In the Seinfeld context, “Yada-Yada” is boring and empty talk. At Moshav Bet Yitzhak it’s the name of a fairly new dairy restaurant, started by interior designer turned restaurateuse, Zahavit Nahum, just a year ago.
Invited recently to taste the food we drove to Moshav Beit Yitzhak, a 15-minute drive from Netanya. Seating is only outside, making it a good choice for these strange times. It’s a sultry August evening and giant coolers and fans around the pretty garden are doing battle with the heat.
The very personable Zehavit, who was born on a religious kibbutz, today lives with her husband in Bat Hefer with, as she puts it, “three kids, a dog and eight cats.”
We left the choice of food to Zehavit and the first dish to arrive was a sweet potato quiche with a fresh salad. The light crispy pastry was made with butter, we were told, and the filling included diced sweet potato, ricotta cheese and eggs. It was very good but we tried not to finish it as more food was on the way (NIS 28).
The next dish to arrive was “toast” which is Hebrew for a roll, usually a sesame roll, filled with cheese and other ingredients and then pressed into a flat toasted sandwich.
This one had beetroot slices, mozzarella cheese and a touch of balsamic vinegar. It also purported to have artichoke spread, but I couldn’t taste it. It was nicely hot and introduced a range of unusual flavors (NIS 32).
The dressing on the side was aioli filled with herbs from the garden, and it was a lovely shade of Nile green.
Yet another dish to appear was the home-made pizza, topped with Bulgarit cheese and Kalamata olives. With a light-as-air crust, plenty of melted cheese and the topping, this was another winner (Pizza, NIS 40.)
Desserts at Yada Yada are either cakes from the Biscotti company or home-made ice cream. We tried both the creamy dairy ice cream and the vegan soy-based one, and both are excellent, with a variety of flavors including cheese cake and Kinder Bueno.
“All the ice-cream is hand-made in our kitchen by our mainly women workers,” says Zehavit (Ice cream ball, NIS 16).
She also sells gift-boxes for the New Year that come from a nearby moshav employing recovering drug addicts. Prices range from NIS 25 to NIS 200. Many of the actual products, like jam and chocolate are produced by small local business people.
“So if you buy one of our gift boxes you are helping the less fortunate and helping to promote small Israeli businesses,” she says.
A double breakfast at Yada Yada is NIS 110. As we love going out for Friday breakfast, we are sure we will return to Yada Yada quite soon.
Yada YadaRehov HaBanim 2Bet Yitshak079 524 7732Open: Sunday to Thursday – 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday – 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Kashrut : Rabbanut Azorit, Emek Hefer
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.