I wonder if this is related to the (deserved) popularity of the Otto Lenghi cookbooks like "Jerusalem" and "Plenty"?

Solomonov and Cook won a James Beard award for their cookbook last year, and have a couple of other books, as well.

ewishexponent.com/2018/10/03/michael-solomonov-steve-cook-cookbook-israeli-soul-zahav/

We have a Spanish tapas restaurant next town up. LOVE it! Would go every week if we could afford it. http://zarzuelamarshall.net/home.html

We have great Middle Eastern, and lousy, and everything in between. I'd guess that most major urban areas do. Like with any ethnic cuisines, you'll find more on the fast food/fast casual level than high end, but it's all out there.

No Israeli restaurants here, but we do have Bamba thanks to Trader Joe's. ;) Can't walk out of the store without a bag.

No shortage of Middle Eastern restaurants here, but we do not have much in the way of Afghan or Algerian. There is a large Armenian population, and so plenty of Armenian restaurants, as well as Syrian, Turkish, Lebanese, and Persian. In fact, one of the closest restaurants to me is Persian, but most of the Persian restaurants are in Westwood, which also has an Israeli falafel restaurant. There's a handful of Israeli restaurants, but less than a dozen, I would say. They are far outnumbered by Persian, Armenian, Syrian, Turkish, and Lebanese. The Lebanese restaurants are some of my favorites, and some of the Syrian restaurants advertise themselves as being Turkish, but I can tell the difference from the menus.

The Armenian restaurants all tend to be very good, but they are concentrated in Little Armenia or Glendale, but there are a few others scattered around.

Once when I stayed in NYC, there was a Lebanese restaurant in the ground floor of the hotel, and this made me very happy.

Today I am making falafel with fresh fava beans, and I'll probably make hummus as well.

In central Maine there is a very limited range of restaurant choices. That said in Waterville (a nearby college town) there is a long time Maronite Lebanese community and a small restaurant. Recently a Greek restaurant and an African restaurant opened. Pizza, Chinese and Thai restaurants predominate as ‘exotic’. Southern Maine has become a bastion of artisanal, foodie culture. Lots of experimental cooking.

Interesting. 3/4 of Israelis observe Kosher. I wonder if Michael Solomonov also cooks kosher recipes.

dcarch

I can't think of any Israeli/Jewish restaurants in Perth, as we have a tiny Jewish population. I do know of some in Melbourne though, and we often go when we're visiting DD.

Middle Eastern restaurants are prolific though and have been for forty years and more. Our Perth home is near a popular restaurant district (that's why we bought it :-) ) and there used to be heaps of Mexican restaurants but now they've mostly been replaced by Middle Eastern ones.

I just don't get into the city that often, but am very interested. So far, I've had a lot of, and love, things like gyro and hummus and dolmas and falafel, but I haven't had much beyond that. The article about the tasting trip to Israel is amazing, a whole new world.

Have to laugh at Colleen's comment "...there used to be heaps of Mexican restaurants but now they've mostly been replaced by Middle Eastern ones."

The wave of the future!

Here we have Nawal's, billed as a "Mediterranean Eatery", and owned and operated by a lovely woman named, you guessed it, Nawal. She does fancy cupcakes and such, but has a menu that includes hummus, baba ganouj, stuffed grape leaves, gyros, shawarma, koshary, fattoush. You could get a tuna melt there if you'd rather, and there were belly dancers last Friday night as entertainment. We also have Ttowa's, with sushi, sashimi, ramen and udon, run by a nice Korean family. However, the only thing that passes for a Mexican restaurant is Taco Bell, and we have chain restaurants like Buffalo Wild Wings, Applebee's and Bob Evans, and a ton of fast food because it's a college town, catering to the college students. So, two good ethnic places and a bunch of chains, and locally brewed artisan beer, but nothing else, not even an independent pizza place.

Annie

What used to be a Taco Bell on Washington Blvd a few blocks east of Venice is now a sushi restaurant. Kevin said the neighborhood is too upscale for Taco Bell, and there are fewer fast food chains in the neighborhood than there used to be. I don't remember any chain restaurants in Venice when we lived there, but this Taco Bell was in Mar Vista or Culver City. My neighborhood (Westchester) has more fast food because Loyola Marymount University is here, but there are also a lot of upscale restaurants and everything in between. The most popular style of Mexican restaurant here is Oaxacan (not my favorite), probably because there are a lot of people from Oaxaca here. I prefer Yucatecan style, but that is more difficult to find, and I have to go a bit further for it.

I did make the falafel yesterday with fresh fava beans, which we both liked, but I didn't have enough time to finish making the hummus, which I will do today. I generally also make tabouleh also, but I used most of the parsley in the yard for the falafel. Parsley does better in the winter here, but I will try to find a shady area to grow some more. My mint is finally growing nicely, and so I have plenty of that for the tabouleh.