"I'm not willing to open restaurants that people come to once a year"

The celeb customers ("it scares me"), the rise in prices ("I struggle it will not reach the customer") and the lack of paragon ("we become a segment that no chef dares to say, walla, delicious there").

Moshiko Gamliel, the chef behind two of the most successful restaurants in Tel Aviv (Bar 51) and Jerusalem (Muna), opens everything (also a new place)

Yael Laor

29/04/2022

Friday, 29 April 2022, 07:00 Updated: 07:49

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Earlier this month, Bar 51 celebrated three years.

In the three years of its existence (including one corona year), it has managed to establish its status as one of the best places to hang out in Tel Aviv.

It did not need a magnifying glass, in order to detect already in its first opening days, that this was somewhere else.

More than once the food sections (yes, we sin too) herald the next hot spot, but with Bar 51 it felt different from the start.

As if magic is moving across the place.

Moshiko Gamliel, the chef and owner, also knows this.

"It's hard to make restaurants that connect things like in bar 51, which came out that way, that's how it opened and there's talk and the place worked out and wow, it got a lot of attention and people enjoy it, so what, you will not make more places because they will not give you that much attention "I enjoy every moment of the time it happens, but also remind myself that it's not the thing, it's a small and fun part of it."

On the contrary, Bar 51 only whetted Gamlieli's appetite, and after years of settling for the Jerusalem culinary scene only, with a restaurant

, this coming July he will open another new place in Tel Aviv, in Nahalat Binyamin, the corner of Ahad Ha'am,

name.

"Radler is actually my and Nadav Laor's (Chikti, popular coffee) attempt to make an Israeli brasserie."

"The place I developed as a chef is semi-chef semi-bistro, I think this niche is missing in Tel Aviv, in the end there are a lot of restaurants, and I find myself everyday without many places to eat. This thing that is everyday, and still elegant "Bar 51 is a small place. Also on my culinary level it is a very small kitchen, from which we produced a lot, but I want slightly bigger toys. There are other things I can do."

Gamliel.

"I do not like to be underestimated in my work" (Photo: Bar 51)

With the outbreak of the Corona in Israel, the first closure and the closure of restaurants, Gamliel was the first to launch a mass funding campaign for his Muna restaurant, where he enlisted the help of the public, to keep his head above water, in the unknown.

In a move that is not at all typical of him.

"There could have been other solutions for us, but it was required at the community level and the mental boost level it gave us. Just as soon as we started asking ourselves 'why do we need this?'

"The mobilization of so many people for us gave us strength to continue, it was more mental than economic at this level."

"In terms of business functioning, I have to say that our businesses are functioning better. We were given time to think, we took advantage of the time. Every moment the restaurants were closed we worked on improving businesses, rebuilding them, even at the 'I believe' level, we realized what we did five years ago Years no longer relevant today, we punctured menus, taught waiters, did school for all the staff, just about every training day, we enjoyed it too, suddenly we felt it was ours again.

So at the business level it in my eyes today works better.

We are much more accurate.

At the scar level, it is clear that there is.

I thought about leaving this profession a thousand times during this period. "

" Listen, service is a matter of time.

Waiters need to be veteran of the place to feel comfortable in it.

It satisfies me if we make an effort, to reach the required level - we will reach. "

"There is an unsolvable manpower problem in the culinary field in Israel, as in many other fields. I think that if the restaurateurs' union had united to solve this problem, and we would have received manpower help from the state, as hotels got, people would get a better product. "A very trendy place, and people enjoy coming to work in it, but in another year there will be another trendy place, and people will enjoy working there."

"If I'm fully confident that we'll always be successful, then this is the moment I fall. It's always important for me in this profession to remind myself that it's all a matter of time, and that it's fleeting, and the professional foundations are more important."

The flagship dishes of Bar 51 (Photo: Courtesy of the place)

"Tel Aviv has become insanely expensive, as if it no longer has numbers"

Did you raise prices following the corona?

