Margo

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Wear your sandals to Margo - because this place will knock your socks off!

The phrase, ‘once every blue moon’ connotes an infrequent occurrence when a full moon occurs twice in one calendar month. In slang terms, it always denotes a rare event. Everything has to align just right with timing for a blue moon (not the beer). Incidentally, the next blue moon will occur on August 31, 2023. Be on the lookout for it!

In culinary terms, a blue moon is when the ambience, food, service and vibe all land the same. And in this country in particular, it is a rare occurrence. We find great eats with strange ambience or places that are chic but lacking in flavor and many joints with no character at all.

Well, if you want a ‘blue moon’ dining experience where everything will be just right, you must go to Margo.

Located in a nook in the wall without any signage whatsoever, on the East side of King George Street, about a nine-iron from Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall is a new (one-year-young), dairy, stylish, bohemian but in a cool way, and sumptuous place that you MUST try.

Margo is named after a fictitious female character in her mid 30’s who has unbelievable grace, pizzaz and style. Someone who can light up any room and take any space and add creative flair and design. All of her friends know it and celebrate her prowess and creative flair.

If this pretend-Margo could cook – this would be her restaurant.

We arrived to a practically empty restaurant at 7:45 PM. By 10:30 when we left, it was jam-packed. The venue has 4 different spaces, all closely connected for whatever environment you want. A traditional sit down, an outside terrace that is charming, a wine tasting and pairing area, a romantic setting for 2 people on a special date upstairs and a bar for people to drink delicious cocktails and enjoy small bites.

While Margo’s tastes and décor are PERFECT, lets get to the real gift of this make-believe woman. Her food and drinks!

We started with an array of appetizers and yummy cocktails. The tuna carpaccio was intensely delicious with mild flavors. It was not fishy, and I do not know how any human hand cut this fish so thin?! It was great. We also enjoyed the fricassee and the roasted eggplant and fish bruschetta. These two items arrived looking very similar, served on a thin oblong shaped Melba toast. The fricassee also had a perfectly poached egg. They might have looked similar, but they tasted uniquely different and were both extraordinary! We also had the most unique thick bread with five different spreads. This was a toasted bread that was flavored and lightly grilled with olive oil and quite tasty, and most different than any other bread you might get with a meal. I loved it and my favorite spread was the tzatziki.

The mains came and blew us away. Like the Jewish teaching, מעלין בקודש ואין מורידין - On Holy matters, we only increase – these mains were better than the appetizers and that was a high bar.

My bride had the sea bass, served on a bed of perfectly seasoned roasted potatoes and fresh vegetables. It was out-of-this-world! Our dining company (niece and nephew – Liz and Matt) had the curly pasta primavera and the polenta tortellini. There was not a morsel left on the plate – indicating that this was too yummy to bring home and save for later. Carpe Diem.

I ordered the special gnocchi, in a light cream sauce with shaved parmesan, that was not on the menu. It was like eating perfectly made mini clouds. I think the plate had a pattern on it before I was done soaking up the sauce with the left-over bread.

I was excited for dessert since this was a dairy restaurant and would not be getting the run of the mill pareve ice creams so many meat restaurants offer. Again, the adage מעלין בקודש ואין מורידין rang true.

Just for the record, my favorite variety of dessert is anything with apple in it, as B. Taub and T Glazer, can attest! They had an apple crumble on the dessert menu and I was pretty sure it would be mediocre – at best. After all, we had our socks knocked off from the meal – how could it be better.

Guess what? It was!

This home made apple crumble might have been the best I have ever had at any restaurant. (Don’t worry Benay and Toby - you still hold the record). It was warm but not hot. Chewy but not crunchy. Sweet but not saccharine-like. It was perfection in a small clay pot. The lemon pie was delicious, and the flourless chocolate cake was exquisite. I appreciated how dessert was more about the eats than the presentation. Of course, we eat with our eyes. But we really do that most when we need to compensate. That was NOT the case here.

We had the fortune of meeting the chef, Chezi, who came out to greet the customers and was showered with sincere and genuine applause from each table. He was kind, humble and clearly talented.

The bill was not light, but neither was our ordering. And the service was top shelf. They did not bother us incessantly, but they knew to check on us regularly and share in our excitement. The complimentary shots and salad were a nice touch. (BTW – as a reminder I NEVER share I am writing a review until after I have paid the bill – so these niceties were ALL what they would do for any customer – making it all the more authentic).

Wear your sandals to Margo – because this place will knock your socks off.