An Israeli food court, complete with entertainment and attractions, was held in St. Petersburg this past September with 3,000 people in attendance. Five Israeli restaurants in the city participated in the event, including the kosher restaurant in the Grand Choral Synagogue. The restaurants assembled food kiosks and sold their wares throughout the day. As part of the event, the Israeli Consulate, led by Dr. Uri Resnick, Consul General of Israel in St. Petersburg, organized a private tasting session for culinary journalists, an Israeli music DJ, a masterclass on falafel making by celebrity chef Ilya Lazerson, the popular YouTube presenter and TV cooking show host, a roundtable meeting with the chefs of the restaurants, sponsored by the Sabaka lifestyle magazine, singer Irina Paul singing Hebrew songs, and plenty of falafel, hummus, tahini, baba ghanoush and more. One of the restaurateurs who participated in the event was Antonio Freza, an Israeli-Italian chef and a local celebrity, owner of the Saviv market-style restaurant.
The event was the first of a series of planned culinary activities. The Israeli Consulate created a logo for the Israeli kitchen that accompanied all the activities – a picture of a falafel and pita with the Russian words “Kokhnia Izraelia”.
All told, three events were held – the Israeli Food Court on September 9, a hummus competition in collaboration with Sabaka Magazine on October 27, and the launch of Israeli Kitchen Month in conjunction with the Chaliapin Restaurant on November 29, marking the date on which the UN adopted UN General Assembly Resolution 181, the Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947, which was a key step to renewed Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel.
On November 29, 1947, the Soviet Union joined 32 countries in voting for UN General Assembly Resolution 181. In honor of the 75th anniversary of the adoption of UN Resolution 181, Consul General of Israel in St. Petersburg, Dr. Uri Resnick and businessman Leonid Notkin gathered representatives of the city authorities, diplomats and friends from the world of culture and economics in the Chaliapin country restaurant. The evening served as a teaser for the upcoming 75th anniversary celebration of Israel’s Independence Day in 2023.
Guests of the restaurant, which included the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Vladimir Zapevalov, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Government Evgeny Grigoriev, Vice Speaker of the City Parliament Marina Shishkina, Chief Rabbi of St. Petersburg Menachem Mendl Pevzner, businessman Boris Belotserkovsky, rector of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts Semen Mikhailovsky, restaurateur Antonio Freza and many others sampled the dishes of the Israeli seasonal menu, prepared by chef Lyudmila Gornostaleva. They also viewed two exhibitions, one of which told the story of the expulsion of Jewish communities from Arab territories after Israel gained independence, and the other about the revival of Hebrew by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, a native of Tsarist Russia.
Addressing the guests that evening, Consul General of Israel, Dr. Uri Resnick, quoted the words of the Jewish writer Sholom Aleichem, saying, “Nothing begets friendship like trouble” and expressed gratitude to Russia (known in 1947 as the USSR) for supporting Israel at such a critical moment.