Machneyuda

Machneyuda opened in 2009 next door to the Mahane Yehuda market (from which it took its name, pronounced 'Mahaneh-Yehudah') and has since become the single most influential restaurant in Israeli history. The three chef-owners — Assaf Granit, Uri Navon, and Yossi Elad — each have international restaurants now (The Palomar in London for Granit, for one), but Machneyuda is the mothership and the room where the fire still burns brightest.

The cooking is market-driven Mediterranean with Middle Eastern, Jewish, and pan-European accents colliding cheerfully at every course. Polenta with truffle and parmesan arrives in a small cast-iron pan; lamb kebab over charred labneh with pine nuts; a whole market-caught fish (sea bream, bass, St. Peter's fish, depending on the morning's shuk) grilled over embers. The menu changes daily and is written on a chalkboard by the open kitchen.

The room is theatrical in the best sense. The open kitchen runs the length of the dining room; a long bar counter faces the pass; the chefs pour drinks, dance between tables, plate courses in front of diners. There is music — a mixtape of Sinatra, Edith Piaf, Aretha Franklin, traditional Hasidic choral, and Israeli rock — that the kitchen controls from the pass. Dinners are loud, warm, physical. A birthday at Machneyuda will be remembered for a decade.

For a team dinner, the six-person round tables along the back wall are the correct configuration. For a first date, the two-seat counter at the far end of the bar — facing the grill — is one of the most romantic seats in the city. The restaurant will accommodate either configuration if booked in advance; walk-in seating is always at the bar and is generally available for a ninety-minute wait on a Friday.

An open kitchen, a mixtape, chef-owners who dance between tables. The team dinner of record in Israel.