Cafe Levinksy 41

Levinsky Market has always been an eclectic area full of little stores offering spices, specialty cheese, nuts, dried fruits, and olives. An abundance of bright colors, aromas, and flavors capture any pedestrians’ attention, and yet the white 1975 Susita Gilboa filled with baskets of pineapple sage, mint, lavender, rosemary and heaps of other locally foraged herbs is bound to get noticed. Next to the car sits a small kiosk filled with jar after jar of fermented drinks, homemade liqueurs, and pickled vegetables and on any given day behind the bar stands the bright faced, moustached owner, Benny Briga, pouring one of his many devoted customers a tailor made soda drink mixed with a variety of herbs, jams and spices. As customers approach his kiosk to look for a refreshing beverage, Briga gets to work like a mad scientist to create a beverage that provides a sensory pleasure or relieves a number of aches and ailments. Briga, a twenty year veteran of the Tel Aviv restaurant industry, learned about food through his Libyan and Turkish roots. He began his small kiosk serving coffee and later decided to bring his passion for gardening, foraging and fermentation into the local culture of sparkling soda drinks. Benny’s approach to his beverages is based on his passion for understanding the cycles of fruits, vegetables, fungi and herbs, therefore he creates drinks that are both beneficial and beautiful. Along with beverages, Benny uses his knowledge of food to create a number of homemade delicacies which include marzipan, lemon bars, and artisanal sandwiches filled with homemade preserved lemons and fresh vegetables. Whether you opt for one of Benny’s special soda drinks, or pick up a little sweet delight it’s doesn’t take long to realize that despite all the magic and rare objects that surround him, nothing is more special than the owner himself, that this little, playful gem in the city, is the manifestation of a man who lets his imagination and creativity run wild.