Nurit Greenger
A while back my
friend Shirley told me about her favorite restaurant but I never paid attention
until, the day we decided to meet there so I could experience the reason for her
love for this particular eatery.
Owner Kobi Tobianno in front of his restaurant At first, I did not
take to the casual atmosphere in which the restaurant is run. But, over time,
it became among my favorites in the city for breakfast or lunch. It has a charm
no other restaurant I know has.
One day when I ask
the owner, Kobi Tobianno, if anyone ever wrote about him and his restaurant, he
told me ‘no’. So here I am reporting to my readers.
Kobi was born in the
small town Giv’at Olga, Israel, to parents who arrives from Tunisia to Israel
in the early 1950s, after being expelled from hostile to Jews Tunisia. His
mother is a good cook so customary, Tunisian food is her expertise.
“When did you know
that you want to be a chef”? I asked.
“In my past life I
think I was a watch maker. I love watches and I am time conscious and precise,”
Kobi tells me avoiding my question.
After high school,
like all Israelis, Kobi served in the military as a health inspector. Upon ending
his military service he signed up to study in Tadmor Hotel and Culinary School,
pastry division, which he completed with honors. During his studies, for
practice, Kobi worked in the Tel-Aviv Hilton hotel’s kitchen. For the young man,
from a small town, the experience was an eye opener. The hotel’s kitchen staff
liked him and asked him to join their team after he graduated. And so he did.
He worked at the Hilton for three years. During that time the hotel sent Kobi to
take advance pastry courses in the Geneva Hilton, Switzerland.
After leaving his post at the Hilton, Tel Aviv, Kobi took pastry chef posts
with several restaurants in Tel Aviv while also teaching courses, as freelance
and continuing his advance studies courses, which he took in several European
countries.
One day, at the age
of 32, Kobi decided to pack up a suitcase and arrive to the United States. It
was just after 9/11 disastrous event and new immigration was the last issue the
government wanted to deal with; staying legally and permanently and getting a
job was not an easy task to achieve. “People did not see correlation between an
Israeli and French pastries,” he recalls. Kobi made his debut in San Francisco
where he spent his first three years in America. Luckily, one of the top and best restaurants
in San Francisco asked him, among other chefs, to prepare few sample pastries,
as part of an application for a position. He was selected for the position and
was sponsored by the owners so he could work legally.
Eventually, “Unique
Pastry” in the San Fernando Valley sponsored him, through which Kobi obtained his
USA permanent residence.
Free to do as he wants,
Kobi decided to open his own restaurant, offering mainly pastries. However, as it
turned out, he now offers more food than his pastries specialty.
Opening the
restaurant in Beverly Hills was a lucky fluke. “I was looking for a partner to
invest but no one jumped on the offer; it turned out for the best,” he admits. Kobi
took loans and used his credit cards to open his small, but charming,
restaurant where you can sit inside or outside. ”This mall was empty till I
opened,” he tells me. Today to park one’s car in the small mall’s parking lot
one needs to use the valet parking service.
Kobi’s restaurant (http://www.yelp.com/biz/tarte-tatin-bakery-beverly-hills)
is constantly busy and the list of permanent patrons is forever growing. It has
become a social center for people with Israeli and European background as well
as Americans with European-Middle Eastern finesse.
The food is unique
and reasonably priced, with French-Tunisian and slight Middle Eastern injected flair.
It is prepared from scratch, served in small quantities, with decorative,
elegant finish. “The most people like is my plum galette and almond croissant.
I make my own jams and confitures. Whatever I can I prepare on the premises,” Kobi,
who is always in a pastry chef apron attire, tells me.
Kobi’s Tarte Tatin
Kobi’s Savories
Looking back, after
four years since he opened his restaurant, Kobi smiles. “If someone tells you
NO, simply walk away.” “Why?” I asked. “Because people told me it is impossible
so many times and I went after what I wanted to accomplish nonetheless. For
example, the immigration lawyer told me that it will be easier to be struck by
lightning than to get the permanent residence ‘green card’. I did not listen
and search for the lawyer who will tell me no problem and I found him. People
told me not to open a restaurant, no one wanted to be my partner but I was
adamant and I have done it single handed.”
“What message do you
have for the readers, for the world?” I asked.
“Do what you can at
the moment even though you know you can do so much more.”
“What do you mean?” I
asked.
“My restaurant is tiny
and thus has its limitation. I only use 10% of my talent and culinary knowledge
here. Sometimes I look at my patrons and I feel bad as I know I can and I wish
I could offer them so much more.” But Kobi needs not to worry; the restraints are
definitely complimented by the lovely taste and the ambience experience, which
will grow on you just as it grew on me.
A look inside the restaurant
While I was getting
ready to leave, a patron sitting at the table next to me approached me saying,
“You have a fabulous restaurant and the food is delicious.” I guess she thought
I was the proprietor, never mind, she was right.
To many patrons Tarte
Tatin reminds a café in a trendy street in Israel. It is kind of little fashionable
Israel in Beverly Hills.
They say the American
dream is NO longer available?! Remember, Kobi tells you to walk away when
people tell you ‘NO’.
Go experience Tarte
Tatin; you may like it just as much as I and so many others do.
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