Intimate, small, large.
La Maale (photo: Walla! system, Yaniv Granot)
Even after four plus years at Haaretz, I couldn't understand what exactly was going on under the system buildings in south Tel Aviv.
You start with the newspaper, go down to the levels where you can find the most archival archive there is and the most out-of-place gym unrelated to the situation, take a little left and a little right, unexpectedly wind your way to the middle of the desk of "The Marker" and suddenly emerge into what used to be "The City Mouse" , not far from the office where you were ordered to sit once a month, watch football and get paid for it.
For all the columns of "walking eaters"
on the way, you crossed two alleys and two roads from the bottom, passed at least two and a half buildings, walked south and jumped in time at the same time.
Those walks were as creepy as you can expect, and a little more so in the winter and in the dark.
They left quite a few question marks around them, but one thing was clear - with how false and dark and without Google from zero here on floor minus two, outside is much worse.
And there is nothing to eat either.
Here, I knew then, there is relative protection (relative because this is after all the "Haaretz" building, already then a major target for talkbackist attacks that could every day turn from virtual to real), and there are Shoki and Michel, operators of what is clearly the best institutional buffet in history.
Everything else is overrated falafel and one branch of Aroma, garage food that could have been romantic and instead was just bad, and evening sandwiches that could have been expensive and instead were a human resources insult in the form of a carbohydrate.
Civilized, elegant, satisfying.
her up
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I am full of hope and consolation for my colleagues that those sandwiches have disappeared from the world, but at least now they have a new lunch option
That perfect soccer project was the 2010 World Cup, and the dozen years that have passed since then have closed most of the real estate maze in question, as well as the reluctance of the alleys that wind around the back of the system. These have been branded for years as Kiryat Al-Malacha
, and every few months enjoy official city promises to be "the next neighborhood" , probably right after they clean the Florentine sidewalks and pass by Yad Eliyahu not only to give traffic reports on Thursday evenings of home games in the Euroleague. The
falafel is still there, as is the corner branch of Aroma. I am all hope and consolation for my colleagues that those sandwiches have disappeared from the world, but at least now there is They have a new lunch option.
What Chaim Cohen said
There is a lot of excellent hummus in Israel.
Now there is one in Tel Aviv as well
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By evening he will be gone.
La Maale's burrito (photo: Walla! system, Yaniv Granot)
Have you reached the alley?
Lift your head and try to locate a seemingly large and colorful Mexican flag.
Everything else is a treat of the north of the city
"La Maale" emerged into this thicket three and a half years ago, as a Mexican restaurant that opens its doors only in the evening, and insists on not announcing itself to the street.
She survived the hardships of swamp-draining pioneers, at least one epidemic, and quite a few pleas to do lunch as well, until she broke down and agreed to extend hours and take out food even though the sun had not yet begun to set - but not to hang a sign that said "La Ma'ala".
Have you reached the alley?
Lift your head and try to locate a seemingly large and colorful Mexican flag.
Everything else is probably a treat of the north of the city.
A little California and a little Haifa
A short drive, and one of the most fun hamburgers in Israel is waiting for you
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An interim solution that can remain permanent for us.
La Maale (photo: Walla! system, Yaniv Granot)
The ambition is, apparently, to make the audience want to come especially, and drink a midday margarita.
No need to ask which group I prefer to be in
The lunch deal (Sunday-Thursday, 12:30-17:30) of "La Maale" includes the house margarita for 35 shekels, and a first course ("Caesar" salad, "Hamichani" salad, "Mexico-Thai" salad) at the price The main one, which is actually four burrito or bowl options - chili, carne, con poyo and vegetarian-vegan - or a trio of tacos for NIS 60.
"This is a real Mexican restaurant, so we don't have burritos in the evening, as the saying goes," testified the partners David Beinert, Amri Barel and Jules Atlan, "and we don't have deliveries either. We prefer to work intimate and small, we feel that it is impossible to sell this food properly on a motorcycle , and above all we know that it does not sit well with us, and it will not sit well with our team."
The interim solution, then, is sitting in place or take-away outside, and in any case especially arriving.
Logistically (and practically) this means a significant and deliberate reduction of the target audience.
The ambition is, apparently, to make as many of him as possible want to come especially, and drink a midday margarita.
No need to ask which group I prefer to be in.
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Israeli deal, Latin temperament.
La Maale (Photo: Tam Weintraub Luke)
The burrito con puyo has taken everything we know to yawn from a chicken, and added a Latin temperament to it
The two loaded bags I dragged from "La Maale" contained the entire business district - two burritos (con puyo and vegetarian) and two bowls - chili and carna.
The burrito duo, probably the perfect delivery food, being durable and portable and above all better and tastier after a few minutes in the box of the motorcycle, were opened first.
The con puyo (roasted chick, rice, pickled chalpinio, salsa verde, red onion and Wahka cheese) took everything we know how to yawn from a chick, and added a Latin temperament.
The smoky flavor stood out but in moderation, the rice softened, and everything else gave a little sour and a little spicy.
The vegetarian version (bean stew, corn and peppers, rice, lettuce, pico de gayo, avocado, cheddar) silenced eaters who need meat for lunch, with a burrito heavy in weight and rich in content, varied and colorful enough to not be boring, and completely "meaty".
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Unexploited and unexploited food.
La Maale (photo: Walla! system, Yaniv Granot)
The bowls leveraged this excellent opening and took the Mexican stick away, into a purposeful display of lunch as we imagine it when we get up in the morning.
The bowls leveraged this excellent opening and took the Mexican stick away, into a purposeful display of lunch as we imagine it when we get up in the morning.
The beef chili stew (with rice, guacamole, pico de gayo, cheddar, cilantro and salsa roja) spread out a tempting palette of colors and flavors, with a built-in option to load the fork with a little bit of everything, instead of letting the burrito mix everything inside.
It was more civilized, more elegant, and in a way that is a little culinary and a lot psychological - also more satisfying.
The last bowl, loaded with long-cooked pulled meat, rice, salsa, pico de gayo, avocado and cilantro, did exactly the same thing, just a little better.
It didn't photograph wonderfully and wasn't gimmicky, but it did know what was important - decomposing meat that would fall apart, rice that wouldn't be afraid to develop a personality, avocado in a non-offensive amount, and here and there small-sharp greens like these, to remind you that you're alive.
when the food arrives
It really shouldn't work.
It works the best there is
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Remember you are alive.
La Maale (photo: Walla! system, Yaniv Granot)
The people of "La Ma'ale" (and of the debut "Ah La Rampa") are deeply rooted in the Shapira neighborhood and in the bustling community of craft artists.
They respond quickly to the talk of gentrification that is creeping rapidly towards them as well, and know how to cleverly describe long-term processes that even a telescope will not help to recognize from the ugly building in Rabin Square.
More than that, though, they know how to make food, without the depressing aftertaste of economic maximization and consumer exploitation.
"I don't have a hole in the ground here like in Mexico, and some of our techniques even come from France and Japan, but we import peppers to make our own adobo and we make most of the things here from scratch," testifies chef Noam Binert, "it may not be a Mexican grandmother, but it's close ".
"La Ma'ale", 5 Shevil Hamertz, Tel Aviv.
03-6823486
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Street food
Mexican food
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