Bistro 56: Twenty Years of Sunset Steaks on the Herzliya Marina

A waiter pushes through the doors carrying a wooden board, and on it rests a single bone in rib of Nebraska beef, charred mahogany on the outside and weeping clear juices onto the wood. The couple at the next table leans in, the older gentleman raising a glass of red and nodding. Behind them, through the floor to ceiling glass, a forty foot sailboat glides into its slip as the sun drops toward Cyprus and the marina lights start to twitch on one by one. This is a Wednesday in May at Bistro 56, and the room is doing what it has done well since 2004: turning a great view, a serious aging program, and a roster of regulars into a meal that does not feel rushed.

The kitchen runs on two arrivals: imported beef from Argentina and Nebraska, and Israeli lamb from the Golan Heights, all aged in house under Rabanut Herzliya supervision. Chef Armand Alharrer has spent more than twenty years running kitchens at leading Israeli restaurants and the menu reflects that confidence. There is no theatrical molecular trickery and no menu that resets quarterly to chase a trend. Instead there is a deep bench of cuts, each prepared with the kind of unhurried care that you only get from a kitchen that has cooked the same dish ten thousand times.