I was thrilled to be invited to attend a lovely evening at the James Beard House this evening. This evening’s guest chef was Michael Solomonov, who together with an army of his talented Zahav chefs all came up from Philly and prepared exquisite foods that were paired with wines from Israel. I did not partake in many of the foods and ended up roaming the dining area, speaking with guests, in particular about the wines. And I am proud to report that the response was tremendous. People were loving the food & wine pairings and on several occasions I was told by guests how pleasantly surprised they were by the quality of the wines.
Though not kosher, the award winning Zahav restaurant prepares attention worthy Israeli/Middle Eastern cuisine in a kosher style; not sea food, pork products & the no dishes contain both meat & milk products. You really should check the place out. And don’t take my word for it, listen to Esquire Mag, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit or the James Beard awards who are much more credible sources who agree that this is not a place to to be missed.
With Israeli wine on my mind I’m sure you can imagine how happy I was to read this article in The NewSTAR online – a LOUISIANNA publication. Very cool to see them speaking of the ancient wine making tradition of the Canaan region, now Southern Lebanon & Northern Israel.
Did you know that you can find some of the oldest documented ancient wine presses in the world in Israel – some over 3,000 years old!
Happy Israeli FOOD and wine tasting!
WTG