"The bar is getting more expensive from the day it opens, not specifically because of the corona and the whole story of price increases, it just took a more culinary direction, so suddenly it also has more expensive raw materials."

"Very. We talk a lot about how to solve this matter, there is nothing that did not come up, in all areas. Everything costs 10-15 percent more, the workers, the rents, the food. I struggle very much that it does not reach the customer. Just over the years there is less space left A decade ago you could talk about 15 percent profitability, today if you're at 8 percent, it does not leave you room for maneuver, if one month you're no longer at 8, you're in trouble. You have to be careful. Lots of creativity, inventing things, finding "Some raw materials have to work much harder."

"Tel Aviv is a crazy city, it has become expensive on an insane level. As if it no longer has numbers. It has become a very expensive city and it's a bastard, sometimes I say 'what kind of country is it that you drink beer here for the price of a glass of wine.' "The options are starting to run out. It sucks, everything is becoming more prestigious and licked."

"We take, we never got to charge, just because we're lazy."

"It's okay to have cancellations. It's just a matter of advance notice, if a person announces while I can still fill the place - all is well, I'm not fighting with customers to make extra money for not coming. I also think there's nothing to do, it's "Pleasure, it's not a doctor you booked four months in advance, it's not heart surgery, pleasure is the first thing to cancel and everything is clear, but if you know you are not coming then give us the opportunity to make a living."

.

"It seems to me that apart from the economic part it is also a place of ego. We work really hard, to give people a good experience, and we want, in general this new generation of chefs not to feel like cooks, we run much bigger things. Running restaurants today is like running a company "Huge for everything, I just do not like to be underestimated in my work, and it is a small element of contempt. It sits with me in the same place that a client will speak disrespectfully to a hostess or waitress, I do not have any blacklist or anything, it does not interest me."

Moshiko Gamliel (Photo: Bar 51)

"I do not want it to be labeled as a place of celebs"

Quite a few celebrities hang out at Bar 51, bring up stories, Bar Refaeli, Rotem Sela, there is a feeling that it will become the stronghold of the brass and the celebs

"It scares me, it's a place for everyone, I'm not looking for it, not really, Honestly, I prefer them to come and no one to come up with any story, I have no desire to become a place of seeing and showing, I am a place of food and entertainment, of those who appreciate it, everything happens naturally. We have never invited anyone for a free meal, it is far From that, we do not deal with it. I do not feel that anyone is a business card to the place. Who cares? What does it give? I remember Rotem sat down at the bar for the first time, the first thing I said to the waiter is' serve her, she's just a human, she's a son Ordinary person, she wants to drink, she wants to eat 'Like what are you so

to talk about, communicate?'.

"Yes, she and Kenya West, came to Muna when they were visiting the country, they came through a producer who really wanted them to come, who also brought a lot of people to Muna before. There are a lot of celebs in Jerusalem, but we always take care of really big privacy. It seems to me that these people "

"Daniel really likes the bar. At her business level I'm not involved in how these things happen, what she gets or doesn't get, it also does not interest me, I will tell you today that I know today that running social media is a full time job, and it's hard murder, Especially also producing content, I can not do it well enough, neither in my restaurants nor in my personal, and a person who works around the clock deserves to earn. People who do this and that, at the end you go into a restaurant and you know if you like it and you know if you like it, it's like telling the model 'Do not advertise this or that product, because it is cheap, not organic cotton' Everyone chooses his direction. Personally, I appreciate these companies more and more every day, it used to be like 'Oh, the company of Instagram' but today it's really hard to run this thing, it's like running your own TV channel. "

"I'm starting to think in that direction. I will not do anything, but it seems to me that as always in my life, it will be something I will zoom in on, something of ours."

"Not much, but I do not think the only television in the world is Prime Time. I think it is possible to make a pan as well."

Muna, in her best time (Photo: Noam Frisman)

"It can be very high quality, and not pretentious and not soggy"

Maybe a little more under the radar, due to being not Tel Avivian, but the Muna also works hard

"In a very full Muna, especially on weekends, the beginning of the week is a little harder.

