Open Sunday - Thursday 12:00 am till 11:00 pm. Friday till 3:00pm. Closed Shabbat, and Motzei Shabbat. Business lunch form 12:00 noon - 4:00 pm.

December 06
French Provence-style coffee shop in Jerusalem. Nostalgic French-style foods and music. Wednesday enjoy an evening of nostalgic French songs. Take your passport and visit Simone.

Location:
Simone is located on Derech Hevron, the main drag of south Jerusalem. Many buses pass by, and there are plenty of parking spaces painted on the very wide sidewalks on both sides of the street. Number 49 is near Abu Tor, on the right side of Derech Hevron as you head towards the Old City.

Simone is a French restaurant and first class patisserie. A visit to this restaurant brought home how many culinary terms in English, come from the French. We Anglos have just adopted these words without thinking. You will find, when you visit Simone, that the French culinary terms apply so perfectly to this French restaurant!

Consider the words 'ambience' and 'decor' (not culinary, but very important to a good restaurant!). Simone is quaint, 4-5 tables and some outdoor seating in the garden, weather permitting. They have tablecloths and nice place settings.

MENU (Fr):
Simone - the inspiration for the restaurant name - is Claude's wife and the magic behind the food. Simone's recipes are exclusively traditional French, both for her baking and for her cooking, making this restaurant your little corner of Provence in Jerusalem.

The menu is not extensive, but each item is very done well (a style and method more establishments should consider...). For starters, there is soup or salad. There is the soup du jour (ah, there's the French again) - either onion, leek or pumpkin - and the main featured soup: Pesto with lots of different vegetables and beans. It is served piping hot with croutons (Fr) and cheese and is very tasty.

All of the salads are fresh, and served with your choice of dressings: Dijon (Fr) or Vinaigrette (Fr). The salad choices are Niciose (Fr) served with tuna and anchovies, San Tropez (Fr) served with feta cheese, or Provence (Fr) - a very special and unique salad.

The main entree (Fr) choices are quiche (Fr) or crepes (Fr). The quiche selection includes broccoli, spinach, mushroom, leek or salmon. We had the Spinach Quiche - perfect crust, perfect texture, perfect taste (not too spinachy and not too bland!) and served au gratin (Fr).

The choice of crepes include Cheese (Gouda, Amanthal, and Parmesan), Spinach (with Bechamel -Fr- and cheese), or Mushroom (Bechamel and onion).

The lunch special (69NIS) today was Salmon Provence - a wonderful slice of baked salmon, well seasoned and well cooked and still firm. It was served with velvety potatoes and sauteed (Fr) veggies.

For dessert, this patisserie has fresh items daily. Creme Brulee (Fr), Sweet crepes (Vanilla, Chocolate, Jam, Ice Cream) and Cakes (Almond Cream, Chocolate Fondue (Fr), Mocha Vanilla, Babe au rum (Fr)).

Some very special tarts were offered as well - The chocolate tart was rich and thick, and just a fantastic way to end the meal (along with a great cup of coffee). They also offer tarts in Lemon Meringue (Fr), Pear, Peach, Apple and Strawberry. I will have to return daily to just try them all.

NOTE (1): The wines served at Simone are a private label and Simone is the only place that they may be obtained in Jerusalem. The wines are served the French way, in a chilled wine bucket.

NOTE (2): Wednesday evenings at 9pm, the live French music begins. What an enjoyable evening of French culture.

NOTE (3): Simone does a very brisk take away business. The prices are at least 30% - 40% less than the eat-in prices, making it one of the greatest bargains in town. In addition, any of the desserts can be ordered in advance and taken away for birthday parties, anniversaries and more. You can't go wrong. The eLuna discount coupon does not apply to reduced price take away foods.

NOTE (4): From time to time the restaurant promotes various artists. When we visited the restaurant there was a wonderful exhibit of photos by Rimon Rafiah taken on his journey to the USA. Restaurant owner Claude, often hosts evenings for artists with the proceeds of sales dedicated to tzedakah.

NOTE (5): Catering available. French buffet from NIS 49 per person. Au Revoir! soup (17NIS - 28NIS), salad (27NIS - 49NIS), quiche and crepes (36NIS - 46NIS), dessert (24NIS - 29NIS).

From Our Readers
Submitted By: Abba Borowich. Date: March 09. Description: Tonight, we experienced a very special treat when we visited Simone's Patisserie on Derech Chevron. It was so unique that I felt compelled to write a review. It is a tiny restaurant with just 3 tables (not counting a fourth, small one that holds the restaurant's very useful computer). My sense is that, during warmer weather, there would probably also be outdoor tables.

When one enters, he is enveloped in a marvelous taste of France. The ambience is the most authentic we have found in Israel. French music is playing from the computer and one can request any music you might want from the owner. The menus are located in what appear to be recipe books and look like recipes. There is a splendid choice of soups, salads, quiches and crepes. I went with my wife and daughter and each of us ordered something different. The waiter, Claude, is Simone's husband and has a particularly warm, refreshing Gallic sense of humor. As an example, he offered us escargots but I won't spoil your fun in discovering his humorous take on this. In short, he had a light, humorous touch and was a crucial part of the ambience. His wife's cooking is impeccable and quite different. We had an onion soup that was absolutely delicious but very unique. Onion soup is one of my favorite soups and this one was differently flavorful than any onion soup I had ever tasted. My wife had a mushroom soup that was done superbly, again with a light touch. My daughter had a minestrone/pesto soup that was rich and hearty. The portions were very ample.

For entrees, we had a mushroom/onion quiche, a spinach quiche, a spinach crepe and a mushroom crepe. All were uniformly excellent with fantastic presentation. Simone was very warm and welcoming and Claude was uniquely Claude.

This restaurant combines the best of French cuisine with warm hospitality. I'm also told they do catering. I didn't talk about their lovely-looking desserts because, after all we had eaten, we felt we had no room for them.

All-in-all, a remarkable gastronomic and human and uniquely French experience. Kol hakavod.