Ewa Safi: Casablanca Comes Alive on a Neve Tzedek Side Street

The frena bread arrives still warm, its crust crackled and golden, torn open to release a cloud of wheat scented steam. Around the table, small clay dishes multiply: a glossy beetroot salad stained the color of garnets, roasted peppers glistening with olive oil and raw garlic, spicy cherry tomatoes that pop with heat, and a matbucha so slow cooked it has turned almost jammy. A server in a flowing kaftan pours mint tea from height, the stream arcing with practiced precision. From the garden, jasmine and citrus mingle with charcoal smoke. This is Ewa Safi on any given evening, and the night has barely started.

The menu at Ewa Safi is built on the recipes of Mama Solika, the Casablanca born matriarch whose sons, Miko and Shimon Barak, opened this restaurant in her honor. Solika trained the kitchen staff herself, and her fingerprints remain on every plate. The pastilla is the first thing you should order: golden phyllo sheets, impossibly thin and shatteringly crisp, enclosing a slow cooked filling of lamb shoulder and spring chicken braised until the fibers surrender. Caramelized dried fruit weaves sweetness through the savory core while toasted almonds provide crunch, and a dusting of powdered sugar on top blurs the line between appetizer and dessert. It is one of the most compelling bites in Tel Aviv's Moroccan dining scene.