AKA Team Opens Another Trendy Restaurant as Tel Aviv Gets a Wave of New Spots
The most talked-about new restaurant in Tel Aviv right now is Trattoria Ona, opened by the team behind AKA from Nahalat Binyamin. Chef Itai Kushmaro is serving an Italian menu on Einstein Street in northern Tel Aviv that includes sformato, lemon gnocchi, tomato butter pasta, cacio e pepe, pasta limone, anellotti and green salad. The small restaurant has about 40 seats, will open for lunch after its soft launch, and prices run from 29 to 84 shekels. It is not kosher.
Another new opening is Lento at Hutzot Shfayim, launched by chef Moti Sofer, formerly of La Repubblica, together with entrepreneur Gilad Yarkoni, who also owns the cafe-delicatessen HaChatzer HaAchorit. The restaurant serves small and medium sharing plates with Italian and Mediterranean influences, using produce from Sofer’s private farm in Kfar Hayarok. It is currently open only in the evenings during its trial period, with dishes such as cured sardines, shrimp with preserved lemons, veal tartare, baked red mullet, spinach and chard gnudi, and pappardelle ragu.
In central Tel Aviv, Fugachi has opened as a cafe that focuses more on atmosphere than food. The minimalist, stainless-steel space features a spaceship-like bar that doubles as a pastry display, coffee counter and DJ booth, with records on the walls and seating inside and outside. The menu includes photogenic drinks, carrot cake, avocado toast, brioche with butter and jam, a salmon bagel and even cornflakes with milk.
Other newcomers include Marge Pizza Bar near Florentin, a Neapolitan-style pizzeria where pizzas are cut with scissors and cost 70 to 82 shekels, and the first store of HaMahlava HaK’tana, which will open soon near Revi’it Florentin on Salame Street. In Azeqiv, Tosha Bakery opened Oli by Tosha, a kosher pizza stand with arancini and salads, while in Carmel Market, Madhim Sum is drawing crowds with Asian street food, including noodles, gyoza, bao buns, dumplings and frozen sake cocktails. Beta Cafe’s team also opened Limi Cafe in Ramat Aviv.
