anthony: you could almost believe, for a minute or two, that some kind of peace, some kind of reconciliation, meeting of the minds, sanity, is possible, after you visit mashda. it s a restaurant in what looks like an idyllic village in the judean hills about twenty minutes from jerusalem. it feels like an alternate universe for a number of reasons. anthony: michal balanes is of jewish. jakob bahrun is muslim from a nearby village. they re partners, co-owners of mashda and also married. they re unsurprisingly friend s of yotam. together, they grow and raise much of what s used in their kitchen. their food reflects both their different backgrounds and their commonalities. yotam: we re going to spoil
jakob: but we met in the neighborhood. in . and we were together in hotel. anthony: how did that go down with the families? jakob: wonderful now. now, wonderful. anthony: now good. jakob: yes. very good. anthony: at the beginning not so much. jakob: started it yes, with the questions versus the answers, and start to understand that we love each other, and they can do nothing. so we continue. and they support us. yotam: this is your special fried eggs, sunny side up. anthony: farm eggs with peppers from your garden, tomato. that looks awesome, beyond words. it is incredibly beautiful here. i don t know why i didn t expect that. jakob: michal, you know, a lot of people come and say, it s like provence, it s like italy, and we say, no, it s in jaffa. yotam: you like cochrin?
entirely vegetarian. if any of the vegetarian restaurants in new york served food that tasted anywhere near actually yotam: go there. anthony: well, i mean i m i d consider it. and this? michal: fresh zucchini with mint. yotam: and apricots. the little sweet apricots we have. anthony: now, all of this food is really intensely delicious. are you hopeful? michal: of course, i have my children. you need to see them. jakob: i respect her religion. she respect my religion and my family. and together we can build something. for our kids, our future country. that s what we think and that s what we give the message for our customers. yotam: part of the attraction of this restaurant, the fact that it actually manages to do what not so many chefs try to do here, and that is sort of mix your jewish ethnicity or background with arab food.
minutes from jerusalem. it feels like an alternate universe for a number of reasons. anthony: michal balanes is jewish. jakob bahrun is muslim from a nearby village. they re partners, co-owners of mashda and also married. they re unsurprisingly friend s of yotam. together, they grow and raise much of what s used in their kitchen. their food reflects both their different backgrounds and their commonalities. yotam: we re going to spoil you now. anthony: yeah, here we go. anthony: so you grew up in this town? jakob: yes, in this village. anthony: where did you grow up? jakob: michal atanya, near the beach. anthony: near the beach. not, not the neighborhood.
up? jakob: michal atanya, near the beach. anthony: near the beach. not, not the neighborhood. jakob: but we met in the neighborhood. in . and we were together in hotel. anthony: how did that go down with the families? jakob: wonderful now. now, wonderful. anthony: now good. jakob: yes. very good. anthony: at the beginning not so much. jakob: started it yes, with the questions versus the answers, and start to understand that we love each other, and they can do nothing. so we continue. and they support us. yotam: this is your special fried eggs, sunny side up. anthony: farm eggs with peppers from your garden, tomato. that looks awesome, beyond words. it is incredibly beautiful here. i don t know why i didn t expect that. jakob: michal, you know, a lot of people come and say, it s