Kalo

About

Our Neighborhood Cafe- Kalo by Sybil Kaplan Photographs by Barry A, Kaplan Sunday through Thursday-- 7:30 a.m. to 12 midnight Friday-- 7:30 a.m. to approximately 4:30 p.m. Saturday evening-- 1 hour after Shabbat ends to 12 midnight 31 Derech Bet Lechem Phone 02 673-6365 Email-- [email protected] Kosher- Rabbanut Jerusalem It's warm and intimate, friendly, with a slightly European feeling, and the decor is definitely eclectic! It was a family affair when Yaacov ben Elul, nicknamed "Kalo" (meaning light foot) took his years of experience as a bar tender and restaurant worker and opened his own cafe in 1998. His wife, Tami, and his sister, Rachel, created the now extensive menu and Rachel (who trained as an engineer and then had worked in restaurants), became chef. The restaurant Kalo is busy and popular all of the time--day and night--although it likes to focus on breakfast served all day, brunch and lunch. Passing by, on busy Derech Bet Lechem, there are always people sitting under the umbrellas at the tables and chairs with the attractive tablecloths, or, on one of the bar stools looking inside to the bar. The tables outside seat about 30. Inside the first room, of the more than 90-year-old house, there are wood tables to seat 25 and walls covered with antiques. Walk up one step to the bar area with a pastry cabinet and bar stools for 5 and tables for 10. Contuinue up some steps to a room with seats for 10. The back, curtained windows overlook the garden; antiques are on the window sills. Scattered around the entire cafe are pictures, soda siphon bottles, brass candlesticks, brown glass bottles, brass coffee pots and more. Off to the side of this room is the kitchen. The floors throughout are tiles Kalo found in a garage, cleaned and laid in his own design. Rachel and Tami have made the menu an amazing array of creative, original dishes. For breakfast, there are 10 choices, five are large and available for one (NIS 56-61) or double for two people (NIS 99 and 110). S