When a restaurateur chooses a relatively secluded and unimportant area of town for their new restaurant, confidence is apparently not an issue. When your name is Yonatan Roshfeld and you have been named as 'Food & Wine' magazine's 2010 most prominent rising star chef, questions such as those of location understandably become non-issues. Needless to say, a reservation will probably be needed on most nights.
Enjoying a beachfront sea view, the Herbert Samuel offers an eclectic take on Mediterranean inspired luxury dining. Chef Roshfeld was one of the first to introduce the idea of a tapas style dining experience, which has since become a permanent fixture in many restaurant menus. Yet in his new restaurant, the concept is offered as an option rather than being cast in the starring role.
The restaurant offers a curious assortment of fish, seafood and meat dishes, yet the use of various cuts of beef has quickly dominated the spotlight among critics and fans alike.
Naturally, the finest quality ingredients are quite easy to procure when your restaurant is based on the Mediterranean coast, a fact that can be thoroughly enjoyed when trying on of the restaurant’s signature meals, a tomato salad consisting of various tomato strands, onion, oregano, green onions, two kinds of olives, fresh chilies and a Turkish sheep milk cheese. The Herbert Samuel provides ample reason to venture out of Tel Aviv’s hedonistic center.