EL AL | Atmosphere

Lifestyle I Food

There’s nothing more comforting than freshly baked breads and pastries, be them sweet or savory, during the cold wintry months. But before you fill up on Hanukkah sufganiyot, do leave some space for the exceptional baked delights of these 5 fine establishments / By Sharon Ben-David From baguettes to streusels to sfogliatelle: 5 top bakeries to try out this winter

Photos: Dor Kedmi

Hagay Bread | Tel Aviv On the edge of Tel Aviv’s Florentin neighborhood, near garages and small factories, sits Hagay Bread, a bakery that seems plucked from a different time. Owner and head baker Hagay Ben Yehuda, son and grandson of bakers, has worked in bakeries in Israel and abroad for years. Ben Yehuda believes bread baking is a craft that connects agriculture and farming with contemporary culinary practices, and in his bakery, he oversees the whole bread making process, from the choice of grain, through to the milling process, using a millstone especially built in France, to the dough preparation, leavening, and baking. Deeply connected to the land of Israel, Ben Yehuda uses flour made with an ancient local variety of wheat. On his shelves, aside the beautiful rustic loaves of bread, you’ll be able to find baguettes, olive fougasses, and a spectacular chocolate and olive oil brioche. hagaybread.com

Amita I Photos: Dan Perez Amita | Tel Aviv

Esteemed pastry chefs Michal Bouton and Anna Shapiro were working in some of the best restaurants in Tel Aviv before they decided to join forces and open their boutique bakery in downtown Tel Aviv. Amita is an urban artisan bakery (with a second branch that recently opened inside the Tel Aviv City Museum as well), that marries the meticulousness and precision of French patisserie with local seasonal ingredients. In a way that is unique to these two queens of pastry, Bouton and Shapiro have created a set of exceptional sweet and savory baked goods, including orange and hawaij brioche, anchovy burekas, sausage and olive oil savory cake wrapped in puff pastry, pigs-in-blanket style, and much more. Foodies from all over the country make their way to Amita year round, for a taste of these exceptional creations. amitabakery.co.il

32 ATMOSPHERE DECEMBER 2024