Israeli-Inspired Food Shines During Tel Aviv Groove

Eggplant croquettes that melt in your mouth. Tender sweetbreads with smooth risotto. Rich medjool date sticky toffee pudding that’s dangerously addictive. These were some of several items that were on the menu at Next Door, a kosher restaurant on Beverly Boulevard that was one of the pop-up spots for a new Israeli food festival.

Tel Aviv Groove, a series of culinary events inspired by the food and arts scenes in Tel Aviv, made its first stop in Los Angeles during the week of October 19. Orly Segal, who runs a PR company in Tel Aviv, organized the event, which featured three Israeli chefs, Cobi Bachar, Jonathan Sharvit and Danna-Lee Berman. The chefs visited LA and cooked at local restaurants. The series also featured wines from Binyamina Winery, located at Binyamina-Giv’at Ada in Israel. 

Berman, a South Africa native who made aliyah in 1996, took over the menu for the night at Next Door and brought a multicultural flair to the food. 

“Israel has the best food in the world,” she said. “We have such a mix of so many cultures. There are Persians and Moroccans and Tunisians and Polish people. Everybody from all the corners of the world are in Israel. We created our own kind of Tel Aviv-Israeli food that combines so many of these cuisines.”

The chef attended Le Cordon Bleu in Sydney, graduated with honors and worked in Jamie Oliver’s restaurants. When she was learning how to cook and gaining experience as a chef, she fell in love with European food like croquettes. Eggplant croquettes over tomato and red peppers with grated egg, mixed herbs and sumac appeared on the menu at Next Door.  

“The croquettes are a classic dish from France, Italy, Spain and Holland, which are not Mediterranean,” she said. “But I can’t think of anything that’s more Israeli or Mediterranean than eggplant.” 

Another dish that was on the menu at Next Door — Moroccan cigars, fried phyllo dough stuffed with beef or lamb — is found all throughout Israel. “Moroccan cigars are very classic,” Berman said. “There isn’t a Moroccan household in Israel where the family’s grandmother won’t have the best one.”

Berman enjoyed working with California produce, which she said was “even better than Israeli produce. LA has no seasonality, so you get everything all the time. Even the onions and leeks and simple vegetables were so amazing.” 

Many people believe that Israeli food is just hummus, tehina and falafel. Berman, who is opening her own restaurant in Israel next year, hopes to change their perspective. 

“It was really interesting to learn about Americans’ palettes,” she said. “It made me want to come here again and discover more and open people’s eyes to Israeli food. People don’t know about the large variety of Israeli food.” 

No matter where Berman is cooking, she strives to express herself through her food as well as bring people together.

“People can fight over millions of things, but when there is good food, everyone can sit at the same table and eat and be happy.”
 – Danna-Lee Berman

“I love feeding and hosting people, working with new cooks, flavors, eating, smell …  everything that food represents,” she said. “I love it when people close their eyes when they taste something delicious. People can fight over millions of things, but when there is good food, everyone can sit at the same table and eat and be happy.”