Tel Aviv Hot Spot: The Hoodna

I'm as surprised as you are that I'm writing up the Hoodna (הודנא), since, at this point, I think it's a well known Tel Aviv attraction of sorts. But, since it was my neighborhood Tel Aviv bar for over a year, and the first bar I ever sipped a beer at in Tel Aviv, I have to pay tribute.

Otto Bar on Rabin Square: New Tel Aviv Hot Spot!

Surprisingly stylish and well designed, Tel Aviv's Otto Bar (אוטו בר), or Otto 76, is a great place to grab a well-made drink with a lady-friend or pick up a billiards game with the dudes. The owners couldn't have picked a better location. The place is smack-dab across from Rabin Square at 76 Even Gvirol- the center of the white city near some of the hippest, coolest Tel Aviv restaurants and pubs.

Don't be surprised if you pass by the entrance several times on your first trip there. First off, I was certain the place was called "Auto Bar" and when I tried to look up the address, I didn't understand why there was nothing on the internet about this place. Then, once I figured out that "Auto Bar" was really "Otto bar" and I jotted the address down, I still had trouble finding it. The bar is hard to catch, being that there is no real door. The face of the opening corridor looks like a storage unit filled with crates of beers, and unless you know what you're looking for, you might have to do a double take.

The Entrance to Auto Bar, 76 Even Gvirol

The relatively new Otto Bar can be plagued with long lines, since that is the way of hot new Tel Aviv bars, but if you make it there during the week, you should have no problem waltzing right in. Passing the hostess, one enters the dimly lit storage unit and follows the music down a short flight of stairs. The stairs open up to a vestibule lined with light wood-paneled walls and glass windows. Behind the glass more aesthetically stacked beer crates, wine glasses, wine bottles and kegs sit peaking through iron metal fencing.

Walk through two swinging wooden doors to enter and you have a view of the entire bar before you. The bar is low and very central, taking up most of the floor space as typical Tel Aviv pick-up bars do. But this isn't a pick-up bar. Well, not completely.

The Bar.  

While the seating is tight and the bar area can get packed, there are some benches and booth-like seating off to the sides near the billiard tables. These are good for groups of friends, or simply side make-out sessions. But, their bar tenders are unbelievably good looking, so I recommend trying to get their early to stake out a seat at the bar.

High-quality beer appreciation culture is also taking hold of this Mediterranean city and Otto Bar caters to the beer lover without question. They have an extensive beer list in addition to their wine, champaign/kava and cocktail lists which I personally appreciate being a sel-proclaimed beer-o-phile. Apparently their prices are a bit steep (their 1/2 liters (Chetzis or חצאים are 400ml) but I don't expect any less from a hip new place like this.

Pretty wine.  Pretty cups. Pretty wood.

People, you can't find Sam Adams in most Israeli Bars- bug Otto Bar has got crates of it!

What makes the Otto Bar even more attractive is its fantastic decor. I do have to give them kudos on that. The Otto Bar has classy and warmly lacquered wooden paneling to give it a cozier, classier ambiance, while the walls are a rustic stone giving it a touch of "we're having a party in the basement" kinda feel. The seats are upholstered in dark brown leather (or faux leather) with those buttons that make the seats look like grandpa chairs from the 1940s and all supporting columns are tastefully tiled in black and white. If they had a piano and a lounge singer, it would bring the decor together. But they don't.

The music is good, though it isn't too unique. Lost of interesting 80s music like Squeeze, early Depeche Mode, Brian Ferry and the Police mixed in with some pop music of the 90s and Indie Rock of today. They are nice background tunes that make it easy to mix and mingle, but they don't make you want to get up and bust a move.

Overall, I'd say Otto 76 draws a crowd that ranges from their md 20s to late 30s which keeps the scene tame and charming and dress-code-free. I showed up in a tank top, jeans and sneakers, but I was eying a number of other women in tight mini dresses and stilettos.

Billiars.  Otherwise known as Snooker.

I'm crap at playing, but I must say, I always enjoy it.

Tacuma, Hagar and I smilin' it up. 

Tel Aviv Hot Spot: Is Ha Tachanah a Tourist Trap or a Nicety?

I have to write about "HaTachanah" (התחנה- the station) not only because I just visited the finished site for the first time this past week, but also because that same week both Haaretz and the NY Times did a piece covering the newly renovated station.

HaTachana is the old Jaffa railroad station which had fallen into disuse and disrepair.  When I first moved to Tel Aviv in 2007, I didn't even know the thing existed. It was all boarded up and hidden from view.  Little did I know that it was undergoing a massive restoration which the Tel Aviv municipality had approved in their effort to connect Jaffa and Tel Aviv.

