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Taking Pleasure Seriously

ISRAEL : “Hayevania” {The Greek} – a small jump across the sea

Only a month has passed since we returned from our amazing vacation in Greece, and the longing for the atmosphere and the unique and special flavors that characterize this enchanted country have already started to sting all over my body.

So what can a girl do to overcome the longing? There are two options:

  1. Run away to Greece for another vacation, while emptying out my checking account at the bank.
  2. Search for the closest thing to the Greek atmosphere here, and if you can get it served on a plate with a cool cocktail on the side, then that would be even better.

I opted for the latter, especially because my checking account is still recovering from my unbalanced income-expense ratio… and besides, food + cocktails always manage to lift my mood.
Thankfully I didn’t even have to search too much! A little bird told me that a new restaurant opened in Rishon Le’tzion, “Hayevania”, based entirely on Greek cuisine.

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Rishon Le’tzion? Yes, I also raised an eyebrow… but after a quick look at the restaurant's Facebook page, I decided it was totally worth the trip.

So last Friday after we signed the contract with our wedding photographer {the talented Haim Afriat – you’ll probably hear a lot more about him.. :)}, and we decided to celebrate the fact that we have one less wedding arrangement {yay!} with a good Greek meal.
The restaurant, located on Rothschild street in Rishon Le’tzion, is tiny, stylish and conveys the feeling of Greece in every way – the restaurant's designed with shades of sea-blue and white and is decorated with a variety of Greek elements, like musical instruments and authentic pictures, music that combines the familiar Tavern with modern beats bits and a lot of ouzo….

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Just like the design, the menu offers guests everything that’s good and loved in the Greek kitchen – Tzatziki, stuffed grapevine leaves, fresh fish and seafood, souvlaki, moussaka and many more good dishes. Besides the food menu, “Hayevania” offers a great cocktail menu {“Muses”} that corresponds with the latest cocktail trend that’s starring in every restaurant that considers itself good, and includes nine different cocktails concocted up from natural ingredients only.

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We decided to start the meal with two cocktails {48 shekels each} that was recommended – one of them was Guava Vibe which is based on the guava juice, vodka, honey syrup, freshly squeezed oranges, and black allspice, and second one, Give Me A Break, consisting of crushed red grapefruits, vodka / ouzo {your choice} and basil.
Both cocktails were light and delicious, although I didn’t feel the presence of the allspice in the guava cocktail.

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For the appetizers, or as they call them – “mazot”, we decided to go with Stuffed Grapeleaves With Rice and grated tomatoes {34 shekels}, a great dish that’s completely loyal to the traditional Greek way of preparation and served with a yogurt sauce; Zucchini Cylinders stuffed with bulgur and herbs {32 shekels}, Antipasti with thin zucchini strips that wrap the bulgur salad and aromatic herbs alongside yogurt; big and fresh Greek Salad {48 shekels} which included several ingredients that don’t characterize the authentic version, such as carrots and roasted peppers, but they absolutely upgraded the dish; and the highlight – the pastry “The 12 Gods” that stole the show and was gone the second it was placed on our table – feta cheese wrapped in filo and deep-fried, decorated with sesame and swimming in a pool of honey – the saltiness of the cheese and the sweetness of honey created a winning combination of flavors!

Let's just say that if you get confused by the large selection of “Mazot”, you really, really shouldn’t miss this dish.

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For the main course I chose Moussaka {56 shekels} – layers of fried potatoes, roasted eggplant, roasted tomatoes, ground beef with Béchamel sauce and spinach – a wonderful dish, which doesn’t fall far from the moussaka we ate at the Greek taverns. High-quality beef and rich Béchamel sauce are a mix of many comfort foods {Irish shepherd's pie, Italian lasagna, etc.} and this dish was based on that too, leaving me and Daniel, full and very satisfied.

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For the second main course, Daniel ordered Gyro {58 shekels} – strips of veal and lamb on a  shawarma skewer served on a flat Greek pita, thinly sliced red onion, yogurt and grilled vegetables in the oven, that was served a little too dry and wasn’t as successful as the other dishes.

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Even though we were completely full when it was time for dessert, we had to taste the watermelon Blancmange {36 shekels} – it was special, different and took care of the sweet tooth we had at the end of the meal.

The Blancmange itself was made very well and they drizzled watermelon-flavored syrup on top, which felt a bit industrial to me but it was still tasty, and the granola pieces were great.

I loved it and ate it all up, Daniel didn’t enjoy it as much.

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The waiters at the restaurant were very nice and made sure we were satisfied with every dish, but they served the dishes randomly {no separation between appetizers and main courses}, probably because it’s a new restaurant and dealing with a completely full restaurant on a Friday afternoon could be a bit chaotic.

Bottom line, we really enjoyed the atmosphere there, the wonderful food and drinks and the reasonable prices!

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So if you fancy a taste of Greece or if you just want to go out for a good dinner without spending every penny – treat yourself to a good meal at “Hayevania” and don’t forget to share your experience with me 😉

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