Shula Giladi stands behind the lovely wooden booth - actually two booths that were joined together in the most natural way possible, just like this whole project really - and she doesn't have to say a word.
There are big pots here with big dishes in them, pans and pans and all kinds of other utensils that came up from the kitchen floor of the Carlton Hotel, so the business is pretty self-explanatory. There is cooked food here, come, that's about the whole sentence that is enough to make people curious and attract guests and magnetize as if by magic people who even came down from the sea or came up from it, and suddenly here, they change plans or sculpt them to their needs. This need is food, obviously, but it is also much more than food.
הצגת פוסט זה באינסטגרם
Pop-up Shula from Shtula (Thursday and Friday, until mid-August) is the product of the collaboration between Giladi and the people of Carlton in Tel Aviv. She, as one might have guessed, lives routinely in the north-northern settlement, 680 meters above sea level, and a similar distance, give or take historical arguments, from the border line with Lebanon. Routine, we realized a long time ago - ten months from now - is a deceptive business. One moment Shula's routine was hospitality and joy of life, people coming to hear her cook and hear her talk and hear her sing, and the next Shtula's routine is "today another rocket fell there", and her routine itself is evacuation, and brave attempts to maintain optimism amidst all the chaos.
And her food is a capsule of optimism. Kurdish cuisine based on old recipes and working hands, and received reinforcement from the hotel team led by Eran Nachshon, for what matured very quickly, almost on an automatic machine, for a connection that must, simply must, not stop at the end of the allotted period.
There is a meat or vegetarian Kibbeh here (NIS 55 for four units) rolled by hand (a thousand units, thanks to her sister), stuffed vine leaves (NIS 55) that have undergone the same treatment, plump kebabs that manage to maintain their juiciness and unusual seasoning, large beef meatballs in a thick red sauce, And two additional vegetarian dishes - white beans with mushrooms and rice-beans, NIS 25 - that manage to illustrate the business even more.
This business is of course not just a business. I'll expand and write that he's not at all busy at the moment. She is evacuated, and lives not far from here, holds private dinners that are more of an unfolding evening experience, and still doesn't know what a day will bring, and soon what a year will bring, God. But the cooking, the hospitality, and of course the people, are worth more than the bottom line. "I have dealt with a lot of people and characters," said Nachshon, "but her story makes you want to help in any way possible."
He set up the booth with this story in mind and added as much vegetation and greenery to it as possible, because he looked at photos and saw that her house enjoyed the Galilean nature. "I had to try to make her feel a little like she was there. After all, a Kurdish cook from our beautiful and good north." This talk, and these actions, were met with a built-in embrace. She arrived at a kitchen team subordinated to her, and carts with raw materials ready for work. Excitement was registered, mutual, and now she insists on only one thing. "Write down that without him none of this would have happened," she swore.
Giladi, 72 years old, worked for more than three decades as a kindergarten teacher, and retired on a high note. "I decided to stop and for three years I devoured life, and the world," she repeated, "until I decided that this was it, and that it was time to stay at home, and start the next phase." Her Shula from Shtula is a resounding success. He is, and he wasn't. There will be more. There are many reasons for this, but the main one is obvious. "I don't complain and I don't blame anyone," she clarified, "we weren't thrown out on the streets. They put us in hotels with amazing, embracing staff, and I'm just trying to take the best of the situation and build on it. I believe that the IDF will do the best for me and the best for the country . That's what I'm building on." These words are said behind the lovely wooden booth. Two booths joined into one. Without them, it would be another pop-up food. With them, all of Israel is already.