Dining Out / Provence in Zichron

It's been nearly three years since my last visit to Zichron Ya'akov's Haneshika and, as my memories of dining there are all positive, I returned when the opportunity arose. The old farmhouse housing the restaurant, off the main street of the town, was remodeled about a year ago. Once rough stone walls are now plastered, painted beige and hung with appealing prints.

The garden has been turned into a charming terrace for dining, and there are two interior rooms, one with attractive drapes that is primarily for dining, and the other, with low sofas and coffee tables, for cocktails and coffee. The setting, though more sophisticated, is still thoroughly countrified.

Chef Ronen Raviv does very well in combining culinary sophistication and rural simplicity in his cuisine, which is mainly Mediterranean but also shows a strong classic French influence. Raviv continues to be one of those rare chefs who does precisely what he wants to do. He lives a few meters away, prepares the dishes he most enjoys and opens his restaurants at hours convenient for him.

For a first course I chose champignon mushrooms on a bed of feta cheese, which were topped with halved cherry tomatoes and sprinkled generously with fresh Provencal herbs and olive oil and then grilled. This simple dish captured the aromas and flavors of the Mediterranean; it was bursting with flavor.

One of my companions opted for a refreshing salad of root vegetables, including carrots, parsley root, cabbage, celeriac and parsnips, all seasoned with black cumin and in a gentle but lemon-rich vinaigrette. My other companion opted for baked chopped lamb, well-seasoned and just peppery enough, which was wrapped in thin slices of grilled eggplant. The meat, tossed with bits of artichoke hearts, pine nuts and mushrooms, was complemented by the eggplant.

Because the first courses had been so generous, we decided to share two main courses among the three of us - the first was a lamb stew (mostly cuts of neck meat) that had been baked with green olives, carrots and whole garlic cloves and then was tossed with just firm enough gnocchi. The meat in this beautifully herbed Provencal classic was was soft enough that no knife was needed - it was delicious. No less of a treat was the second dish, veal done asado style on the grill and then cut into small bits and tossed with brown rice, sauteed onions and carrots. If there was a fault to the meal, it was that the potato slices served as a side dish (boiled and then baked) were somewhat dry and would have benefited greatly from butter and a bit of salt.

We moved to the attractive terrace, first for a cigarette and then for dessert and espresso. I sampled was an apple crumble in which a thick disc of sweetened baked cookie dough was topped by vanilla-flavored poached apples. The cake itself was excellent, the flavors complimented nicely by a small helping of raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream. I did not resist sampling the home-made tiramisu, made with mascarpone cheese, sugar, espresso coffee, ladyfingers, chocolate liqueur and cocoa powder.

Zichron Ya'akov is ideal for a relaxed, unpretentious, country-style restaurant, and after 10 years, chef Raviv shows no sign of complacency; he uses fresh ingredients and takes care to prepare them properly. The wine list is a good one, and throughout the service was warm and friendly. Our food bill for three, including coffees, came to NIS 420 to which a bottle of the Har'el Merlot of Clos de Gat added a reasonable NIS 125.

Open most days for brunch and lunch and only on Saturdays for dinner, the restaurant is definitely worth making a special trip.

Haneshika: 37 Hameyasdeem, Zichron Yaakov. Tel.: (04) 639-0133. Mon.-Thurs., 8:30-16:00; Fri 13:00-16:00, Sat. 9:30-23:00.