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Good Taste
Tina Silverman
Pasta Mia 10 Wilson Street, Tel Aviv(03) 561-0189(Reservations not accepted)Mon.-Sat. 12 p.m. till midnight
Before two of my good, observant friends from Jeru-salem came on a rare visit to Tel Aviv, they asked if I could make dinner reservations at a reasonably priced kosher restaurant that would also please a strict vegetarian. "Sure, no problem," I said.
Wrong -- big problem. First, there aren�t that many good kosher restaurants in the heart of Tel Aviv. The hotels are kosher but pricey. We could have gone into the Hatikvah neighborhood for kebabs etc., but the vegetarian would be stuck eating humus. Not exactly exciting fare for a once-a-year visit to Sin City.
Then I remembered a little trattoria-style Italian restaurant I�d heard about that might just do the trick. Although they don�t have a kashrut certificate, and are open on Shabbat, they are strictly dairy and many kippah-wearers eat there.
Pasta Mia is not your average Israeli Italian restaurant. The chef makes over 25 different types of pasta (not all offered every day), and the accompanying creative and classic sauces change daily, too. Everything is freshly and simply prepared, just as good Italian fare should be. One can also choose between three simple salads, each piled high with lots of fresh crispy and exotic dark greens, with either mozzarella or cherry tomatoes and fresh basil. The salads come naked to the table accompanied by bottles of good Italian olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Our waitress suggested we choose the sauce we like first and then match our pastas to taste. We tried a delicious spinach ravioli stuffed with arugula in a tomato and red-and-yellow-pepper sauce; and struzzapreti (short braided pasta) with a wonderfully rich tomato-based sauce made with mozzarella and chunks of cherry tomatoes. The house wines, part of an extensive wine list, were a choice of either a kosher Barkan or a nice Italian. The desserts looked great (we were too full to eat them): homemade tiramisu, panna cotta and two chocolate cakes. The Italian coffee was excellent.
There�s a real no-smoking section there, only four tables but isolated enough to be effective. A dinner for two -- salad, pasta, dessert and coffee -- comes to around 180 shekels ($45) without wine. Pasta Mia�s setting is small, charming and bustling, with ocher-colored walls and heavy dark wooden sideboards. I really felt like I was sitting in a little osteria in what could have been the old country.
Good Taste
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