"Yond Cohen has a lean and hungry look…"

California Oasis in the Middle East

I'm having lunch at the Mexicana on Bograshov Street around the corner from our apartment. I shouldn't be surprised by the existence of a Mexican restaurant in Tel Aviv—there several—but I am.

The food is as authentic as could be expected in a country bereft of limes and anchovies, making their caesar salad odd but tasty. Owned by two California women, the restaurant felt like a little bit of home, a friendly California oasis in the Middle East.