But Muna has been a stable restaurant for a decade.

I think this is her best time now, we made a lot of changes there. "

" First of all our culinary perception has changed since we opened Bar 51, we realized the world is going in a lighter direction.

We still want to do something that is really high quality, but clear most of the manners of farts.

For me it's really important, to have a really wow, but a minimum of terram.

Also in my food, also in the places, also in the design, also in the way I dress, it can be very very high quality, and not pretentious and not vulgar, it has to be very modest. "

"No. But I think because we are covered in a wall, it is not defiant. I do not have the strength to deal with these things. I think anything that motivates us from the main thing, it is better not to give it a reference. , But it's also very important to preserve this thing right there. It's a very large cultural stronghold in Muna Jerusalem, it's a house full of people. I really like this restaurant. "Sparkling, so the magic and nostalgia on a daily basis is difficult, but we invest a lot in improving the place, we do not just let it be."

"It seems to me a mix, and also a lot of tourists

. "

"Now it's starting to come back, after a long time there has been no tourism. Just in the last few weeks, they are suddenly starting to ask for menus in English. For a very long time they have stood unused."

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A post shared by Moshiko Gamlieli (@moshiko_gamlieli)

"Sometimes I deprived myself of the pleasure, today I am easier with myself"

How do you divide your time between Muna and Bar 51?

"I'm hardly been to Muna lately, because I'm working on the new place. And also because of our partnership, Itamar and Roi live in Jerusalem, so it turns out they're mostly there and I'm mostly here. Even somewhere I needed some freedom away. Jerusalem has a lot of weight with me And I needed some freedom from her. "

"At the most childish and simple level, here it's new and exciting, and gets a lot of attention, and it's fun, sometimes I avoided it and said, well then I'll go to Muna 3 times a week even though the bar is successful and today I'm easier with myself, with accepting that we worked hard, and fun To get that love back a little bit, the kind of success. "

"Because success with us is hard. It's accompanied by hard work. It's not like a filmmaker, you worked insanely hard, but then it comes out and it catches you in moments when you're no longer on this project, our work continues all the time."

"I'm in business every night and I know very well what's going on. There are times I cook more in the kitchen and there are less times. "Stunning, so I will not come and say things just because I am bored, I also do not like to feel comfortable walking around with a chef's shirt and go instead, if I do not work I am on the sidelines in ordinary clothes, I do not need a lot of attention."

Sometimes you do not understand how much thinking there is behind each dose.

Bar 51 (Photo: Courtesy of the place)

"We'll be a segment that no chef, dare say, walla, delicious there"

What do you think about Yossi Sheetrit's restaurants like Hiba?

"I think there should be such restaurants in Israel, should. Should I do them? Absolutely not. I will try to do something much wilder and much more humane, more accessible and more alive. These are the places that speak to me today. I also have no patience to sit at the table for four hours." .

"I think the bar has a lot of style and a lot of attention to small details. And this sport-elegant is something that is very difficult to produce in this city, you know how hard it is for me sometimes not to fall into trends that people do? "In three-star restaurants, and I know how to make this beautiful food that people love to photograph, and sometimes just for my cooks I want to make two dishes like this that they will enjoy, but it's not true, I do not want to eat this food."

"I think because my stuff looks like sports-elegant so sometimes you do not understand how much thinking there is about them, how much thought there is in each serving of shrimp with a drop of sauce, why the plate has a stripe, and why the wall is peeled, there are so many details that seem nonchalant. Think a lot of times, a lot of chefs have said "well, this is bar food" or 'why are you so excited about a red tuna salad?'.

"At least that's how I experience it."

"There's a lot of applause, but I can understand why people say 'it's too simple.' But it's not. "Going to third generation restaurants in Paris or London, you see that this is exactly the food that is relevant today. I open places that are an integral part of life, from this city. I am not willing to open any restaurant that a person will come to once a year. It does not interest me."

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