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citrus salad with marcona almonds

March 12, 2018

An Israeli Brunch in Napa – In Pictures

I’ve never been much of a brunch person. Not one to stand in lines, I prefer to be running around doing stuff, then sitting around stuffing myself. Or something like that. Don’t get me wrong, I like to eat. Obviously.

Recently we signed up for a pop-up Israeli brunch crafted by Itamar Abramovitch and Nate Smith because: 1) if I had a ticket, then I assumed I wouldn’t have to queue and 2) I’m a big fan of Israeli food.

On a slightly foggy morning, just behind the Oxbow Market, a small group of us gathered outside to eat a wood-fired feast. I used it as an opportunity to pull out my neglected camera and remind myself how to use it.

We started with lots of yeasty bread to start, accompanied by labneh and tehina sauce.

Soft yeasty rolls

Soft yeasty rolls.

labneh

Labneh and olive oil.

Tehina sauce with roasted garlic.

Tehina sauce with roasted garlic.

Next up was the wonderfully zesty citrus salad with mandarins, blood orange and marcona almonds, pictured above. Then came the barely-cooked trout served in a salad.

Trout in the wood-burning stove.

Trout flirting with the wood-burning oven.

Trout salad

Trout salad.

As we tucked into our first dishes, cast iron pans with rich tomato sauce were bubbling away in the oven, getting ready for the addition of many eggs for shakshuka. We mopped up the tomatoey juices with pita bread.

Filling the pan with eggs.

shakshuka cooked in a wood oven

Shakshuka almost ready to devour.

By now we were fit to bursting, and the sun itself had burst out from behind the cloud, no doubt enticed by all the sunshiney egg yolks. But we weren’t quite done. The finale was a golden rice pudding with a yummy burnt caramel sauce. Delicious.

Rice pudding with burnt caramel.

Rice pudding with burnt caramel.

If you want to cook your own Israeli feast, then I highly recommend the wonderful cookbook, Zahav, introduced to me by none other than Itamar, one of our chefs for the day. See how life comes full circle?

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Blossom Catering Company, Brunch, Israeli brunch, Napa, Oxbow market

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lori Piombo says

    March 13, 2018 at 1:07 pm

    Thank you for posting such beautiful photos and text! We loved our Israeli brunch and it will always stay as a wonderful memory that warmed our hearts and tummy as well! It was a pleasure meeting you and your son

    Reply
    • alice says

      March 25, 2018 at 8:56 pm

      Ah – thank you so much! It was wonderful to meet you both too!

      Reply

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