Matan Sofri has seen the downtown Osaka Restaurant through two ownerships.
By SYBIL KAPLANMatan Sofri Osaka chef 521(photo credit: Barry A. Kaplan)
Matan Sofri is 24 years old, single and chef of the Osaka restaurant in downtown Jerusalem. His charming, friendly personality and attentiveness to presentation in the food he prepares add to the atmosphere and make the restaurant a fun place to drop in and eat.How it started Aaron Kafka, Dan Stemmer and Reuven Pepper owned the Sideways Bar in downtown Jerusalem for four years. They noticed the next-door restaurant, Osaka, had been changing hands for the past few years. Six months ago they sold their bar and decided “it would be interesting to go into the Asian restaurant business. We thought we could do it better.” The chef, Matan Sofri, came with the restaurant.Experience Sofri says he’s been interested in food since the age of 12. “I cooked at home and loved working in the kitchen.”After finishing the army in 2006, where he worked in field intelligence, he worked for a year in a bar. Three years ago he came to the Osaka restaurant under a previous owner and learned sushi.“I always had a touch with food and my hands,” he says. “I’m a fast learner!” When Kafka, Stemmer and Pepper bought the restaurant, they asked Hadassah College culinary department chef Yossi Ben-Dayan to advise them and teach Sofri for several months.“We wanted to redo things,” explains Kafka. “It was a learning process to upgrade our professionalism.” Now three to four cooks assist Sofri. On the night we visited, Wilson Rojas from Chile was assisting.The decor Osaka seats 10 at tables, five at the bar and 16 outside. The restaurant is long and narrow (55 square meters including the kitchen) with one wall of mirrors. Red formica tables and black wood chairs accentuate the simplicity and contrast with the white serving ware. On two walls are maps of the subway lines of Osaka, Japan, and one orders from the menu according to these lines.Menu Osaka specializes in sushi and Thai food. Kafka says they serve “cheap, fast and delicious sushi with the best materials.” The newest thing is “build your own sushi” with your own combinations.The sushi combinations of 16 pieces are called by the lines of the subway system in Osaka – e.g., red, blue, orange, purple, green and yellow lines – and range in price from NIS 32 to NIS 49. Also on the menu from NIS 26 to NIS 35 are eight-piece sushi rolls, seven sushi choices, three nigiri (rice and raw fish), three salads with a choice of six toppings, three sashimi (raw fish), six house specials, and Pad Thai. There is also a choice of rice noodles, egg noodles or white jasmine rice, and five homemade sauces.Lunch specials are served from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.Most popular dish on the menu Sofri says it’s the red combination – pieces of fish with avocado and cucumber, sweet potato and green onions, made inside out (NIS 32) and saka noodles stir-fry with noodles, vegetables and chicken (NIS 35).Sofri’s own favorite item on the menu is tempura roll – sushi with salmon, avocado and sweet potato, deep fried with the tempura shell. (We tasted this unusual idea and could see why it’s his favorite!)Biggest accomplishment? “Convincing my mom to taste sushi! Her parents were from Persia, so I told her it looks like yapa, a Persian food.”Best part of the job? “Working with people and seeing the faces of people when they eat.”Who cooks at home? “My mom.”Osaka is located at Rehov Heleni Hamalka 1; tel. 623- 3787; it offers free delivery and takeout. It is open Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., open Friday in summer, open Saturday evening one hour after Shabbat ends until 3 a.m. and is kosher lemehadrin.Chaos – Beef and Chicken Stir Fry with Rice3 Tbsp. canola oil 500 gr. veal strips 500 gr. chicken strips 14 shiitake mushrooms, cooked and sliced 14 regular mushrooms, sliced 1 sliced onion 2 cups chopped cabbage salt and pepper to taste 1⁄4 cup water 1 cup teriyaki sauce 3 cups cooked rice 1⁄2 cup bean sprouts 2 Tbsp. chopped peanuts 1⁄2 cup chopped green onions 1⁄2 cup bean sprouts 2 Tbsp. chopped parsleyHeat oil in a wok. Stir fry the veal and chicken strips until brown, about 4 minutes.Add mushrooms, onion, cabbage, salt and pepper.Add water and stir fry about 4 minutes more.Add teriyaki sauce and stir fry 2 minutes more.Spoon rice onto serving plates. Divide meat and vegetables among plates. Add bean sprouts on top.Sprinkle green onions and peanuts on top; sprinkle parsley around the edges.Makes 4 servings.
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