Valero

About

by Sybil Kaplan Valero – Agrippas 80 Phone: 02 546 5650 Hours: Sunday through Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. to 22 midnight Thursday – 6:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday – closed Saturday evening – 1 hour after Shabbat ends until 12 midnight Kashrut: Rabbanut Yerushalayim; meat- chalak Yaron and Eti Jospe have owned several franchises of Pizza Hut in Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel, but one day they decided, “we wanted to take a restaurant to a higher level, to fine dining. We wanted to be more creative and since we like to host, we wanted to host you in our living room,” explains Yaron. When you walk through the doors of Valero, you notice every window is an arch, and the tiered crystal chandelier is over your head. The U-shaped restaurant is retro but modern design. In the room to your right, you are drawn to the enormous photograph of an Egyptian belly dancer with a black and white tile floor. Then you realize you are walking on a replica of that floor. Besides the framed photograph, there is rose-patterned wallpaper and mirrors on one wall. Some of the windows, which overlook Agrippas, are covered with off-white curtains; others have black curtains. Returning to the entryway, as you walk through, to your right is a private room to seat 10, with mirrors on the wall. On your left in the back is a bar with an extensive array of liquors; bar stools seat 12 in front of a black marble counter. A window to the kitchen is opposite the bar where 20-year-old chef-in-training Yovel Vaknin is working. Born to Moroccan parents, he recalls he liked the kitchen when he was a child and started studying food at the age of 13. Although he is still in the army, he comes here each day after their training. “The kitchen is the number one focus of my life,” he says. Working with the owners on menus and dishes, he says they mix Israeli food with French and Moroccan. What about the restaurant name? It’s genuine Jerusalem history! Haim Valero was a 19-20th century banker which he inherited from his fat