UPCOMING KOLEL EXPEDITIONS

UPDATED!

Food for Thought Culinary Tour 2009

February 15-24, 2009
co-led by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein and Bonnie Stern 

A Tour of Israel like you've never tasted.

TENTATIVE ITINERARY

 


Monday, February 16, 2009

Arrival at Ben Gurion airport at 6:05 pm . Assistance and transfers by Yarkon Tours Representative. Welcome dinner at Herbet Samuel, a popular new Tel Aviv hotspot with a glassed-in kitchen. We’ll have an orientation on Israeli food with Israel’s leading food writer, Janna Gur. Overnight Carlton, Tel Aviv.

17/2 Tuesday
Start the day with the true “Israeli breakfast” at the hotel. Morning at Nachalat Binyamin, a unique one-of-a kind Israeli Arts & Crafts Fair, and lunch at Carmela Banachala. Afternoon visit to the Palmach Museum, tracing the famous first battles to secure the Jewish homeland. Dinner at the home of the Canadian ambassador to Israel and his wife, Jon and Carla Allen, with a unique olive oil talk and tasting with Dr. Zohar Kerem, olive oil “wizard”. Overnight Carlton, Tel Aviv.

18/2 Wednesday
Early breakfast at the hotel, then up north to Netanya for an artisanal bread bakery visit. We stop at Haniel buffalo farm, to taste its delicious organic Corsican-style buffalo milk cheese. We continue on to Mitzpe Hayamim resort and spa, where you can enjoy treatments or just relax in the beautiful surroundings. Dinner at the spa’s famous restaurant Muscat, where chef Chaim Tibi’s menu is built around the produce of the organic farm and memories of his mother’s Galilean kitchen. Overnight Mitzpe Hayamim.

19/2 Thursday
Pre-breakfast stroll through the lovely grounds, seeing their goats, sheep, and herbs. Breakfast at the spa, then drive to Gesher, an early kibbutz with restored 14th C buildings and Roman, Turkish and British bridges built over the Jordan. Bread is baked here every morning, using the same method as almost 100 years ago. We’ll bake foccacio ourselves in the 1924 stone oven for our lunch. Then we make our “ascent” into Jerusalem, stopping for the traditional Shehecheyanu blessing at the Haas Promenade overlook. Dinner tonight at Canella, bringing gourmet to kosher. Overnight Jerusalem deluxe hotel TBA.

20/2 Friday
Breakfast at the hotel, then to the bustling outdoor market of Machane Yehuda for a spice tour, learning about Middle eastern spices and tasting various foods as we go. Late morning we’ll volunteer in the soup kitchen Hazon Yeshaya, helping to feed Jerusalem’s hungry. Free time for shopping and lunch on your own downtown. Optional Kabbalat Shabbat services at Kol Haneshama, Jerusalem’s “hip” Reform synagogue, and then a festive private group Shabbat dinner at the hotel where we’ll have time to process the visit so far. Overnight Jerusalem

21/2 Saturday
Optional services at any of Jerusalem’s amazing synagogues, or enjoy free time or a swim at the hotel pool. Afternoon optional walking tour of the Old City, including a “typical” Arab humus lunch. Return to the hotel late afternoon for havdala, and dinner at Shmil in the Lab for a meal filled with homespun goodness, set in Jerusalem's old train station. Overnight Jerusalem.

22/2 Sunday
This morning we have breakfast at the goats cheese farm Shevil Izim . On to the Ella valley, known for its lush vineyards, for a wine tasting at the Moni boutique winery. We have a chocolate workshop with one of Israel’s top chocolatiers ,and then on to Tavlin spices and herb farm for lunch. Siteseeing on the way to then dinner at Arabeska, an authentic Lebanese restaurant which is the fruit of a Jewish-Arab cooperative venture. Overnight Carlton, Tel Aviv.

23/2 Monday
Breakfast at the hotel followed by a fabulous cooking lesson—and lunch— with chef Omri ben Praz at La’gaat Baochel. Afternoon free time for shopping in Tel Aviv. Farewell dinner at Deca, for a unique Mediterrean flavour. Transfer to the airport for our flight home, or extend your stay. The trip is over but the memories last forever!

 

Food for Thought Registration Details

Price: Cost: $4949 pp dbl

single supplement: $999

includes:

Not included:

No extra charge for extensions; airfare from other cities can be arranged. $450 deposit required to hold a space; non-refundable after Nov. 15

Full balance due Dec. 1

Deposits and registration:
Contact Michal Shenkar michelle@paylesscanada.com
416-922-0116 ext 1, Toll free: 1-866- 344-6342 ext 1