Nostalgia Sunday – Old Buildings, New Cuisine

April 10, 2011 - 6:20 PM by

By the time I studied the work of artist Anna Ticho back on One Year Program in 1981-2, she had already been dead a year and art historians like my teacher Prof. Milly Heyd, were trying to come to grips with her place in Israeli art history. As far as Prof. Heyd was concerned — at least at that point in time — Ticho was not truly an Israeli artist but rather a European one who found her voice and style after a traumatic transition from the gray skies and winding city streets of Vienna to the dry, rocky landscape of the hills of Jerusalem, baking under an unflinching white-hot sun.

Heyd’s interpretation seemed as strange to me then as it does now, given Israel’s standing as an immigrant society. In any case, during her lifetime, Ticho was recognized as a Yakir Yerushalayim (Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem) and awarded the Israel Prize for painting. After her death, her house, art collection, including many of her own works, and her husband’s extensive Judaica collection was given, in accordance with her wishes, to the city of Jerusalem.

By the time I made aliya and came to live in Israel in 1984, Ticho House had been converted to a lovely little gallery and restaurant-cafe; it remains so to this day.

The house has an interesting history of its own: built in 1880 for the Nashashibis, a prominent local Arab family, it was one of the first to stand outside the Old City walls. (One early tenant was a antiquities dealer — and forger — named Herman Shapira). It was purchased from the Nashashibi family by ophthalmologist Dr. Abraham (Albert) Ticho and wife Anna in 1924. They converted the lower level into an eye clinic that served all of Jerusalem’s populations Christian, Jewish and Muslim, rich and poor alike — including Emir Abdullah, later king of Jordan. The residential area and gardens were used to host artists, writers, politicians; for decades the house was a center for Jerusalem’s social and cultural activity.

Sit and sip a cup of tea at Beit Ticho and you can still get a sense of what it might have been like. That’s the charm of dining in a historic building and Israel has an ever-growing list of these quaint dining places serving outstanding cuisine.

Take Le Relais in Old Jaffa. According to website eLuna, which sources out kosher restaurants in Israel, “Le Relais is the brainchild of David and Chani Bitton, both professional restaurateurs. David and his family are the proprietors of the famous Fantasy restaurant, a well-known landmark in Marrakech.” Their French cuisine would be excellent in any venue, but dining under high vaulted ceilings and arched passageways that date back to the 1930s, makes a meal a bit more special.

The village of Ein Karem is a special place both because of the important Christian holy sites located there, and because of the striking natural surroundings. Restaurant Beit Hama’ayan, which specializes in upscale Middle Eastern fare, affords diners a meal in a beautifully refurbished historic building and a fantastic view of Jerusalem.

Diners traveling northwards can experience the early Yishuv (pre-State settlement) at Makom B’Sejera (“A Place in Sejera”). Again, according to eLuna, “Shimon Danieli and his son Barak are direct descendants of some of Sejera’s original founders and they have re-created the family kitchen in a 100-year old farmhouse at the entrance to the settlement… The restaurant’s philosophy is one of heightened environmental awareness – the vegetables are organically homegrown on the premises and the main courses — meat, game and fish — are organically fed and hormone-free”.

More Israeli restaurants located in historic buildings are listed on eLuna as is a list of kosher for Passover restaurants that should come in handy over the upcoming holiday!

Tags: • Category: Art, Food, General, Nostalgia Sunday, Travel 

Comments

3 Comments on Nostalgia Sunday – Old Buildings, New Cuisine

  1. miriam on Mon, Apr 11th 2011 3:35 AM

    2. I had one of the best meals of my life @ Sejera–and many good times @ Beit Ticho.

  2. Milly Heyd on Mon, Apr 11th 2011 8:21 PM

    3. I am afraid that my ex-student, misunderstood what I said, or just does not remember it. Anna Ticho went through a process in her depictions of Jerusalem, from a European detached world view which was imposed on Jerusalem in the beginning of her work, to a complete immersion with it as the years went by. It is reflected in her change of style from detailed descriptions of a person who does not know the place, and keeps looking at it as if it were a map, to complete abstraction, when she did no longer need to go out to look at nature. The later style shows how she interiorized the hills surrounding Jerusalem, as if she and they became one..
    Still, I am glad that some parts of the class on Ticho is rememebred even today.
    Happy Passover, Prof. Milly Heyd

  3. Rachel on Sat, Apr 16th 2011 11:22 AM

    4. Shalom Prof. Heyd — I am happy you wrote your clarification and — despite my hazy understanding of the material! — I did take away much from your lessons, without which I would not have had a proper overview of the contemporary Israeli scene. Again, thank you and my best wishes to you as well for a Chag Sameach. – Rachel

Leave a Comment





© 2012 ISRAELITY | Sitemap