The Cafe that I go to - Haaretz

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The Cafe that I go to

By Various

Author Aharon Appelfeld on Ticho House, Jerusalem

"I've been sitting in Jerusalem cafes for many years. My old favorite haunt was Cafe Peter in the German Colony. The proprietress was a very special woman who personally looked after each and every one of her customers. But the place closed, unfortunately, in the late 1960s. At that time, there were cafes without music, where you could sit and write over a glass of tea or a cup of coffee.

"Today I go to the cafe in Ticho House, mostly because it's special and quiet. I don't patronize the new cafe chains, because they're an industry, not cafes. They're exactly the opposite of my idea of a cafe. A cafe should give you inspiration; it should have beauty in its structure, its walls, its atmosphere. A cafe should host you long enough for you to get friendly with people, and they should know you personally there. Today things have changed: They tell you 'Drink and go,' and don't linger, and that's not for me."

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"The human landscape of cafes has changed drastically right before our eyes. Not long ago I went into Cafe Cafe on Tchernikovsky Street and all five people sitting there were working on a laptop in a back row. It looked like a gleaming Yuppie sweatshop, and certainly nothing like the cafes we knew in the past. I remember a radio interview with Yaakov Shabtai, who said that only poets sit in cafes, because prose is very hard work and poetry is something else. Laptops have made it possible to take work to the cafe. But then you're not really part of the experience in the cafe, and the atmosphere can be depressing. I expect that some cafes will eventually declare: 'No laptops allowed' to avoid that dampening of the atmosphere. People with a laptop tend to shush the people around them all the time, and that's odd. It doesn't happen in Paris and Rome, and it's because we don't know if we want to be Seattle or Florence.

"I sit in the Sukar [Sugar] Cafe on Pinsker Street at the corner of Zalman Schneor, where there's a lot of space between the tables and everyone doesn't hear what's going on at the next table. When I want people to know and hear, say if I'm sitting with a book from a rival publishing house, then I sit at Tola'at Sefarim [Bookworm], which was and remains a literary and cultural display window. I like the coffee at the Ben-Ami pastry shop in King Albert Square, which overlooks the Pagoda House. They have excellent cakes there and, of course, an inspirational view, too.

"Lately I've had to spend a lot of time at the Shari Cafe in the Ted Arison Medical Tower because of a minor health problem. There I meet a lot of celebrities in pajamas, each with a plastic bracelet on the wrist, so if you've forgotten who the person is, you can always peek at the bracelet."

"I like the feeling of a benevolent human environment, and to work quietly or socialize. Books, computer, piles of paper and a drink. I make a special trip to the cafe in the Tola'at Sefarim bookstore. All the other cafes are usually a matter of context, close to where I live or to my studio, two or three a day. I've wandered a lot over the years and so my regular cafes have changed as well - Tamar, Masaryk, Tola'at, Bialik, George, Erez, Libra - and that's just a partial list. I picked up my coffee habits at the neighborhood cafe of my childhood - Cafe Tamar. And when I'm not in Tel Aviv, I'm at the mall in Herzliya, with Morris from Cafe Mocha."

"I meet people in cafes in Tel Aviv because I live in Gedera and it makes more sense to get together in the center. Most of the cafes where I go are chosen because of their proximity to other places: The Cafe at Dubnov 8 is close to the Habimah offices, the branch of Cafe Joe is next to Beit Ariela, and I especially like the Masaryk Cafe because it's close to a lot of the friends I want to see in Tel Aviv. There they leave me alone and I read or proofread and work. Usually no one asks what I'm doing, and it's very pleasant. Once there was a waitress who couldn't resist asking what I was up to. It happened to be when I was writing a song for Hemi Rodner - 'The Great Song Machine' - who I'm sure was a lot more familiar to her than the literary editors I usually meet with."

