Caesarea old town
Photo: Courtesy of Caecarea website
Port of Caesarea
Photo: Itamar Greenberg
Aresto: Kosher restaurant in port of Caesarea
For years there were no kosher restaurants in Caesarea's charming port, but now that’s all changed
The Caesarea port is everything Jaffa port would like to be: clean, esthetically pleasing, with a relaxing sea breeze. Even the carefully arranged antiquities exhibit isn’t oppressive. The only problem at this beautiful site was that you couldn't find a kosher restaurant. Until Adi Amrani entered the picture. Amrami, an entrepreneur who is both delightful and professional, went ahead and opened the restaurant in spite of attempts to scare him out of it.
Aresto is a beautiful, well-designed restaurant with stylish furniture including white sofas and fat leather armchairs. You can sit on the porch that looks out over the ocean or the porch that looks out on a lawn. It’s best to go there at night, when the entire place is awash in romantic lights.
It’s unfortunate that the calzone (30 shekels) can only be ordered as part of breakfast, since it’s enough to make the entire trip worthwhile. It seems like such a simple thing: an enormous envelope of dough that looks like a satellite from outer space, but with high-quality mozzarella and a touch of fresh spinach. You know the kind of baked goods that make you keep eating until you get to the wooden plate, no matter what you’ve promised yourself about carbs? This one’s the most fragrant of them all.
Someone or something has done wonders with the dough at Aresto. We discovered the same thing with the "house pastry" which was served there as an appetizer. Once again the aroma was so amazing that it stopped the flow of conversation around the table.
Everyone stood in line for netilat yadayim, the ritual hand washing (we were less keen about the design of the hand washing station), and they all rushed back to the table to rip fat pieces from the focaccia that comes with mozzarella and fresh garlic. The focaccia can be ordered with a variety of toppings, such as sun dried tomatoes or kashkaval cheese.
The prices are quite reasonable considering the location. Dinner for two without wine comes to around 250 shekels, and that’s if you order the fish. If you stick with dairy food or breakfast, you’ll pay half that or even less. There is a charge for entrance to the port, but Aresto will refund the entire sum if you spend a certain amount there.
We decided that if the management had invested so much effort in its dough, we wouldn't worry about the rest of the meal. Aresto’s food is similar to what you’ll find elsewhere. Perhaps because it’s new they’ve decided to play it safe. But still the food tastes better, and the portions are very generous. Fresh products and sauces prepared on site make the difference. The cheeses come from boutique dairies in the area and are of very high quality, and the jams are a real pleasure, and are served in beautiful dishes. Make sure to order the onion jam.
We stopped before dessert—we were stuffed from all the carbs—so you’ll have to tell us what dessert was like.
Aresto, Café and Restaurant, Old City Port, Caesarea, 04-636-3456.
