In the center of downtown Jerusalem, at Music Square, walk down a flight of steps into a dim restaurant with chic blue lighting. The design is hip and modern. The music is loud. The cocktails are delicious, and the food is excellent. You’ve arrived at Miss and Mr., where I increased the average age of the patrons by at least two decades.
I came with my foodie son Netanel who has just finished a second stint of reserve duty and who fit the demographic here much better than I did. On my shirt I had a sticker with the number 300 as I was coming from a march marking 300 days that the hostages, including Hersh Goldberg Polin, had been kidnapped.
“Excuse me for asking but are you friends with Rachel and Jon [Hersh’s parents] because I see your sticker,” our waitress asked. “I’m a good friend of Orly’s [his youngest sister] so I knew about the march.” She then went on to tell us about the daily specials.
Such is the dissonance of living in Israel today. But back to Miss and Mr.
Bringing Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
“They brought Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” my 23-year-old son said. “The vibe, the ambience, the design, the attention to detail – it’s not just high level for Jerusalem, but even for Tel Aviv.”
The music was loud but I found that after my first cocktail I didn’t mind it anymore. Speaking of cocktails, they are very good here. On our waitress’s suggestion, I tried the Mrzolak (NIS 58) which was gin, lemon, basic and apple. Then after chef Daniel Marciano stopped by the table, he suggested the Cocktail by the Chef (NIS 58) which was gin, martini, elderflower and cucumber. At that point, I was glad that I wasn’t driving home.
Marciano, by the way, is just 26 and he and his partners are in the middle of opening three new restaurants.
The menu focuses on appetizers with just four main dishes. I often prefer a meal made of appetizers so I was happy. I love raw fish and one of the specials was a sashimi of amberjack, a meaty white fish which I especially enjoy. The sashimi was excellent. I was leaning towards the pate foie gras but my son convinced me to try the red tuna tartlet (NIS 82) which was red tuna chunks with spicy mayonnaise, shallots, chives and avocado cream served in homemade filo pastry. It was very good but just a bit too spicy for me.
We also had the carpaccio (NIS 72) with garlic, mustard and aioli. It was thinly sliced as it should be, and Netanel and I fought over the last mouthful.
Of the main dishes, I chose the lamb chops (NIS 216) on a bed of freekeh risotto. It was excellent but I would have liked a larger portion. Netanel chose sweetbreads (NIS 158) with root cream and msabaha (humus with whole chickpeas). I grabbed a taste and they were just as they should be – chewy and a little salty.
As we were eating, a group of 10 well-dressed young Israelis – the women wearing impossibly high heels – spent way too much time taking photos for Instagram. It’s that kind of place.
Chef Marciano stopped by our table again.
“How was the food?” he asked.
“Delicious,” we answered, telling him what we had ordered and what we especially enjoyed.
“Now tell me what wasn’t good,” he said. “That’s the only way we can improve.
I have to say that I was impressed by his attitude.
There is a DJ each night and by the time we left at around 9:30 p.m., the volume had increased even more, and there was a line of people waiting to get in. It was hard to remember that we are in the middle of a war – and maybe that’s exactly the point.
- Miss and Mr.
- Music Square, Jerusalem
- Hours: Sunday – Thursday 7 p.m. – midnight
- Saturday nights: after Shabbat
- Kosher