Emily
June 2024
This is an Israeli story. Some time in the 1970’s the Mizrachi family opened a Shipudiya in the Kerem Hatemanim section of Tel Aviv. Abba had been a butcher before he opened the restaurant, so this was the natural next step. Son Dror learned about meat from his father, learned the restaurant business from experience, and the hospitality business got into his blood.
Fast forward 40 years, and Abba has stepped aside, allowing son Dror to take over the Tel Aviv Restaurant. While it continued to attract customers for its renown shipudim and other excellent cuts of meat, ambitious Dror had his eyes on something bigger. And this is where Emily Grill Bar in Rishon Letzion comes in.
Emily is a classic Israeli Middle Eastern grill restaurant upgraded to 21st century Israel. No shortcuts here. This is a very large restaurant with a spacious dining area and an enclosed outdoor space. The décor is simple and pleasant. The room is in wood tones, punctuated by red banquettes. Tables can be sectioned off for private groups and parties. We visited the restaurant for lunch, which is a quiet time at Emily. The restaurant starts hopping in the evening.
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There is a full meat menu but we chose to start our meal with the table of salads that characterize classic shipudiyot. The salads were served with large round fresh hot lafa bread. The 14 salads and the lafa left no room for more, but my carnivore companion could not pass up the shipudim.
From the menu of skewers he chose one lamb skewer and a second butcher’s cut beef skewer which was billed as particularly juicy. There was a generous amount of meat on each skewer, lightly seasoned with the appropriate herbs. He particularly likes lamb, and both the lamb and the beef were very flavorful and tender. He couldn’t help comparing the shipudim to other shipudiyot that we have visited in our eLuna travels. Both meats were excellent, some of the best he has eaten. In his ranking Emily took top place.
“Have you had our humus?” We make it here from scratch, along with all the salad, but the humus is a highlight of the menu. The humus is a separate starter and not one of the 14 salads so we missed it this time. But we have it on good word that humus is one of their specialties.
A dessert is a must, we were told. Nothing off the shelf here. A professional baker prepares outstanding parve desserts specially for this restaurant. Out came a plate with two wafers with crumb topping and a scoop of ice cream. They were correct, dessert is a must.
The best part of Emily Restaurant is the part you will never see. Dror took me on a tour of the kitchen, which I am pleased to report is wonderfully organized and immaculately clean. Dror showed me the huge walk-in refrigerator where the meat is stored till it is prepared. Meat that is removed from refrigeration is never returned. That is the way they guarantee the flavor. quality and sanitation. The hot kitchen is air conditioned to freezing. The grill man doesn’t even break a sweat.
Every section of the kitchen is labeled. There is a vegetable section that never comes in contact with the meat section. The salads are prepared fresh twice and sometimes three times each day. They are stored in clean aluminum bins ready to serve. At the end of every day, Dror tells me, the kitchen gets a deep clean.
The kitchen has an Iraqi taboun where lafa-expert Moshe showed me how Iraqi lafa is made. First Moshe prepares balls of dough. When the salads are ordered he flattens the dough over a half-bowl. He then places the flattened raw dough against the wall of the taboun oven while an open flame licks the bread from below. The lafa is scorched for 40 seconds, and then peeled off the wall, brown and bubbly and ready to serve.
Are the chips parve? I asked. In most meat restaurants the chips are prepared in the oil with the schnitzel. At Emily that would never be considered, so indeed the chips are parve. The chips are thin, crispy and as the menu says, imported from Amsterdam. Go figure.
Dror, together with his son, give back for the many blessings that have been bestowed on them. Every week they host special needs children and their counselors from the Lhosheet Yad Organization at the restaurant.
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I have known many restaurant owners in my life as a restaurant writer. Some restaurant owners behave like accountants, checking every penny. And some restaurant owners are in the hospitality business, making sure that they provide the best food service so that customers are happy even if it costs them another dime. Dror is most definitely of the second group.
Emily is in the Industrial area of Rishon Le Zion. This area looks like it is now being renewed. Many of the store fronts are glass and steel, and the restaurants look especially inviting.
Getting There: Yaniv Linker is an ally way off the main street Derech Hamaccabim. There is some street parking on Linker and plenty of parking on the streets around.
Though we offered to cover our own meals, Dror generously insisted on hosting us. The salads for two, two shipudim, chips, and one dessert would have come to 230 shekels.
From the menu:
House salads NIS 24 per person
Humus with mushrooms (served warm) NIS 34
Goose liver medalions (2) 79
Skewers NIS 30 - 59
Whole Sea fish grilled NIS 99
Salmon fillet NIS 99
beef burger 270 gr NIS 59
mixed meats for two from NIS 269 |
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