The David Kempinski Hotel in Tel Aviv has just opened, offering new standards of luxury to incoming tourists. But the good news for locals is mostly culinary. The new hotel offers a chef restaurant specializing in fish, a meat bar, a summer al-fresco Asian restaurant “Cloud 5” on the 34th floor, a Cohiba cigar room, as well as the first Macallan Whisky bar.
At the helm of the culinary experience are chefs Mor Cohen and Omri Magal, and the talented pastry chef Oren Zilberstein.
The hotel’s general manager, Guy Klaiman, promises that the hospitality and standards in the new hotel will be uncompromising. “The hotel will follow all the standards of European hospitality. We have invested a lot in the culinary outlets of the hotel and I am sure that they will soon be on the map of Tel Aviv’s lively culinary scene,” he said.
Celebrating 125 years since it opened its first hotel, the Kempinski Group of luxury hotels recently opened its first hotel in Israel, on the Tel Aviv beach, at 51 Hayarkon St.
Sereia
We were invited to enjoy the special fish dishes served at the Sereia Lounge and restaurant, located on the ground floor, with huge windows overlooking the beach, making it the perfect spot for breakfast and dinner.
The restaurant is elegant and spacious, with beautiful details and an amazing view of the Mediterranean Sea. In the middle of the dining hall was a large aquarium filled with ice and stocked with fresh fish, reminiscent of an upscale fish restaurant.
The Sereia Lounge and restaurant serves breakfast and dinner. Located on the ground floor of the hotel, the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows also overlook the Tel Aviv promenade. According to chef Cohen, his culinary vision is the expression of surf & turf (the combination of sea and land). The restaurant will specialize in fresh fish with a menu that will change according to the catch of the day, combined with fresh produce from select growers around the country and local boutique producers.
AMONG THE dishes we tasted in the introductory dinner were wonderful tuna sashimi with roasted kohlrabi, a very good example of the chef’s creative surf & turf approach; fish fillet with cauliflower cream, pine nuts and raisins; and a few delicious vegetarian and vegan dishes such as wheat (frike) risotto with greens, Swiss chard and local pecorino cheese; as well as a “meat” dish made from 100% vegan protein.
The breakfast, which we didn’t sample, consists of fresh salads, eggs, fish, cereals and a few chef dishes, such as eggs Benedict and French toast. My guess is that the main attraction of the breakfast will be the excellent baked goods created by the talented pastry chef. You will find it hard to choose the one you want, and may end up having more than you planned.
On a visit to the hotel, don’t miss the Common Bar, serving rare Macallan whisky as well as excellent meat dishes, a rich cocktail menu, and a Cohiba cigar room, which may very well be a fantastic haven to spend a relaxing hour in, after a long day at the office.
Sereia at Kempinski Hotel51 Hayarkon St., Tel AvivKosher