They've already warmed up this dish: Get to know the restaurants that opened just before the Corona • Today they open again - and start all over again • "We felt everything was a course, but we will come back stronger"

• My husband Kamakura, Dorian Kupitt

  Photo: 

  Gabay bus

This is probably not the first article you read and opens in the sentence "The Corona virus has completely stopped the activity in cafes, bars and restaurants." However, this problematic situation has become complex for some restaurateurs who are in the process of opening a new space that was open just days away, and worse, in the midst of renovations for opening. 



The timing of the silence, February and March, is precisely the time when the preparations for the summer season, the peak of recreation and tourism in Israel and Tel Aviv in particular, are at their peak, so that the injury becomes greater, and in some places even irreversible. 



Oren Assido, the third season winner of the reality show "The Chef's Games", opened in February with partners the "Poppa" restaurant on Yehuda Halevi Street in Tel Aviv, but three weeks after the launch, the restaurant had to close its doors. 

"This is a project we have been working on for over six months," says Assido. "To open this restaurant is a huge investment, it's to think of a unique concept and produce it in practice. We worked on a design that didn't look like it in Israel and even in the world, we built menus, recruited employees, hostesses, waiters and an amazing cooks team and were excited to get started."



"By the time we finally got started, we started serving the menu and working around the clock, the Corona arrived." he rememberd. "It happened three weeks after the end of the run and it devoured all the cards, not just us but every business owner in the State of Israel."



"During the first week of silence, I was depressed and very frustrated, but over time I realized that the blessing and what needed to happen is happening. Tastier and more professional, ”he concludes.

The Japanese "Kamakura" restaurant also opened towards the end of February after quite a bit of investment, and just as it began to accumulate buzz, good name and positive reviews, the virus and its consequences came and stopped everything. "We've been working on opening the restaurant for months," says Dorian Coffitt, one of the owners. "It's a lot of work until you find the exact product you want to sell and the exact place it wants it to be sold. We searched and finally found the perfect location, at the Indigo Hotel in Ramat Gan, we flew around the world, London, Japan and more, just to be inspired to build the menu. Proud of him and excited for him - and then came the Corona virus. " 



"Two weeks before the outbreak, we launched the restaurant," Kupitt continues. "The customers who started coming in, enjoyed and were very impressed with the experience and the atmosphere. The food journalists and bloggers wrote about us and told us about the unique concept the restaurant has and the food critics who were able to arrive we received warm words. We felt we were in a good direction and then the state closed us down." 



"I and my partners have quite a few other businesses, the Byrne Market chain with seven branches and the Pittmaster restaurant in Petah Tikva. Everything closed to us in one moment and we just felt that everything was a course," he recalls. "However, we recovered very quickly. We created a delivery menu and a delivery system up to the customer's home to keep the place alive and at the same time we worked hard on other projects." 



"Now that we're being reopened is very exciting, but also requires a lot of preparation." Coffit concludes. "We need to reassemble staff, get used to the terms and conditions of the Ministry of Health, and in fact, do the whole restarting process. For us, the experience will remain the same. We will open the restaurant at 1.6 and look forward to waiting to see the people of Israel enjoy and enjoy. "



Alongside the restaurants that have been opened and closed, there are also quite a few daring entrepreneurs who have chosen a particularly difficult and complex period to launch the new business. Some did it "kind of upside down", while others simply had no choice and option to stop intensive renovations and long-term investment. 

Gilad Harpaz owned four prominent places in Tel Aviv's nightlife and all closed more or less at the same time. He replaced the beers from the barrel and the cheeses precisely at a new pizzeria that opened in Jaffa, "pizza for the people", which opened in the midst of the closure and only deliveries. 



"Ultimately, the bulk of the experience is the product," Harpaz says. "It was difficult and financially wrong to change the product just because of the corona, and so the idea of ​​the pizza came up. We acquired an existing space in terms of infrastructure, we designed and renovated ourselves intensive round-the-clock work. The recipe is a product of a project we worked on before the corona." 



According to Harpaz, the location where the pizzeria opened, near the "Cuckoo Nest" which he owned and owned by his partners, was not accidental, and was intended to be based, along with deliveries, on the local "community". "The customers who started spreading the word of mouth, at the same time as the Walt app we started working with, are the local workers, their friends and residents and the community in Jaffa. We offered a slightly different concept of a" pizza and wine "date in collaboration with Tavor Winery, and people were very enthusiastic." 

"At the same time as deliveries," he concludes, "we also started selling in Taipei when the restrictions made it possible. People came, bought pizzas and wine and sat on opposite benches and crates. We get lots of positive feedbacks and are really excited for the moment when we can get the customers right." 

Pizza for the people- Olim Zion 26 Jaffa

Pope- Yehuda Halevi 46 Tel Aviv 

Kamakura- Ahliab 5 Ramat Gan (Indigo Hotel)