Recycling old walls isn't a new concept, and that's abundantly clear at the Efendi Hotel, where two Ottoman palaces built on the foundational remains of Byzantine buildings have been re-envisioned as a 21st-century boutique hotel.
Some of the swankiest bars can be found smack in the hotel where you are laying that pretty little head of yours.
Let's start from one of the most well-known luxury hotels in Israel – The Efendi Hotel. This is another project of Uri Jeremias from Uri Buri restaurant. Uri bought two old decaying buildings in 2001 and decided to renovate them and turn them into one of the best boutique hotels in Israel.
I defy even the most hardened of hearts not to burst with wonderment as Akko spills into view from the train ferrying arrivals along the coastline. Turquoise domes and copper minarets rise from behind the storied walls of the Old City, while orderly rows of palms line up against the cerulean horizon.
יותר משלושה עשורים עברו מאז פתח אורי ירמיאס את אחת המסעדות המוכרות והיציבות בישראל. הלכנו לפצח את הסוד של המסעדן הוותיק, לטייל איתו בשוק הסמוך ולטעום את מנות הדגל שמזוהות עם מוסד הדגים הייחודי. היה מרתק.
In the thriving, modern marvel that is the ancient port of Acre, I learn from Uri Jeremias Buri, fish cook extraordinaire, Byzantine expert, and owner of the Ottoman-era Efendi Hotel, that mujaddara has been enjoyed here since the 13th century.
Close your eyes and imagine you are an effendi or a pasha – a lord living in a palace in the mid 19th century. Your large salon, windows from floor to ceiling, overlooks the ocean and you are being fed sweetmeats and other delicacies cooked up by the city's most famous chef.
Chef Jerome Ferrer describes the Efendi Hotel as "one of the best hotels he experienced in his life," and Uri Buri as a "spectacular culinary destination". He highglights his "deep amiration for the philosophy and cooking skills of Uri".
Before plunging into Tel Aviv's whirling social scene, I wanted to get some Galilee green and reward myself for not getting lost with a meal at one of the world's best seafood restaurants, Uri Buri.
In December 2015, the boutique hotel Efendi launched a seminar-style touring program of the Old City of Acre and of the nearby towns in the Western Galilee.
Set in the ancient northern town of Acre, an hour's drive from Tel Aviv, and crafted from a pair of Ottoman-era palaces, the 12-suite Efendi (owned by chef Uri Jeremias) is layered in history and nobility - it's among the most complex private restoiration projects ever overseen by Israel's ultra-strict Antiquities Authority.
איך הפכה עכו לבירת הקולינריה של הצפון?
עד לא מזמן לוו נסיעות לעכו בתהייה "מה איבדתם שם"? ובהמלצה לאכול חומוס אצל סעיד. עכו היתה בירת הממלכה הצלבנית ויעד אטרקטיבי לאורך ההיסטוריה, נכבשה, ננטשה ושוב אוכלסה, אבל עם הקמת המדינה היא הפכה ללא יותר מעיירת פיתוח עם עיר עתיקה חצי אטרקטיבית ופסטיבל לתיאטרון אחר שמביא קהל חוץ פעם בשנה. כך עברו שנים ועכו עמדה בצד, מביטה איך חיפה מתרוממת ומתפתחת בעוד היא נשארת הגרסה הצפונית והחיוורת של יפו.
העיר העתיקה של עכו מציעה שורה של מקומות אוכל חדשים וייחודיים שיגרמו לכם ללקק את האצבעות - וממש לא מדובר רק בחומוס, צ'יפס או דגים.
The specs: A pair of nineteenth-century homes in the middle of an Arab village—and ancient port town—on the Mediterranean, a two-hour drive from Tel Aviv. Along with 12 guest rooms, the hotel has a hammam (built by the original Turkish owners), a wine cellar and occasional restaurant, and a rooftop sundeck.
Leone Lakhani travels to the Israeli city of Acre, one of the best preserved and oldest settlements in the Middle East.
מלון האפנדי של המסעדן אורי ירמיאס נבחר לרשימת עשרת בתי המלון והצימרים המםנקים בארץ.
Israel is a new nation, built on very ancient land that so many people in this world lay claim to as their own, their history. There are some newer cities like Tel Aviv, where the architecture dates to the 20th century and others like it's neighbor Jaffa, an ancient port city that leaves your mind reeling when you think of the people that have walked these streets for centuries. An intrinsic part of visiting Israel is seeing this duality.
Voyage savoureux en Israël, formidable creuset de cultures gastronomiques. À Akko, l'ancien Saint-Jean-d'Acre, Uri Buri excelle dans la préparation des poissons. Quarante kilomètres plus au nord, Erez Komarovsky, père de la "nouvelle cuisine" en Israël, a su intégrer des saveurs venues de France, du Japon et de Californie. On découvre aussi le secret d'une bonne pita.
One pomegranate-braised lamb shoulder at a time, Zahav chef Michael Solomonov is putting modern Israeli cooking on the map in Philadelphia (and America). So when he travels to Israel a couple times a year, he does so with food squarely on the mind. This takes him to Acre, a coastal city 90 minutes north of Tel Aviv, where he pays his respects to Uri Jeremias: a legendary fisherman, bon vivant, and owner of the decidedly non-kosher seafood restaurant Uri Buri.
In Acre, Israel, chef Jeremias cooks quite possibly the country's best seafood.
"There is no such thing as Israeli cuisine," said Chef Roy Sofer at the hip Italian Bindela Restaurant in Tel Aviv. Over the next ten days, every person I spoke to in Israel gave me a similar answer. Just like the U.S., Israel is a melting pot of cultures and cuisines. Everyone here is from someplace else, and they have brought along traditional ingredients, spices and cooking methods that have become part of the new Israeli gastronomy.
Watch the i24NEWS interview with Uri Jeremias.
Acre – Israel, and much of the wider Levant, is saturated in history. Kick some dust away and you could find yourself standing on ancient cobblestones, or discovering contemporary truisms turned upside-down.
Efendi Hotel and Pomegranate Travel are offering new tours in Israel by foot and bike, respectively, where guests can explore the sacred sites and nature surrounding the Holy Land.
Acre is a 4,000-year-old port city in northern Israel that most travelers to the country don't visit, and to help change that, Uri Buri, the owner of the Efendi Hotel there, has created a four-day culturally focused trip.
One hour and 20 minutes north of Tel Aviv, in the ancient Mediterranean port town of Acre, chef Uri Jeremias leads me into the tiny kitchen tucked in the back of the Ottoman-era stone building that has housed his restaurant, Uri Buri, since 1989.