MARKET
DYNAMICS
JERUSALEM
FOOD & DRINK
SETTLED BY JEWS FROM PLACES
as diverse as Eastern Europe,
North Africa and the Middle East, Israel is a nation of immi-
grants. Yet for all the country’s international flavor, what’s long
been considered characteristic Israeli food—hummus, falafel,
mixed grilled meats, fresh chopped salads—is in fact cuisine
borrowed from local Levantines.
But recently an exciting fusion has crept into Jerusalem restau-
rants, one that can be seen as wholly Israeli in origin. And nowhere
is it more evident than at Machneyuda, an eatery close to, and inspired
by, the famously cosmopolitan Machane Yehuda food market. Run by a
trio of chefswithdisparate ethnic backgrounds—Austro-HungarianYossi Elad,
Kurdish Uri Navon and half-German, half-Polish
Asaf Granit—Machneyuda has created a chang-
ing daily menu that’s literally all over the map. It’s
influenced asmuch by the cooking
of the chefs’ grandmothers as
it is by themarket itself—
which is always suggesting new ideas with its
quirky juxtapositions (buffalo yogurt next to
green chili paste; date syrup next to parsnips).
Since opening four years ago, Machneyuda
has come up with hundreds of different
dishes. While offering a glass of the unex-
pectedly tangy house cocktail—grapefruit
juice mixed with
arak
,
a
MEN OF INFLUENCES
From top, Jerusalem’s
colorful Machneyuda
restaurant; Israeli fusion
pioneers Asaf Granit, Yossi
Elad and Uri Navon
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
•
FEBRUARY 2013
33
An eatery at Israel’s most global food bazaar
finds good taste in common ground
BYWENDELL STEAVENSON
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SHIRA RAZ
