400 E. Valley Rd., El Jebel
City Market Plaza
jaffakitchen.com
The oldest port city in the world serves as inspiration for Jaffa Kitchen, an authentic Israeli eatery that opened in El Jebel in early February.
“It’s all small (narrow) streets, every building is made out of stone,” says expat and co-owner Lior Lilah of Jaffa, an ancient coastal hub crowded with colorful markets and perfumed with the heady scents of spices and spit-roasted meats. “It’s a beautiful, beautiful city.”
Lilah’s business partner, Alexei Rotaru, native to the Republic of Moldova and a trained finish carpenter, designed and built the bright, modern interior with help from A&L Construction. A wall of marble acts as backdrop to the restaurant’s most recent installation: a segment of 200-year-old wooden ceiling from a Moroccan