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Chef melds Israeli, socal flavors in stylish eateries

“This one is me,” chef Lior Hillel said, smiling as he held up a bottle of the kale tahini sauce bottled under the Kronfli Brothers label, which he makes with his business partners, Daniel and Robert Kronfli.
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February 19, 2015

“This one is me,” chef Lior Hillel said, smiling as he held up a bottle of the kale tahini sauce bottled under the Kronfli Brothers label, which he makes with his business partners, Daniel and Robert Kronfli. We were in an unglamorous storage and office building tucked in the alley behind Bacaro LA and Nature’s Brew, their restaurants located in the West Adams district. Last fall, the team added Bacari PDR in Playa del Rey to its portfolio of restaurants serving an accessible wine list and seasonal Mediterranean-inspired cuisine. Hillel serves as executive chef and co-owner.  

A native of moshav Sdei Hemed, Hillel is extremely comfortable in Southern California yet remains tied to his Israeli roots. The 34-year-old chef returns home every June for his father’s annual memorial service, staying for three to four weeks each visit, and his physical build suggests he could easily rejoin the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at any moment. He served an additional year in the IDF after completing his service, then moved up north to the Kinneret moshav and did a stint in culinary school in Tiberius. 

He moved to Los Angeles in January 2005 to join a brother who had relocated here. Hillel attended the California Culinary Academy (now affiliated with Le Cordon Bleu) in Pasadena before moving to New York to work at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s flagship restaurant on Columbus Circle for two years. He worked his way up from his entry-level position as an unpaid intern, and eventually came back to L.A. in 2008. Despite the invaluable skills and lessons learned from cooking in one of Manhattan’s — and arguably the world’s — most prestigious kitchens, Hillel learned, “I don’t want to do fine dining. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t the cooking I want to do.” 

He described the culinary scene in Israel as hampered by a relative “5-year delay, but they’re getting up to date” with major international cosmopolitan locales such as New York and London. But he also acknowledges the irony of this statement, given that farm-to-table cooking is a trend in the U.S., whereas direct access to ingredients and seasonal cooking is a long-established way of life in Israel. “We grew up getting ingredients from the field,” he said. 

Here in Southern California, Hillel’s restaurants nurture convivial dining experiences that encourage a feeling of what he calls “Israeli mishpachah” involving communal shared eating. Bacaro LA has been a neighborhood staple since 2008 (Hillel came on board a few months after it opened), and the new Playa Del Rey outpost is flashier than its West Adams counterpart, with a full cocktail menu and a more design-conscious, light-flooded decor, compared to Bacaro LA’s unfussy dark interior. “It’s a place we’d want to go,” he explained of his and his business partners’ approach to their new restaurant. 

While Bacaro LA’s proximity to USC makes it appealing to precocious students, Hillel notes that this particular younger demographic doesn’t always account for the overwhelming majority of the clientele. His Nature’s Brew cafe, two doors away in a charming 100-year-old, two-story commercial building, emphasizes coffee and in-house baked goods, along with practical items such as sandwiches and salads, and it buzzes all day long as a popular meeting and studying spot for the USC crowd.  

Hillel’s family is originally Yemenite, “but I’m more of a sabra, so my Israeliness is more in my cooking now,” he said. He regularly incorporates traditional Israeli ingredients, such as bulgur wheat and tahini, into his dishes at Bacaro LA and Bacari PDR, and he regularly shops at the Super Sal market in Encino. (That said, he’s asked an aunt to track down a legendary family recipe for kubaneh, the traditional Yemenite bread.) 

Given his enthusiasm for the aforementioned kale tahini that incorporates the vegetable that’s de rigueur these days, he’s becoming more of a Californian, too. Lior’s recipes for sophisticated and festive Oscar-party food reflect the best of both his worlds. 


Steamed Challah Buns with Slow Dry Roasted Short Ribs, Brussels Sprouts Slaw and Radish  

Steamed Challah Buns

  • 1 tablespoon instant yeast
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 8 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon black caraway seeds,    optional  
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 1/2 cups of water

 

Mix together yeast, brown sugar, flour, salt and black caraway seeds in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and honey. Combine the dry and wet mixtures in a mixer, slowly adding the water. 

Mix until all ingredients are combined. Place mixture on a lightly floured surface and knead, adding flour as necessary, until dough becomes smooth, elastic and not at all sticky. Let rise for about two hours in a warm spot.

Punch the dough down. On a floured board, divide the dough into 4-ounce portions. Shape each portion into little rolls, and place them on parchment paper. Let the dough balls rise for 30 minutes. 

Place the dough, on the parchment paper, in a steamer in a single layer. Steam for about 10 minutes. Repeat until all the buns are steamed.

Check to make sure the buns are fully cooked; they should be slightly firm to the touch. Remove from steamer and let cool.

Makes 20 challah buns. 

Short Ribs

  • 2 large onions
  • 1 slab bone-in short rib (about 4 pounds)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

 

Preheat oven to 275 F. 

Peel the onions; chop roughly.

Place chopped onions in a 9-inch by 13-inch roasting pan. Season the short rib with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 10 to 12 hours.

Take roast out of the oven and let it cool a bit. Remove from the pan and pull the bones out of the meat. 

Divide the meat into 2-ounce portions. Reserve the onions for assembly. 

Makes about 20 portions.

Brussels Sprouts Slaw 

  • 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, shaved thin 
  • 1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce 

 

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Let sit for five minutes before serving. 

Makes about 20 portions. 

Assembly

  • 6 radishes, shaved thin

 

Cut each bun in half and fill with a 2-ounce portion of warm short rib. Top it off with the slaw, a little bit of the cooked onions and a few radish slices. 

Goat Cheese Polenta Cakes With Smoked Red Trout, Sour Cream, Chives and Caviar 

Polenta

  • 6 cups of water
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 cups yellow polenta
  • 8 ounces soft goat cheese

 

In a medium pot, bring the water, salt and pepper to a boil. Slowly whisk in the polenta, then turn the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes, stirring at least every 10 minutes. 

Turn off the flame and add the goat cheese. Mix well until completely smooth. 

Pour the mixture into a 9-inch by 13-inch pan, and let it cool for about 2 to 3 hours.

When cooled, cut the polenta into 2-inch squares.

Heat a pan over high heat and sear each polenta square until golden.

Assembly

  • 8 ounces smoked red trout  
  • 12 ounces sour cream
  • I bunch chives, finely chopped
  • 1 ounce kosher caviar 

 

Top each polenta square with a small slice of smoked trout, then top with 1 teaspoon sour cream. Sprinkle on some of the chives, and add a small dollop of caviar. 

Serve with bubbly wine, and enjoy! 

Makes 20 servings. 

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