Sea Change
Mushroom soup, bourekas, and cappuccino
Place: Tosha Bakery, Achziv
When: Wednesday, midday
Environment: This busy spot is located right across the highway from the sea – which was fairly stormy on the day of my visit. The entrance to the café is through an outdoor garden area full of vintage detritus. It’s one of those order-at-the-counter-and-we’ll-let-you-know-when-it’s-ready kind of places. There’s a lot to look at outside and inside, between the cute signs about the importance of coffee and the random antique items used as décor. All kinds of pastries and sandwiches are temptingly on display, as well. Plus, a glass window allows you to peek into the kitchen to see what’s going on. The indoor seating is in a round, tent-like space. It was too cold and windy to contemplate sitting outside. The space is a bit on the industrial side, with a concrete floor and simple tables. But there are some artsy touches added to the antiques to warm things up, along with live plants. It’s not a quiet, intimate place, but more on the loud side.
My Order: Soup of the Day (which was mushroom soup) (NIS 28); small cappuccino (NIS 14); beet and cream cheese bourekas (NIS 13); vanilla fruit tart (NIS 35).
The low-down: Unlike most mushroom soups, this one was not cream-based, and was fairly peppery. They were very generous with the croutons. All in all, it was pretty tasty, though the soup could have been served hotter. The coffee was fair, but was more milk than bite. Although I’ve learned not to get my hopes up when it comes to cappuccinos actually tasting like coffee, I did expect more from Tosha, based on their numerous signs talking about how coffee is vital to life. The bourekas was buttery and flaky, which was nice, but the beet flavor was delicate – I had to look for it – and the cream cheese was non-existent, as far as I could tell. It seemed like the beet and cheese were perhaps made into a paste filling, which somehow caused the hard-to-detect flavor. The fruit tart was nice, with a flaky crust, light filling, and strawberries on top. Tosha is not going to win any culinary awards, but it’s a solid option if you’re in the area.
Who else was there: There were four women with elaborate head scarves and lots of gold jewelry seated around a table together, ranging in age from their 30s to 60s. They were draped in sweaters, scarves, shawls, skirts, and generally fabric of all kinds and colors: blue, taupe, yellow/gold, paisley purple. Somehow, they reminded me of the three good fairies in Disney’s animated Sleeping Beauty.
The women are part of an organization that helps young mothers with emotional support and guidance that they need after they have their first child and the dynamics in the household shift – and they’re not sure how to navigate their new situation. These heavily clothed women meet every two weeks to discuss their cases (anonymously) and bounce thoughts and ideas off each other on how best to help the younger women. This week, they picked a busy café-bakery that also hosted a table of about a dozen reserve soldiers facing their own challenges, and a table of kitchen staff taking a break. They looked around and noted how everyone can use a bit of emotional support, as each person faces his or her own challenges.
