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50 Best travels to Tel Aviv to spend the evening at one of the hottest – and also most sustainable – gastronomic spots in the city. Welcome to OCD Restaurant, where ingredients are treated with the same respect as guests, waste finds new uses at a retail store and old flooring is transformed into dessert plates
It’s Thursday night in the warm city of Tel Aviv. After visiting impressive museums and spending the afternoon at the beach, the next plan is clear: it’s time to tick off the trip’s gastronomic bucket list by visiting the eatery that not only occupies the No.14 spot in Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023, but also won the Sustainable Restaurant Award, sponsored by Arla Pro.
Raz Rahav is the owner and head chef of OCD Restaurant, a modest palace of eclectic eastern Mediterranean cuisine that combines fine-dining techniques with recipes and ingredients from pan-Jewish and Israeli culinary heritage. Located just 15 minutes’ walk from Tel Aviv city centre and ten minutes’ from Charles Clore Beach, the cosy and modern 19-seat space immediately reveals that you are about to live an experience like no other.
The show begins
The stage of the night – the open kitchen – is the centre of attention, with seats arranged in a U shape around it. The earthy colours of the walls combine with the triangle-shaped high ceiling and hanging lamps to create a homely atmosphere. With all cutlery and plates in place, the night’s guests are ready to dig in.-1.jpg)
The menu at OCD is inspired by local culture, raw materials and seasonal ingredients
As in the theatre, staff take their positions, preparing to play their roles in the kitchen and choreograph the presentations of around 19 courses (depending on the season and availability of ingredients) to the same number of lucky diners seated in front of them. A playlist featuring only Israeli singers and composers sets the tone for the evening, showing how at OCD, every detail is carefully thought out.
Indeed, Chef Rahav has suffered from OCPD (Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder) since he was 14, but instead of causing him conflict, his condition has helped him lay the foundations of his restaurant, allowing him to have precision in every aspect.
OCD Restaurant opened in 2017, but it was in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, that its seeds of sustainability were sown. To survive the lockdowns, Rahav started delivering the same pantry products that he used to make for his customers at the restaurant. Shortly after, he met chef Shalom Simcha, who had recently come back to Israel after studying slow food abroad. The ideas he brought to the table blew Rahav’s mind.
Retail shop Tenne was created by chefs Rahav and Simcha as their first foray into sustainability
Together, the pair created Tenne, a centre of a circular economy that provides a second life to the waste generated by the restaurant, transforming it into new sauces for other eateries in the OCD group or for people to use at home. Simcha soon joined the team as head of research, development and sustainability.
“You have to treat the ingredients with the same respect with which you treat the guests,” says Rahav. “To respect the ingredients, you can’t throw anything away. This is why we started talking about what we could do with those things that are considered waste.”
A delicious story
The restaurant’s menu changes every three to four months based on the seasons, although one element is constant: it always tells a story. “We talk to our suppliers and farmers and we see if there are any new ingredients or produce that we want to put in the forefront,” says Simcha. “Then we try to build a story around it that relates to what's going on in our personal lives or in the history of Israel. Every time, it’s a different story or concept.”
This narrative is communicated by the kitchen team as dinner unfolds. The open nature of the space encourages dialogue between cooks and diners, who soon discover about the direct relationship between the restaurant and its producers – a collaboration that ensures a sustainable approach to the buying and farming process, reducing waste and providing fair payment. The OCD team’s respect for the ingredients is translated not only into buying “ugly” or unpopular vegetables, but also into the farmers growing specific produce requested by the chefs.
The dish Honey and Garlic (left) was ideated after rescuing ingredients from a local producer
The truly inclusive menu also offers special options for those with dietary restrictions, from pregnancy to veganism, vegetarianism, kosher adaptation and allergies, ensuring that everyone can take part in the delicious experience.
One person’s trash is another’s treasure
The first plate comes to the table, drawing smiles and curious looks. The Honey and Garlic is not only original, but it’s also the “save of the season”, featuring an ingredient rescued from waste: in this case, the garlic itself. The dish is a panna cotta of Israeli garlic fermented in honey, with honey cream, fermented and blackened garlic water, olive oil and fried za’atar leaves. On the side is perched a fermented garlic and almond cracker with Polish aioli and monk's hat flowers, add some extra colour.
