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ABOUT OLIVE
RABBINICAL SUPERVISION
Rabbanut Yerushalayim
RESERVATIONS
CREDIT CARDS
HOURS
Sun -Thursday 12:00 noon – 12:00 midnight.
Sat. 1 hr. after Shabbat till midnight
Succah On Succot: No
Nine Days Menu: Yes
Open For Pesach: No
Olive is a beautiful garden Mediterranean meat restaurant that maintains a high standard of professional service and consistently good food. It is a neighborhood establishment with sophistication, frequented by a steady stream of local residents and tourists alike. At the time they opened, over six years ago, there was a serious shortage of good kosher food in Israel- most kosher restaurants were either very high priced and often not that good. The typical "steakiya" or mixed grill restaurant had a great assortment of Middle Eastern salads, but the food was usually thrown on the table and the atmosphere left a lot to be desired.
But then came Olive. They were one of the first in the city to fill the niche- to serve great food, offer a reasonably priced menu that had something
for everyone, in a really beautiful and inviting setting. And most importantly, to have really great steaks, on a par with any good restaurant in New York or anywhere in the world. All that, and kosher too !
The restaurant’s chef, Yuval Cohavi, is self-taught, and has been learning and working at some of Jerusalem's best contemporary restaurants. He was influenced by the traditional foods from his mother's kitchen and the wide variety of modern Middle Eastern and Mediterranean palate. A recommended specialty is the Mango or Pineapple Chicken. It’s prepared with boneless chicken breasts, coconut milk, mango or pineapple, sweet chili sauce, fresh ginger, green onion, coriander and other seasonings. The Roasted eggplant prepared on the grill, served with tehina on a bed of lentil salad is also highly suggested.
The name of the restaurant almost never came to be. The owner’s wife, Ruth, wanted to call the place "Shesek", for the beautiful shesek (loquat) tree in the garden. But they thought that would be too hard for their non-Hebrew speaking customers to remember. So they went with Olive, which makes sense, since olive and olive oil for that matter, plays such an integral part of the Jewish culture and cuisine - they knew it would play a big role in their kitchen as well. |
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
