The feeling is being born anew, a homecoming and return to the place that speaks to my heart, from a cultural, physical, and spiritual centre deep within. The base of some of my most strong food sense memories, and a land and people that truly touch me in ways that no place on earth ever will. 

Touching down in Israel, aboard El Al Israel Airlines, is an experience like no other, as is the flight. Unique, is the best word to use, and a word that my boss used quite often in my 6+ years with EL AL as Sales and Marketing Manager for Canada. Touching down you hear gasps of delight, and a round of applause. Sometimes, if there is a big group travelling together, you might even hear people break out in a rendition of Hatikvah, the Israeli anthem. As I said, unique. 

Israel is beautiful in so many ways, its land, food, and especially its people. What has been carved out of the dessert is a paradise, and a land that is one of the most advanced on the planet in many ways including agriculture and technology. One of the highest per-capita in terms of post-degree education, and almost more importantly, the #2 on the planet per-capita sushi restaurants per-inhabitant. The night scene in Tel Aviv is arguably one of the hottest on the planet, and it is a multi-cultural mecca. There is also much more to this country from the desert in the south, to the lush areas of the north,  Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, and all points in between..

Pudding and yogurt that makes the North American stuff taste like water

Day 1 was very emotional, and I have no doubt this trip, my first in four years, will be highly charged with various emotions. Some eating was done, so lets quickly run through what was experienced. 

Im travelling with my cousin Paul, and he was waiting for me when I landed so we could head in to the city. His flight was better than mine, from both a comfort and food perspective, as he flew Air Canada business class, so lets just forget about discussing that. We checked in to our hotel on the south beach area in Tel Aviv, the Melody Hotel, a great little boutique hotel with a nice roof with some sun beds and umbrellas.

Looking south, and north from our hotel

Getting a bit hungry, and heading to the north area of the beach skirting the Mediterranean to meet up with the family, we headed down Ben Gurion, a street named for one of the heros of the Israeli state, the pioneer of Zionism, and the first Prime Minister of the newly founded State in 1948. This is a lively street with shops, bars, cafes, gelateries, and restaurants. Slow on a Friday night, because it was Shabbat and most of the country gets pretty quiet. I grabbed a pizza boureka from an open bakery, and Paul grabbed this amazing spicy lamb bratworst from a place called Frank. 

The pizza boureka, and selection from the pizza shop

The lamb brat from Frank

As we all know it can be complicated travelling with family, especially when there are many opinions, so ill skip the next part of the story and just say that we ended up, eventually, at a great restaurant in old Yaffo (the port area just north of Tel Aviv) at this great fish restaurant called Babai. Check this food out:

The mezes, 16 different kinds, and a nice Riesling from the North

Salted pickled mackerel, and grilled Drum fish

So, thats it for day 1. There are many more culinary tourism adventures to come, and I promise day #2 will wow you with what we found and ate. Israel is all about the "tam" (טעם) or taste. I will say on day #2 I did have a foodgasm.