The Templar Building and Chef Ran Shmueli
Sarona is one of Tel Aviv's most intriguing urban quarters — a German Templar colony established in the 19th century, whose stone buildings have been meticulously restored and converted into a market and dining destination. Claro occupies one of these buildings: a 150-year-old structure whose thick walls, arched ceilings and stone floors provide the most historically resonant dining environment in the city. The contrast with Tel Aviv's Bauhaus modernism is complete and deliberate.
Chef Ran Shmueli opened Claro as his first restaurant after 25 years of building Israel's culinary landscape from inside other people's kitchens. The decision to define the menu as "Med Kitchen" — a deliberate traverse across the coastal nations of Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Lebanon and Israel — reflects a chef who has eaten deeply and cooked broadly without losing the thread of what makes Israeli produce exceptional. The farm-to-table philosophy is not branding here. It is the way the kitchen operates: seasonal, locally sourced, honest about where food comes from and why that matters.
The room is dressed appropriately for the building — not overdressed. The atmosphere manages to feel simultaneously special and genuinely relaxed, which is Tel Aviv's most reliable social mode and Claro's greatest achievement. A reservation for Friday evening requires three weeks' advance notice minimum; this restaurant remains consistently full, consistently spoken about, consistently relevant. For a city that chews through new openings at a remarkable rate, this longevity is the highest compliment available.
Best for First Date
Claro works for a first date because it makes effort look effortless. The Sarona location — a short walk from the city centre, through a beautifully restored Templar village — provides a pre-dinner narrative. The building is interesting without requiring explanation. The menu gives ample conversation — the Med Kitchen concept touches enough countries and ingredients to sustain a first conversation without demanding specialist knowledge. The wine list is long and intelligently assembled. The price point is high enough to signal intentionality, low enough to avoid the formality that makes first dates stiff. Ran Shmueli designed a restaurant for grown-ups who know what they want. A first date here announces the same.