Taste of Life in Tel Aviv
Our favorite meal (outside of our relatives’ homes) was at Taste of Life, or Taim Hakaim (60 Ben-Yehuda, Tel. 08-655-9360). This unique establishment is owned and operated by the community of African Hebrew Israelites, whose headquarters in Israel is in Dimona. This same group is affiliated with the Soul Vegetarian Café chain of restaurants. Soul Vegetarian manufactures organic, vegan, kosher foods and have restaurants in Washington D.C., Atlanta, Charleston, Ghana, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Despite enjoying the delicious Mediterranean-style meals we’d grown used to, this vegan-style comfort food was most welcome. Our sons are conscious of eating slowly and savoring meals, but they couldn’t help but practically inhale their food.
Here is Evan’s meal of seitan with gravy, a creamy potato casserole, and a ragout of veggies, plus a typical Israeli-style salad with tofu “feta.” Adam had something similar with a broccoli and mushroom dish instead of the ragout; my husband feasted on a melt-in-your-mouth eggplant parmesan. I was getting over a stomach upset I had picked up by eating at a kibbutz, so I had to take it a bit easy; the creamy potato casserole really hit the spot. If vegan desserts are available the boys can always find more room, so they tried some oatmeal-raisin and carob cookies.
The second photo is of a delightful young lady who works at the café. Not only was the food wonderful, but the people who cook and serve are warm and conversational. We also had interesting chats with some of the other diners eating at adjacent outdoor tables, who were up from the community in Dimona. Many are originally from the U.S. and seemed to enjoy meeting our family of vegans. Visiting Dimona would be a fantastic food field trip, but our time with my large family was so precious. Besides, it was getting HOT, and Dimona, which is located in the Negev dessert in the south, is even hotter than Tel Aviv. Next time, for sure! And I’ll write some sort of article about it. The community manufactures many of the products used in the café—creamy soy cheeses, “sausage,” “salami,” burgers, and the like. They are supposedly the largest manufacturer of tofu in Israel. The superb seitan is made right in the Tel Aviv café.
I absolutely loved the gravy that was served on the seitan, and the chef had no problem sharing the simple recipe with me. Actually, she gave me the list of ingredients and I decided to figure out the quantities; she probably needs to make much larger amounts. Next time, maybe she’ll give me a tutorial on how to make this amazing seitan—it’s a lot better than my homemade version.
Here is my version of the gravy. I made it last night to top a “mixed grill” of tofu and seitan:
Great Gravy
Makes about 1 1/4 cups
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
Combine the water and soy sauce in a small saucepan and heat.
Combine the cornstarch with just enough water to dissolve in a cup or small container. When the water adn soy suace mixture is at a steady simmer, slowly whisk in the cornstarch, stirring constantly until the liquid is thickened.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the basil and yeast. Use at once over seitan, tofu, or mashed potates.
Susan G said,
July 21, 2006 @ 7:16 pm
Welcome back and thanks for all the posts. Memory of my 1st trip to Israel was the incredible taste of a cucumber… this community reminds me of The Farm, still using their cookbook.
Teddy said,
July 22, 2006 @ 9:15 pm
Mashed potatoes and GRAVY. What a comfort food’
Teddy
Kleo said,
July 24, 2006 @ 1:04 am
This place sounds wonderful. Tov m’od, b’vakasha.
And todah raba for the fab posts, Nava.
Be safe.
Chana (Kleo)
Monica said,
July 24, 2006 @ 8:45 am
Here in Little Rock, Arkansas, we have a delightful little hole-in-the-wall vegan soul food restaurant run by some members of the African Hebrew community. It’s called “From the Garden” and their cook learned at the Soul Vegetarian place in Atlanta, but she’s really taken it to new heights. Country-fried Seitan with Smothered Onions and Gravy, Kale salad, and Candied Yams—my favorite! It’s not low calorie or low fat, but at least there’s no transfats, cholesterol, or animal products!
Nava said,
July 24, 2006 @ 6:33 pm
Thanks for the welcome back messages, everyone. Wow, the place in Little Rock sounds wonderful. Maybe the food isn’t low-cal, but it’s probably very healthy. I bet the guys in my family, the seitan and tofu freaks, would go wild for that Country-Fried Seitan. Should we ever find ourselves in Little Rock (I don’t foresee that, but one never knows!) I know exactly where to go. The African Hebrews sure have a way with food!
Sigliyah said,
July 25, 2006 @ 11:56 am
Shalom Shalom!!!
You definetly will have to take some cooking classes with us. We offer them in the Atlanta, Chicago and St. Louis extensions for sure. Thanks for the nice article about our restaruants. We are working on new restaurants worldwide, including Australia, France, Taiwan, Germany and others. Be sure to keep up with the news…
Nava said,
July 25, 2006 @ 12:02 pm
Sigliyah, that’s fantastic! If I get over to any of those cities, I’d like a lesson on how to make that kind of great seitan we had in Tel Aviv. I make a decent seitan, but not nearly as good. And what great news that new restaurants are opening around the world. I hope I can keep up with those developments via your web site, but also please send me press releases at nava@vegkitchen.com so I can announce these openings to my readers.
Jayelle said,
July 25, 2006 @ 4:44 pm
I’m so glad you’re back from there!
I learned so much from this post. That there’s an African Jewish community in Israel, that there are some really beautiful and wonderful things over there…
And the food, of course.
Thank you.
Adwoa said,
August 3, 2006 @ 1:33 pm
When I was in DC last year I missed the opportunity to go to the Soul Vegetarian Restaurant. But I had their recipe book for years. I sure wish they would put a restaurant in NYC, particularly in Harlem. I would love to visit Dimona on my vacation and stay with the Hebrew Israelites for a couple of weeks.It would be a wonderful soul journey.
Nava said,
August 3, 2006 @ 2:04 pm
I agree, a branch in NYC would be wildly successful. I think a few members of the Soul Veg community read this blog, so I’ll put the question out there: any plans for a NYC Soul Vegetarian Restaurant?
Tirtzah said,
August 20, 2006 @ 1:47 am
Thank you for writing about your vegan adventures here and there in the world. It’s nice to know that vegans can enjoy food anywhere in the world.
In Israel I imagine it would not only be vegan, but kosher too.
(no meat on the place)
Thanks for your great writing.
All the best..
Theresa