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An American burrito in Jerusalem

Much of what’s needed to supply a Mexican restaurant — vegetables and spices, for instance — can be found in the bustling Machane Yehuda market in the heart of Jerusalem.
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April 6, 2016

Much of what’s needed to supply a Mexican restaurant — vegetables and spices, for instance — can be found in the bustling Machane Yehuda market in the heart of Jerusalem.

But for trickier items, such as the ghost peppers used for a searingly hot homemade sauce, Missy Witt had to look elsewhere.

“We’ve got a guy,” she said.

Burrito Chai opened in February in Machane Yehuda to much fanfare. Mexican food is practically nonexistent in Israel, a common complaint among Americans here, especially those from the West Coast.

Since becoming Jerusalem’s first Mexican restaurant, business has been good: Witt has already added on the space next door, doubling the size of her restaurant. 

“We’ve almost had a hard time keeping up” with demand, the 28-year-old Chicago native said, sitting on the restaurant’s small wooden patio. “Which I guess is the best problem you could have.”

At first, she said, customers came primarily from Jerusalem’s large community of Anglos, the catchall term for Israelis from English-speaking countries. But more recently, word has spread, and some native Israelis have wandered in, Witt said.

As we talked, several groups of apprehensive-looking Israelis stopped by to check out the menu, only to opt instead for the hummus spot across the street. But a few brave souls took a seat at the wraparound burrito bar inside.

Located on an alley off the main walkway in the outdoor market, Burrito Chai is at once appropriate and distinctly out of place in a neighborhood sharply divided between the ultra-Orthodox and a young, artsy crowd. 

Across from the Mexican joint stands Rachmo, an Israeli-food restaurant that predates the State of Israel. But next door is a bar that stays shuttered during the day, opening at night to cater to young revelers.

Angelenos expecting burritos on par with the best Los Angeles has to offer will no doubt be disappointed. But Witt’s are certainly better than anything available until now — though that says more about Jerusalem than about Burrito Chai.

Machane Yehuda is known for avant-garde dining, and, in Israel, serving Mexican food is in itself groundbreaking.

Missy Witt (left) has one of her burrito rollers model a Burrito Chai T-shirt at Witt’s Mexican restaurant in Jerusalem.

“We’re on the cutting edge in Jerusalem,” said head chef Binyamin Cherkas, who grew up in western Massachusetts, where he worked as a kosher cook before immigrating to Jerusalem.

Yet there are no gimmicks at Burrito Chai — nobody is going to put a falafel in your burrito or serve you hummus on a taco.

Instead, it’s no-frills Mexican food with a build-your-own burrito bar as the centerpiece. In order to keep kosher without sacrificing authenticity, the bar stocks non-dairy sour cream and nacho cheese.

The burritos are reminiscent of Chipotle’s — Witt admits to being a “big Chipotle junkie” and drawing some influence from the fast-food Mexican chain — but the ingredients are decidedly fresher. At 26 shekels, about $7, for a burrito, they’re also cheaper.

Burrito Chai’s proprietor is the latest contradiction in a country famous for defying expectations: Witt is a blond, blue-eyed American woman serving Mexican food in an area where the typical shopkeeper is male, Sephardic and older than 50.

Nonetheless, she said she’s gotten a warm embrace from her neighbors, who humor her Hebrew skills, which she described as “not amazing.” They’ve taken to calling her “the Mexican.”

“They want to help me — I’m such a mizken [poor thing] with my Hebrew and don’t exactly know what I’m doing,” she said.

Witt peppers her conversation with “please God” and “thank God,” and said she believes her success comes “me’hashamayim” — from the sky. Rather than the traditional Orthodox head covering, though, she favors a cowboy hat.

Her story is the American dream in reverse.

After traveling to Israel with Taglit Birthright in 2008, she returned in 2011 to attend a religious seminary. Back in Chicago, she had no choice but to make her own Mexican food, because there was no kosher option available.

Returning to Israel, she moved to Nachlaot, a diverse neighborhood of cramped alleys bordering Machane Yehuda.

At first, she sold Mexican food out of her Nachlaot apartment, eventually opening a stand outside the 5th of May bar, steps from where her restaurant now stands. That’s how she met Michael Witt, who would eventually become her husband and with whom she has two young children.

Nearly five years after arriving in Israel — a benchmark many American immigrants never meet — Missy Witt has put a literal spin on the credo of “go big or go home.” 

“This whole place was a chance,” she said. “So we’re kind of just riding the wave.” 

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