Somewhere between the editorial office of time newspaper and the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court – some would say, an area of controversy these days – lies the new Artel Formal restaurant, elegant and classical in a special way. The restaurant, which opened about two weeks ago, is led by Dor Wenger and Mika Elkayam (formerly Igra Rama and Santa Katrina) in the kitchen, pastry chef Or Makhlouf (formerly Weiss) and Arbel Bash on the management of the restaurant and the wine (formerly Norman and a). In short, a skilled and experienced team that has something to say.
And indeed they have. Artel Formal is a fresh and different place in the landscape – not another wine bar, not another decent but generic chef’s restaurant, but a place where you can eat chicken and rice for lunch in work clothes, and come in the evening to drink a glass of chilled wine while eating disposable oxtail gnocchi. The love for hospitality is expressed here in every element, starting with the menu, which we will detail later, a bride in the inviting and warm design, the designer Naa Kider believes in it and the familiar yet tight-knit service committee at the same time.
Have you ever seen a workers’ restaurant like this? Artel Formal (Photo: Noam Frisman)
So what is Artel Formal about? Artel is a concept that originates in Russia before the communist revolution, and means an uninstituted organization of craftsmen who lived together and created in a joint cooperative (which connects very well with the environment of the Craft Kiryat). Whereas, the formal, represents the formal side of the place, which also seeks to be an elegant and fair entertainment place. So when is Artel? During the lunch hours, the restaurant will be similar to a workers’ restaurant, with three main dishes and small plates of salads and condiments to open a table next to a cold beer tap. And when formal? It is already in the evening, when the maps will be ironed, the candles will be lit, the menu will be pulled out and the wines will be poured into glasses.
The idea of Artel Formal is to create together out of respect for each other and the staff. Dor Wenger wishes not to call himself a chef, but rather he testifies to himself that he works in full cooperation with the rest of the restaurant staff and the cooks, with pleasure, reciprocity and a desire to do something here together out of true love and respect for food. This is also evident in the pricing of the dishes, which is fair and completely possible, when there are no dishes on the evening menu that exceed 88 NIS and many of the bottles of wine are priced around 120-150 NIS per bottle. These values, which seem to have long since become worn out, are the cornerstones in the light of which the restaurant team wants to act. Especially these days, when dining in a restaurant in the evening feels completely surreal for a moment. To my question what it is like to open a restaurant on such days, I answer that it does feel strange, and that they want to adapt to the current mindset (for example, yesterday evening, on 3/27, the restaurant remained closed).
The menu is also not exactly for workers. Artel Formal (Photo: Noam Frisman)
And what’s on the menu you ask? At lunch, the dishes are, as mentioned, in the style of a workers’ restaurant, with a selection of three meat dishes (there will be a vegan option) that are served alongside salads in a table-opening format. The small ones will be Matbucha, Jerjir salad, tahina and spicy and the main ones will be rice with chicken, on winter days Jewish ramen with noodles and kneidlech, couscous on Tuesdays and more that change and change according to the desire of Mika and Dor who lead the kitchen.
The evening menu offers dishes at decent and convenient prices, in a French-European style alongside local and unique touches. For example, smoked trout with potato, sour cream and chives (73 NIS), holy cheese tortellini with black pepper butter (68 NIS), gnocchi, green stew and parmesan (75 NIS), chicken rait, sauerkraut, Mustard and bread (75 NIS), grilled octopus on bread, with arisa, pickled lemon and fresh cream (53 NIS) and other good dishes that express a skillful hand and creative thought. The dessert menu was curated and created by pastry chef Or Makhlouf. Thanks to her you will be able to eat a citrus tartlet with white chocolate and cardamom (25 NIS per unit), or a compote pear with hazelnut cream (42 NIS), there will also be a cherry zaviona with strawberries and Madeleine that we really want to eat every day (44 NIS). What more can you ask for? After Passover, the restaurant will also open for coffee and sandwiches and mozli for an ideal breakfast.
Artel Formal Shoken 23. Breakfast and lunch will start after Pesach, currently the restaurant is open from 18:30