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Plant yourself at this vegetarian eatery and feast on this tzemah-based* masterpiece.

*Tzemah means plant, in Hebrew

This site has proudly listed any restaurant with a kosher certification, regardless of which rabbinic group supervises the eatery.

The review of Tzemah is the only exception to date, because it is strictly and solely vegetarian but, without official rabbinic oversight. Much like Blossom or Peace Food Cafe or Candle (all located in Manhattan) which were strictly vegetarian and open on Shabbat, many are comfortable eating there and others are not. Tzemah works well for my kashrut and for many others, as countless patrons were religious and donning kippot. Still, I realize it might not work well for your kashrut. If this does not suffice for you, my apologies and do not read any further.

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If you are still reading, thanks for sticking with me. You will not be disappointed.

Tzemach is one child in the growing family of Machneyehuda restaurants overseen by Michelin chef, and culinary artist, Assaf Granit. (See Lotte in Tiberias).

This place is strictly vegetarian (not vegan - it does serve dairy but no eggs were on the menu).

Located kiddie-corner from Ishtabach and at the end of foodie’s row on HaDekel Street, in the Machane Yehuda Market, this establishment boasts unique flavors and bold tastes that I dare you to replicate anywhere else.

We bravely decided on the tasting menu where our server, a hip young woman who knew the ins and outs of the food, assured us we would leave full and satisfied. She did not break her promise. She also winked and told us anything we really wanted that was not on the tasting menu - she would bring our way. The tasting menu was 6 courses (but really 8) and loads of food showed up at our table. The portion sizes were perfect and Goldilocks - esque. Not too much and not too little. Well worth the value. It also came with a hot drink as an end of meal apertif and many, many liquor shots throughout.

We began our meals with yummy cocktails. I had the Tzemah mule. My dear friend had the watermelon smash, and loved it so, he ordered another. I followed his lead, again. Our delightful dates for the night each had the limoncello spritz and they gulped it up!

We started the dinner with hot Foccacia, accompanied by eggplant brûlée, a plate of spicy things, Greek skordelia along with a raw eggplant tartar. It would be impossible to list the best of these dishes, because they all blew my mind. The tahini with charissa was a nice addition to the table too. The skordelia was incredible and the eggplant brûlée, which had a spicy and sweet crust like the famed dessert, was as tasty as it was unique.

Interestingly, there are 2 foods (besides non-kosher) that I do not eat: Halva and beets. The next course was the Ajo Blanco, which were a poached beets in a purée of pine nuts, grapes, course sea salt served in a chili oil aioli. I loved it…..and I hate beets. That says something.

We then had pareve Kubbeh Hamusta soup on this 88 degree Fahrenheit night. This was a classic Iraqi dish of sour soup with leeks, Swiss chard, zucchini, spinach, celery and dill and the Kubbeh ball was filled with a dark fennel and mushroom concoction that looked like beef and dare I say, tasted as good. This was found on the section in the Hebrew menu called Yerek Yerek Tirdof - a play on the biblical line of justice justice shall thou pursue - but supplanting (ahem) the words Yerek which means greens or vegetables for justice.

We cleansed our palettes with cheesy polenta and mushroom ragout along with perfectly seasoned asparagus tops. This was just so so good. Not a delight for the Lactaid challenged, but still delectable and a perfect bridge to the next course.

A camembert cheese, the fancier cousin of Brie, was generously melted on a soft bread with an onion jam and black pepper that came out of nowhere and was a fantastic and sweet intermezzo treat.

The waitress brought us a large pot that had a thin laffa bread baked on to it. Under this baked bread was a piping hot bowl of Chrimeh - a Moroccan spicy soup (but don’t worry - not too spicy) that had lentils and beef like patties made of tempeh that were scrumptious. We had to carve into the bread that kept the soup blistering hot. We used a special knife from the OJ Simpson collection at Cutco to make our way into this dish. We dipped the bread in the spicy soup and were only sad when we ran out of the baked carb cover. This was the most memorable part of the meal for the eyes and the taste buds.

We closed out the meal with some more Arak shots and a gorgeous chocolate mouse sprinkled with Atlantic Sea salt - which tastes EXACTLY the same as Mediterranean Sea salt, mind you - but the imported nature adds to the appeal. The Banufi, (which was caramelized banana, dulce de leche and coconut) is another Assaf Granit dessert that when all of the ingredients land on the spoon and then your tongue, a perfect shidduch is made with these unique tastes. We closed with Malabi and a generous heap of pistachios and rose water that even the skeptics amongst us were pleasantly surprised.

Nana Tea finished the meal and soothed it all.

The vibe here is eclectic and exactly what you would expect for this location and this chef and group. Apparently, they stole some of the plates from my Bubbie Leah’s Milchig China set. The music got louder as the night grew later and the fun intensified exponentially.

This meal might not have served meat, but the bill had some beef to it. It was about $500 for 4 people with 6 cocktails, including a generous tip. Still, worth every shekel.

My advice, “plant” or Tzemah yourself in this place soon and enjoy this unique and spectacular experience that cannot be replicated anywhere on this miracle strip of land we call home.