Dining out: An urban oasis

Stanley Lipschitz calls his Café Forte “A secret garden in a big ugly building.”

By ARI MARRACHE
Café Forte (photo credit: Courtesy)
Café Forte
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Stanley Lipschitz, a South African immigrant, has 25 years of experience in the restaurant business, yet this is his first time running a dairy restaurant. He calls his Café Forte, a dairy restaurant located on the ground floor of the Clal Center, “the secret garden in the big ugly building,” and adds that “people are amazed because it is like an oasis: quiet, modest and beautifully appointed.”
Lipschitz was approached by his old friend Wayne Hilsden, who was interested in having him run the restaurant for him. Hilsden, one of the co-founders of Jerusalem’s Evangelical community, has taken upon himself the task of improving and reviving the Clal Center. Café Forte, which is kosher under the supervision of the Jerusalem Rabbinate, reopened under Lipschitz’s management in September 2013.
With a clear vision of what was needed for the restaurant to be a success, Lipschitz put an the emphasis on service. “It is key,” he says. He appointed Dikla Hajian as chef, and together they began making all the necessary changes.
They started by baking fresh bread instead of buying it at the nearby shuk. Next, they created a fish-and-chips dish that was a compromise between Lipschitz’s dream of South African fish and chips and a dish Hajian felt had her touch.
The first thing I tasted on the menu was a fresh and delicious carrot, beetroot and celery juice, which brightened up my mood, whetted my appetite and took me by surprise because I did not expect to find a healthy antioxidant juice in the Clal building.
On modern wooden tables decorated with fresh flowers, Café Forte served an exquisite shakshuka with bread and butter on the side. The shakshuka succeeded in achieving the perfect balance between sweet and spicy.
Lipschitz explained that when ordering shakshuka, customers are asked how spicy they like it and how runny they want the eggs. The one I had was to my liking and hit the spot. It definitely is their forte.
Next, I had penne salmon topped with a cream sauce that was thick enough without getting tiresome. The plate’s rim was garnished with ground pepper, and the dish was topped with freshly diced red onion. The salmon was lovely and had a good consistency without being too fishy.
The fish-and-chips plate was fantastic: crunchy yet soft, and served with fresh salad in homemade honey mustard salad dressing, with homemade tartar sauce on the side. The idea is “to appeal to the inhabitants of the building while maintaining our style and quality,” Lipschitz said.
As I still had room to try something else, Lipschitz suggested a pizza with all the toppings. The result arrived just nine minutes later, and it was easy on the eyes, topped with black olives, red peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes and goat cheese. This thin-crusted pizza was great, and crunchy in the right places while maintaining the right balance between mozzarella and goat cheese.
For dessert, I had a gorgeous cheesecake topped with white chocolate and decorated with a strawberry and a vanilla stick. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
It was nicely sized and had that perfect cheesecake taste that I have recently found hard to come by. Needless to say, it took a while for me to be able to stand on my two feet again. After drinking copious amounts of refreshing mint-flavored water, it was time to leave.
Will I be going back? Most certainly. The atmosphere was calm and elegant, the service impeccable, and the prices were incredibly reasonable, with the most expensive dish on the menu being a grilled salmon fillet at NIS 54.