Sweet Spot

Tiramisu cinnamon bun

Place: Doli Bakery, Tel Aviv

When: Monday, late afternoon

Environment: On a busy corner in a less-than-glittery part of Tel Aviv, not far from the Levinsky Market, stands a tiny shop with a red façade, famous for its cinnamon buns. Though it’s basically a storefront, there are a few stools and tall tables inside the shop. The menu – plastered on the wall and piled on the crowded counter – is a smorgasbord of decadence, with a handful of different versions of a cinnamon bun; they even have a savory pizza bun. The bakery also offers some other confections, like carrot cake and large cookies. At Doli, they pride themselves on using real butter, rather than vegetable oils. The coffee menu is listed on a chalkboard behind the cluttered counter. Something about the place doesn’t feel standard Israeli, but almost more New Yorky.

My Order: Tiramisu cinnamon bun (NIS 34); Cappuccino (NIS 14).

The low-down: Against my better judgement, I ordered the tiramisu cinnamon bun, along with a cappuccino. However, I couldn’t help myself, as the tiramisu version caught my eye, and the staff also recommended it. The pastry was big and over-the-top, drenched in a liquidy coffee sauce and topped with mascarpone cream and cocoa. To my surprise, the dough was lighter than expected, and yeasty. But I probably should have a ordered a standard cinnamon bun, as the tiramisu version was very sweet. That said, the mascarpone cream helped to cut the sugar, so I made a point to get some with every bite. The coffee was fine; it was served in a paper cup, and heavy on milk flavor. It would not be the draw to visit Doli.

Who else was there: A tourist from England came in, seeking to try the local sensation. She was tall, blonde, and solid-looking. Aside from not speaking the language, it was evident that she was a foreigner, as she was very polite.

The woman bought a pack to go, to take back to the couch-surfing place she was staying, to share with the other visitors crashing there. While none of the four knew each other before arriving, they bonded quickly as they checked out the nearby nightlife in the evenings, and parks and museums during the daytime. They were all adventurers, trying to see as much of the world as they could – particularly places they heard about in the news. While each had come to Israel for a different reason, this woman was a doctoral student with a little time to kill before she dove into her next research stint in the lab. Her research on this day was bakery-based.