It wasn’t too long ago when Israel’s “bread cartel,” a group consisting of the country’s largest industrial bakeries, had undue influence over Israel’s baking industry. This group made sure that regulations such as having separate rooms for eggs and flour, and even requiring showers for workers, favored the larger industrial bakeries and, in turn, made it impossible for independent bakers to open boutique bakeries. The small bakeries that did open were legally bound to purchase and use prepared and industrially-made doughs. Ultimately, the restrictions on bakeries in Israel were even stricter than those in Paris, the undisputed pastry capital of the world.
Back in 2019, a group of Israeli pastry chefs banded together and, through aggressive lobbying, changed the laws. The Ministry of Health finally accepted that treating a neighborhood bakery as if it were a massive industrial bakery was, well, half-baked.
Since then, boutique bakeries have opened across the country, and pastry in Israel is finally having its moment. Tel Aviv has become a hotspot for amazing pastries with up-and-coming pastry chefs finding inspiration in local ingredients and flavors. Let’s explore five outstanding pastries that showcase the city’s bakery scene — old and new.
1. HaMotzi Lehem
Located in the center of Tel Aviv’s Levinsky Market, HaMotzi Lehem takes the cake for the best bakery on the block. Upon visiting, you might be tempted to go right for the chocolate babka, but fight that impulse and grab a mohn- (poppy seed) filled presburger cake. Presburger dough is the backbone of many Hungarian Jewish pastries. It’s an amalgamation of shortbread and yeast dough, resulting in a soft yet crumbly dough. One taste of the thick poppy seed filling — with the poppy seeds freshly ground right in Levinsky Market — and you’ll see why these are sold out by mid-morning.
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For more information visit their website or Instagram page.
40 Levinsky Street, Tel Aviv; 5 Mikve Israel Street, Tel Aviv
2. Alon Shabo
Before opening his eponymous bakery, Alon Shabo gained a large following on Instagram with his clearly-defined pastry aesthetic of clean lines, confident shapes and many shades of pink. Shabo successfully made the jump from Instagram to the real world, and the taste of his pastries continue to live up to the hype. While you really can’t go wrong with anything at Shabo, the stars are the tarts; and the star of the tarts is his salted honey with thyme tart. Light, crispy, buttery pâte sucrée is filled with a rich thyme-infused honey filling, then dotted with fresh whipped cream. And be sure to eat in! The bakery’s design is as carefully crafted as the pastries.
For more information visit their Instagram page.
22 Chlenov Streed, Tel Aviv; 26 Shenkin Street, Tel Aviv
3. Stefan Austrian Bakery
Stefan Macher, an immigrant from Austria and former biotechnologist at a pharmaceutical company, initially opened his place as a gelato joint but the pandemic had other plans. Stefan added strudel to his menu, using his grandmother’s recipe, and adehering to her strict rule of working the strudel dough until you can read a newspaper through it. The result is layers of a buttery, delicate dough that gradually softens until you hit the filling. Stefan offers many varieties of strudel — sweet and savory. While the innovative ones may tempt you, head straight for the apple (no raisins, per grandma’s rule!) and top it off with a scoop of vanilla gelato. It’s colored slightly blue from being infused with gol gav zaban (aka borage, a Mediterranean delicate blue flower used in Iranian traditional medicine) from Levinsky Market.
For more information visit their website or Instagram page.
21 Tchernichovsky Street, Tel Aviv
4. Moran Gil Cakery
When walking into Moran Gil Cakery, you’re greeted by a sign on the door’s threshold that reads: “I deserve a cake.” One peek inside makes such justification unnecessary. The star of this cakery is the pistachio frangipane praline tart with orange blossom cream. Frangipane (a sweet, almond-based cream) and praline (caramelized nuts ground into a paste) are both reimagined here, with pistachios replacing the traditional almonds or hazelnuts, resulting in an earthy, nutty flavor. Once baked, the frangipane has a soft, slightly spongy texture. There’s just a wisp of orange blossom in the cream, so no need to worry about the strong floral taste that can be challenging for some Western palates.
Moran Gil is prolific when it comes to designing desserts and changes things up seasonally, so while you might not be able to get this exact tart, you’ll definitely find a variation to enjoy.
For more information visit their website or Instagram page.
32 Allenby Street, Tel Aviv
5. Puni Bakery
When Polish immigrants Avraham and Fruma Puni moved their bakery from Jaffa to Florentin, the Punis added bourekas to their repertoire to cater to the largely Balkan makeup of the neighborhood. Through trial and error, and input from their customers, the Punis perfected their recipe, establishing a boureka-baking tradition that has flourished for nearly a century. The cheese bourekas filled with kashkaval (a sheep’s milk cheese popular in the Balkans) have a unique texture and are unlike any other in the country. They are light, flakey and crunchy due to the incredible lamination resulting in dozens of layers of thin yufka, a Turkish dough similar to filo. What embodies the cultural fusion that defines Israeli food more than a Ashkenazi bakery making Turkish pastries?
For more information visit their Instagram page.
24 Ha’Aliya Street, Tel Aviv
This article was produced as part of The Nosher’s Jewish Food Fellows Program, which aims to diversify the voices telling Jewish food stories in media spaces.
