique Bay Area version, using sustainable practices and seasonal ingredients from local farms and purveyors. The menu features both traditional Jewish and multicultural Israeli dishes, like shakshuka and malawach, a Yemeni flatbread pancake.
DETAILS » Open from 8 a.m. daily at 1475 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley; www.saulsdeli.com
Sababa
Chef-owner Guy Eshel’s San Francisco pita bars showcase an essential street food of his native Israel: the falafel sandwich, assembled Chipotle-style. Choose your protein — crispy, fried herbed chickpea balls, a “300-minute” egg with sabik, or fried eggpant, or shawarma-spiced chicken or beef kofta — then have them stuff it into a just-baked pita with your choice of salads. Our faves: Moroccan carrots with sheep’s feta and orange, and roasted beets with labneh and za’atar spices. Don’t forget the vast array of pickles and sauces. You can go hummus bowl or rice plate, too.
DETAILS » Open from 11 a.m. Monday-friday at 329 Kearny St., 554 Commercial St., and coming soon to 71 Stevenson St., in San Francisco; www.sababasf.com
Augie’s Montreal Deli
Last year, owner Alexei Gopnick Lewinski introduced Berkeley to the smoked meat made famous by Montreal’s Romanian Jewish immigrants. As the only Montreal-style Jewish deli in the Bay Area, Augie’s has a fervent following for its slow-smoked brisket — billed as “like pastrami and corned beef had a baby” — as well as matzo ball soup, latkes and that other Canadian mainstay, poutine. Augie’s serves four kinds of Quebecois fries with curds and gravy, including a brunch poutine topped with red potatoes and eggs your way.
DETAILS » Open from 11 a.m. Wednesday-sunday (from 9 a.m. for brunch Saturday-sunday) at 875 Potter St. in Berkeley; augiesmontrealdeli.com
Frena Bakery & Cafe
It started with San Francisco’s only kosher bakery, a 600-square-foot Soma storefront serving memorable, fresh-baked goods, like personal-sized challahs and Romanian bagels. Three years later, Frena’s Israeli owners, including Isaac Yosef and Avi Edri, opened their second location, a cafe concept, in the Richmond District. There, you’ll find a larger menu of Great-grandfather Mosheh’s beloved dishes, including puff pastry burekas, brick oven-baked sambusak, or stuffed pitas, handmade jam and cream donuts, tomato matbucha salad and much more.
DETAILS » Open from 8 a.m. Monday-friday (and from 9 a.m. Sundays) at 5549 Geary Blvd. in San Francisco. The original Frena is located at 132 Sixth St.; frenabakery.com
Babka by Ayelet
OK, it’s not an Israeli restaurant or a Jewish deli. But Ayelet Nuchi’s sunny Babka by Ayelet could be the country’s first babka-only bakery. Nuchi, a native of Tel Aviv, where the filled butter-and-yeast dough cakes are found in every cafe, trained in Europe and worked at Spago before launching her catering company. Her modern Palo Alto cafe opened earlier this year inside Town & Country Village. There, she offers up to 10 babka varieties, including Nutella, halvah, maple pecan and butternut squash, baked fresh daily.