Two Great Ladies

A visit from an Italian chef resulted in great additions to otherwise very good Cucina Tamar Italian restaurant.

By MEIRAV CHAN
Two Great Ladies (photo credit: courtesy)
Two Great Ladies
(photo credit: courtesy)
When two women get together to create a new menu, the result must be good. But when the two women are the great Tamar Cohen-Tzedek from Cucina Tamar trattoria and her good friend and mentor Guilliola Oliveri from Italy, the result is one of the most delicious and authentic Italian meals you can get in Tel Aviv.
The two became friends when they worked together in a restaurant near Bologna in Italy in 1998. Many years later, both run their own successful places, Cohen-Tzedek in Tel Aviv and Oliveri in a small village in the Emilia Romagna area around Bologna, which is considered the gastronomic center of Italy.
This year was the first time the two cooked together, and the outcome is a new menu at Cucina Tamar that encapsulate the true tastes of rural Italian cuisine.
We went to the restaurant on one of the special nights the two held during Oliveri’s visit and enjoyed the specialties, among them a fantastic dish of fried gnocchi, cheese cappelletti, polpette – small meat patties – and other delicacies.
When you go there, do not miss the house signature dishes such as the tagliatelle ragout (NIS 69) and the artichoke tortellini (NIS 52). And be sure to order at least one of the dolci (desserts) – either the tiramisu or the pears cooked in white wine.
It is also a great spot for a quick drink and nosh late at night or before going out. The bar is massive and is the best place in the house, offering a view of the kitchen (behind a glass wall) and an opportunity to have a friendly chat with the handsome barman. We will continue to go there whenever we get the urge for real Italian food, not the tourist kind.
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.
Cucina Tamar Not kosher 10 Hatzefira St., Tel Aviv Tel: 057-944-3934