Cafe Lyon: French Precision in the Shadow of Machane Yehuda

The focaccia arrives still warm, its crown blistered amber from the stone oven, four small dishes of accompaniments arranged in a careful arc on the wooden board. Pesto thick with basil and pine nuts. Tomato sauce reduced to a glossy concentrate. Tahini whipped to silk. A Moroccan style red pepper spread laced with garlic and cumin. Outside the window, the Jerusalem Light Rail hisses past the entrance to the Mahane Yehuda Market, and the Friday morning shoppers begin their slow procession toward the shuk's central alleys. This is Cafe Lyon at half past eight, the sidewalk tables already claimed, the open kitchen steaming with espresso milk, and a queue forming at the Lyon Express counter for takeaway pastry boxes.

The cafe occupies the corner where Trattoria Haba once stood, a strategic intersection that catches the foot traffic moving between Jaffa Road and the market. Owners Bar and Aviah opened the Jerusalem branch after years working together at the Rishon LeZion location of Cafe Lyon, the eight branch chain that descends from La Lionz, an Ashdod institution that has been serving French inspired cuisine since 1996. The pastry kitchen falls under Patisserie Eili, the chain's dessert division led by chef Vered Ornstein, whose mille feuille and lemon tartlets travel between branches each morning by refrigerated truck.