Photo from nytimes.com- The old Jaffa Station

The original station was built in 1892 for a line that ran from Jaffa to Jerusalem and operated until the founding of the state in 1948 when it was basically abandoned. It was actually the first railway line built in the area between Turkey and Egypt and the first advanced long-distance transportation method, replacing what had for centuries been the camel!

It's really too bad that the Jaffa-Jerusalem line no longer exists.  Would you believe that the state is still in the process of building a straight rail line from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv?1  How long is this gonna take, people!

My whining aside, "Hatachanah" first showed its new face in 2009 as the host of "Wet Paint" or "Fresh Paint" (צבע טרי), the annual Tel Aviv contemporary art fair that features dozens of local galleries and emerging Israeli Artists.  The 2009 exhibit was beautiful and really showcased the vast potential of the new space.

One year later and the Tachanah's restored buildings are filled with bookshops, cafes, restaurants, jewelry stores and boutiques.  There's a chic outdoor Tapas bar called "Viky.Christina", a cute pub called "Shushka Shvili" and a number of what they call "Concept" gift shops with cool Israeli chatchkis that range from arty coasters to designer t-shirts.

On Friday mornings there's an organic market, "Orbanic", from 8:00am till 2:00pm, Thursday evenings feature the cool designer fair, "Unique", with art, crafts and sophisticated design products accompanied by live music and DJs, and each month there is a featured art exhibit that costs only 15 shekels (about 4 dollars)  for admission.

Photo by Doron Saar of the NY Times - Friday Morning Organic Market

Anthony Grant writes in his August 6th Wanderlust NYTimes Magazine column that a visit to "Hatachanah" is "... like being on the fast track to Tel Aviv’s new-school cool." 


He argues that with the  "...upscale jumble of refurbished rail cars, freight terminals and train tracks to nowhere (and how’s a bit of defunct British air base for an extra shot of atmosphere?), HaTachana raises Tel Aviv’s style bar."


But Haaretz.com's Esther Zandberg is not as impressed. She titled her piece on the new station, "Tel Aviv's first tourist trap."  According to Zandberg, the renovated station is a theme-park style, albeit successful, tourist trap engineered to "part tourists from their money".  She uses words like "forgery", "preservation overload" to describe the new Station and seems to view with great spite any form of "commercialization" or "development".

I'm just going to have to go ahead and disagree with her.

To begin with, Tel Aviv has had a number of terrible tourist traps. This is certainly not the first.  The northern port is one of the most notorious with a brightly-lit view of the sea luring unknowing visitors to expensive restaurants that serve American, French and pretty much all non-Israeli cuisine, and shops like Puma and Diesel that aren't much different than what you can find in the states.

HaTachanah is something different.  The boutiques are local, the place is small, and the buildings aren't massive hangars with no character.  The evening fairs are fun, warm and family-oriented.  There is no gaudy clubs or over-done decor.  Everything is surprisingly tasteful. There is something nice and quaint about the restoration, even though Ms. Zandberg writes it off when she laments (using completely improper English grammar) the fact that,  "Marketed as a historic site, what remains are prehistoric background props."

Photo By Doron Saar of the NY Times - Entranceway of Hatachanah

I have to say, I'm all for tourism in Tel Aviv, especially if this is what the traps look like. Although, the way I see it, the new Tachanah is really a trap for Tel Avivians who want a to spend a nice warm summer night strolling with friends or family in an old-train station turned cool hang out.

Ms. Zandberg does have one thing right: this renewal project doesn't exactly fulfill the cities hopes of connecting Jaffa and Tel Aviv. I mean, I don't think that there is one product sold in any of "Hatachanah"'s stores or boutiques, aside from beer and coffee, that I can actually afford to buy. It is an all out Western feel- total Western-chic, and I can't imagine your average Jaffa-dwelling Arab taking his family for a stroll around the area.  However, tt certainly brings northern Tel Avivians south and entices tourists to wander towards Jaffa.  I can't imagine anyone in Jaffa has a problem taking tourists' money, or anyone's money for that matter.

All in all, I think that Zandberg should take the stick out of her butt and start enjoying life.  Hatachanah isn't an "illusion" nor does it have a "synthetic feel".  It's just new and, well, not in poor taste - nor is it falling apart like so many of the run down buildings around town.  I really don't think it's claiming to be anything but a nice, hip outdoor shopping area for families and young folk.  And it does a good job at being just that.

Photo from http://braids-and-bows.blogspot.com On the tracks of Hatachanah

Another beautiful shot by braidsandbows.  Check out their gorgeous blog! 

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