"Asking about Hatahtit at 9 Lincoln Street is like asking about home. Sometimes I sit there as much as three times in one day. Cafes are like love: First you fall in love and then you ask why. I abandoned another cave that became too trendy and 'in' for me and moved to Tahtit, which was just a hole in the wall with two tables, and was open 24 hours. It was also friendly to crazies because there are all sorts of hostels nearby. I'd come from the editing room and sit there. Then they opened an AM/PM branch next door and they had to cafe. The coffee, by the way, is very good. I receive deliveries there, hold all kinds of meetings there. And I also sketch, and that's what I'm proud of; I like to sketch, it gives me that old-time neighborhood feeling.'

Writer Gabriela Avigur-Rotem on Rothman Cafe, Lotem
A Galilean breakfast

'I live in Avtalyon in Gush Segev, and I can't say that there are a lot of places around. I don?t go out to eat because I cook and bake, professionally even, and I usually lower my expectations when I?m eating out. But the Rothman Cafe, which opened a few years ago, is a wonderful place, because of the view and the atmosphere. Amikam Rothman, the radio personality, moved [to Lotem] from the center of the country and he and his wife run the place. It's a very good place for a Galilean breakfast with a friend; there's a balcony that looks out on a lovely view.'

Actress Gila Almagor on Libra Cafe, Tel Aviv
Inside it's like Europe

'I live very close to Mika Sharon?s Libra Cafe and I don?t always want to meet people at home. Libra is located in a beautiful, renovated Bauhaus building. The cafe is raised a little above the street, and inside it?s like Europe. Mika, the owner, is also a good hostess and the place almost has a family feel. It's a very good feeling. The atmosphere is the main thing: You can talk there, and I hold all my meetings there. It's the most comfortable and pleasant place for me. I'm not a cafe person, but it?s my third home.'

Sociologist Yehouda Shenhav on Nehama Ve'hetzi, and Noah, Tel Aviv
Noise helps me concentrate

?I do all my work in cafes, especially writing. When I'm alone I get bored, and when there's 'white noise' I can concentrate. I also like to leave the house to work. I create a bubble for myself of a pleasant work space. When it starts to get too familiar, it can get uncomfortable, because then you have to guard your privacy and tell people, ?I?m working now.' I like to sit at Cafe Noah and at Nehama Ve'hetzi, both of which are near Habimah. Noah is more intellectual and Nehama is more bourgeois, but I move between both of them. By the way, cafes have a very important function for me: I met my wife at Noah about a year ago.'

Singer Shaanan Streett on Restobar, Hakol La'ofeh Vegam Kafeh, and Link, Jerusalem.

I don't like it when they call my name

'I like to sit at Eli Mizrahi?s cafe in Mahaneh Yehuda, called Hakol La?ofeh Vegam Kafeh [Everything for the Baker and Coffee, Too], and I like Restobar, which used to be Moment. It depends what mood I?m in and where there?s a good deal for breakfast. I like it when there?s a more easygoing atmosphere in the cafe, and I don?t like to go up to the counter and for them to call my name. I prefer a neighborhood cafe where you wait another two minutes and then the waiter you always see comes over to you. I always like to run into people I know in a cafe, and to talk a little. I hold meetings in Restobar and often in Link, too, off King George Street. It?s a big, centrally located place, with a great porch that?s really nice in the summer. And it helps that there?s a parking lot right next to it.'

Broadcaster Yael Dan on Tamar, Yehuda Halevi, and Hatahtit, Tel Aviv
The family compound

'I divide cafes according to their purpose: My neighborhood cafe is on Yehuda Halevi Street, at the corner of Mazeh, and that's where the family goes when we feel like continuing the morning coffee and having a bite to eat, too. Work meetings I have at Cafe Tamar; it's always a good option, convenient and well-known. Hatahtit is another neighborhood cafe, where the family goes. These cafes make up our family compound.'
Curator Sarit Shapira on Bamakom, Tel Aviv

My dog knows the way

'I work, write and hold meetings at Cafe Bamakom, on Yehuda Halevi Street, across from the post office. It?s a homey, pleasant place, not too noisy, and my dog already knows the way there by heart. I like to work outside the house because I like to see people and run into people. I write and read there and it's really like a home to me.'

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