Ever since their decision to focus on Israeli and Jewish cuisine with the opening of Zahav in 2008, Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook — the visionaries of the CookNSolo team — have put their heart and soul into modernizing ancient dishes, while respecting tradition.
Even at a time when strife between Israel and Palestine continues to escalate, Solomonov, Cook and the chefs they bring to their stable maintain dignity and soulful expression through its hearty foods. Or in the words of Chefs Yehuda Sichel: “We’re looking to reinvent staples of Jewish dishes and make them really awesome… take the food that we grew up on, and, now, turn them upside down.”
This week, the CookNSolo team, along with Chef Joseph Howard, General Manager Wolf Williams, and Bar Manager Sean Byrne re-opened its greatly expanded Dizengoff at 1625 Sansom Street as a full-service restaurant and bar, and an architectural design vibe they call “Tel Aviv retro” chic. (Dizengoff is actually named after one of the main streets in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.)
Opening the new Dizengoff after the Philly Palestine Coalition recently protested the CookNSolo empire outside of Goldie was a bold decision, one that was done with a deeper purpose
As stated in their book ‘Israeli Soul: Easy, Essential, Delicious‘ and echoed during a Special Sauce podcast, Cook and Solomonov “want to bring people to Israel” with everything they do. And with Dizengoff, they aim to do just that with design—wallpaper made from Israeli street posters— and its authentic Israeli cuisine.
Dizengoff also now has a bar with specialties such as frozen Lemonana – a radical, chillingly refreshing take on Middle Eastern mint lemonade – and natural wines from indigenous grapes along the Eastern Mediterranean.
Based on a la carte energy and simplicity of hummus and fresh-baked pita (“In Israel, hummus basically comes out of the faucets”), Dizengoff’s menu has greatly expanded. Along with its Hummus Yerushalmi (Baharat, ground beef, pine nuts), Turkish Hummus (brown butter and winter seasonal urfa), and Masabacha (more chickpeas in tehina than you can handle), its appetizing appetizers of Mezze are way more plentiful than in its past.
Dizengoff’s Boreeka — a traditional Tunisian savory pastry now with raw tuna, harissa and topped with an egg — is as classic as it is newly envisioned by Chef Howard. There is also an array of rich entrees to be found at Dizengoff, such as falafel-fried dorade with amba and tehina, a crackling-crisp Kataifi chicken schnitzel with tehina, schug and Yemenite pickles, and an Iraqi chickpea and leek aruk vegetable cake.
“As food obsessed as we are now, it’s about what’s new and hot,” Cook said during the Special Sauce podcast. “It’s not about doing something, perfecting something over generations, doing one thing, handing it off to your children. And that’s really an inspiring way, I think, to think about food, and I think that’s what comes through in how it tastes.”
