Safe restaurants

In which city on earth is the safety of a restaurant a major factor when
choosing to eat out. The answer is, of course, Jerusalem. I am lucky,
because I get to spend "next week in Jerusalem," since I travel to Jerusalem
every week for my job as Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University, and I
stay overnight to reduce travel time. So safety is a major factor for me in
choosing where to eat out every week when I'm there. After two years of
this arrangement it could be said that I have amassed a specialized
knowledge of where to eat out safely in Jerusalem.
Ordinarily I do not write restaurant guides, but I thought that this would
be a break from the usual heavy political stuff. Herewith are some of my
favorite restaurants:
My favorite restaurant is "Ima." This is a grill, specializing in shashlik
and shnitzel, both Israeli favorites. Not only is it kosher, but it is
reasonable and very popular. But, it is out of the center of the city. It
is located in an old building that has incredibly thick walls, must be
medieval, right on the corner of Ben Zvi and Agrippas Streets at what is
called New York Square, where there is a small metal copy of the Statue of
Liberty at the junction. It also has a good guard, usually the same man,
who always locks the door after you enter.
Another favorite is the Botanic Gardens restaurant that not surprisingly is
located at the entrance of the Botanic Gardens on the Hebrew University
campus at Givat Ram. However, the campus is so big that it is right at the
end of Rehov Burla at the opposite end from the main University entrance.
The reason this is very safe is that it is so isolated. You park in the
Botanic Gardens parking lot and then walk for a few minutes up a path
leading to a nice lake and beautiful scenery. This is an Italian
restaurant, and they make great minestrone.
Another relatively safe restaurant is "b'sograim" or in English "in
parenthesis." This is located in a grand old house in the middle of
Usishkin Street, near Rehavia. The neighborhood is quiet and uncrowded and
the entrance is approached from a side street and around to the front. They
specialize in soups, and it has a nice European atmosphere, having been a
diplomat's residence.
The restaurant named "Montefiore," after the Jewish British aristocrat, is
located just below the windmill named after him, that he established above
Mishkenot Sha'ananim, which was the first building to be built outside the
walls of the old city of Jerusalem in the 1850's. It is approached by car
from the junction opposite the Inbal Hotel and down the slope. The
restaurant has a balcony and one can see views of the Old City walls, the
Abbey of the Dormition and David's Tower. This restaurant is part of the
Adenauer Conference Center and serves only dairy meals. It is located at
the end of the neighborhood of Yemin Moshe that was the first developed
outside the walls of the Old City. Practically all of Western Jerusalem
grew out of settlement by Jews over the past 150 years. But, then in the
1850s Los Angeles was a small Mexican village.
At the other end of Yemin Moshe is another difficult to find and fairly
isolated restaurant, in the building of the Zionist Confederation, called
"Te'enim" or "Figs." It is just across the valley from the Jaffa Gate and
has a magnificent view of the Old City, although only from a few windows.
It is approached by driving down a small alley (Rehov Emile Botta) next to
the King David Hotel. There is a sign pointing to the "Confederation
Building" down a small path to the right, and further down the road a
parking lot behind the building. It specializes in trendy salads and
vegetarian dishes.
All of these restaurants are relatively safe because they are quite isolated
and the terrorists tend to go for crowded and busy places with many
pedestrians. Also, all of them have guards, who seem to be more or less
effective. But, I use the word "relatively" because in reality no place is
really safe in Jerusalem, particularly until they finish the Security Fence
around the City. Bon appetit, b'tay avon.