As I have written earlier on these pages, as recently as twenty years ago the most charitable thing one could say about dining out in Israel was that the hotels and kibbutzim served excellent breakfasts. Happily, those bad-old-days are gone forever. On Sunday, 14 October 2001, partly in honor of the visit of Noel Levy, the managing director of Direx in Geneva (for those not in the know, Direx is one of the world's best and most influential distributors of Cuban cigars), a cigar dinner was held at Rafi Adar's fine Italian restaurant, "Pronto". The dinner, sponsored jointly by Pronto (which is about to celebrate the 13th anniversary since it opened) and Chevrat Ha Kerem, the local importer of Cuban cigars as well as one of the country's leading wine importers, was, to put it mildly a rousing success.

Following an opening cigar, a small San Cristobal de La Havana, intentionally selected for its smooth and mild flavors (yes, by heaven, you could really feel fruits and oak in the cigar), our degustation meal opened with a platter of varied antipasti. Zucchini flowers with pecorino cheese and grilled anchovies, bruschetta with salmon and olive oil, and fresh buffalo mozzarella on fried eggplant were all prepared meticulously and the wine was the white Barthenau of Alto Adige producer Hofstatter. Each of the antipasti, served in a generous bite-sized portion tantalized and the flavors of the wine, the cigar that had just been smoked and the dishes came together splendidly. From here it was on to a perfect single large ravioli filed with lobster meat spooned over with a well made and just peppery enough crab sauce, and then on to a soup of mussels. The soup, in a stock of root vegetables so gentle that one had the pleasure of seeking out flavors, was lovely and a perfect match to either the white with which we had opened or to the medium bodied red Vino Nobile di Montepulciano of Tuscan producer La Braccesca that was then offered.

As good as everything had been, the best was yet to come. After a short break for a medium bodied Partagas Series D No 4 cigar we went on to a light pasta courses. Served with an intentionally light sauce, the sauce and the still lingering flavors of the cigar were accented beautifully by the addition of generous amounts of Piedmont truffles that had been scraped and tossed with the pasta. After this, a saltimboca lived up to its name (which implies that the dish is tasty enough to "jump into the mouth"); and a superb closing ossobuco that was served with equally exciting porcini rich rissoto. That Adar had chosen to jump back and forth from the flavors of Tuscany to those of Sorrento and even further south in Italy was a treat and the 1994 Barolo of Prunotto that was served made an exquisite foil for each of these dishes.

There were desserts, but by now my palate was so full of enchanting flavors that I choose to say my adieus and made my way home to a very strong coffee and there to enjoy the third cigar that had been offered, a freshly rolled Torpedo made on the spot for the guests by a Cuban cigar maker.

Believe me please - after dining this well, no one need ever apologize again for Israeli cuisine!

© Daniel Rogov