Hotel Montefiore in central Tel Aviv is celebrating 18 years as one of the city’s most polished European-style brasseries. The restaurant, part of R2M owned by Ruthie and Motti Brodo, is housed in a restored, iconic building and is described as offering a consistently refined escape that still feels current nearly two decades after opening.
Head chef Barak Hasson, who has led the kitchen for seven years, says the new menu is designed to keep the restaurant relevant without breaking its identity. He said the team now updates the menu seasonally, based on the best available ingredients, so it can remain in step with leading restaurants abroad while preserving the venue’s character. “We cannot rely only on nostalgia,” he said, adding that the restaurant must keep evolving and giving guests reasons to return.
Hasson also noted that changing the menu is delicate because it includes signature dishes that have been there since opening. “Every new dish has meaning, and sometimes it also means a difficult decision about an old dish that leaves,” he said. The restaurant has therefore adjusted the menu structure to allow more flexibility while keeping the classics that diners expect. He said maintaining standards depends on the details, from ingredients and service to supplier relations and staff training.
The article says the new dishes blend classic European technique with seasonal, local produce. Among the additions sampled were celery root gratin with Granny Smith apple and pecorino foam, endive and nectarine salad with Stilton, a seafood dish combining corn, calamari, cilantro and jalapeño, and forbidden rice with crab. The standout was the veal brain dish, served with pepper butter and cilantro, which was described as especially soft and melting in texture.