The next course – Bread Parfait – is made up of bread crème anglaise, bread and rose malabi (a popular Middle Eastern milk pudding) and bread miso. “When we opened our bakery, we had a surplus of bread,” explains Simcha. “We took it all and fermented it, so today we collect all the extra bread from our wine bar, restaurant and bakery, and upcycle it into other products that we use back in the bakery or into dishes for the restaurant and wine bar, like in this case.”
Meaningful bites
At OCD, there’s only one dish that is always available, regardless of the season – for a reason close to Rahav’s heart. The Mom's Grilled Chicken is a way for the chef to pay homage to his mother, who passed away three years ago, by using her three-decades-old original recipe: chicken thighs rubbed with two kinds of paprika and lots of garlic, accompanied by potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, squash, onions and carrots.
“It's not the best grilled chicken ever, but for me, it's the taste that I miss. So we want to convey those flavours and that experience of a Friday lunch at my mother's house to the diners,” says Rahav..jpg)
Mom's Grilled Chicken is the only permanent dish on the menu and was inspired by Rahav's meals with his mother
The exact ingredients can change, but the idea remains. It is elevated with thoughtful touches such as an intensely flavoured stock reduction served with foam made from grilled chicken bits and crispy tomatoes, served in one of Rahav's mother's teapots from her 700-strong collection.
A quarter of local beef with caramelised cabbage, kimchi, cabbage brioche and nuts is another of the options on the meat-inclusive menu, where the team like to use unfamiliar cuts sourced from local breeds only. “If you are eating beef, eat the whole cow and not only the prime cuts,” says Rahav.
The Apricots is another course born out of respect for the ingredients and commitment towards the farmers and producers. Seven hundred kilos of unripe and ripe apricots were rescued by the OCD team to help a supplier save his business. Today they are served in a cream of unripe blackened apricots, lacto-fermented apricot gel and apricot gazpacho.
Sweet-balanced finish
The moment to satisfy the sweet tooth arrives – but unexpectedly, it’s a Jerusalem artichoke that takes centre stage, accompanied by artichoke powder praline, fudge and a patisserie cream cookie also made from the same vegetable, all presented over a piece of rock..jpg)
Some of OCD’s serving plates and knives are the result of an upcycling process
The unusual but attractive presentation has a story: the restaurant was renovated in November 2022, and as part of its goal of becoming a zero-waste space, Rahav had the idea to transform part of the broken floor into serving plates. The cleaned and polished pieces are now used for desserts and snacks.
Other pieces of equipment also come from the upcycling process – such as table knives that used to be plastic bottles – and the restaurant has invested in its own glass-crushing machine with the purpose of upcycling old glass items into new plates, cups, serving pieces and jars for Tenne.
Take-away sustainability
Rahav’s sustainable vision is not limited to the produce and the kitchen, but also extends to the restaurant’s staff, with the restaurant closing Friday to Sunday in favour of better work-life balance. It even goes beyond the norm to ensure living wages, paid apprenticeships and stages as well as nutrition courses for the team, who in turn work diligently to create a menu that is both healthy and balanced.
As the evening comes to an end, the OCD team is confident that diners will leave with something more than just a sweet aftertaste in their mouth. The restaurant’s idea of sustainability is built around “bringing the agenda to the customers”: while a delicious and beautiful meal is important, they believe in the message that food can carry. The thought-provoking ideas the team serves has the potential to create a conversation that is larger than gastronomy..jpg)
The restaurant's sustainable ethos also leads it to prioritise employees' work-life balance
Thinking back to the restaurant being recognised with the Sustainable Restaurant Award 2023, sponsored by Arla Pro – an accolade that all venues in the Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants list can enter, judged through a thorough assessment by The Sustainable Restaurant Association – Simcha says: “It's really crazy. It's overwhelming and it's humbling.”
Rahav adds: “The prize is a nice blinker along the way telling you that you're doing the right thing, and it also gives you more fire to be better.”
At OCD, guests are invited to come with an open mind to experience new tastes and raw materials. In exchange, the team brings a passionate spirit committed to the satisfaction and wellbeing of the customers, ingredients and producers.
Visiting OCD is like going on a blind date with Mediterranean cuisine, and most diners will emerge enamoured not only by the food, but by the passion and commitment of the team behind it.
Find out more about OCD Restaurant in the video:
The list of Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, was announced on Monday, 30th January at a live awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi. To stay up to date with all news and announcements, browse the website and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
