July 3, 2026 Categories: In Print / Restaurant Review
Whatever You Crave
Crave Restaurant – Gourmet Street Food Crave, Munch, Repeat American, Bar, Israeli Kashrut - Rabbanut Yerushalayim, Kashrut Mehuderet HaShikma 1 Machane Yehuda Market Jerusalem https://www.crave.co.il/
Many years ago, when friends were visiting from Canada, the husband told me they were going to the Malcha Mall. I said, “What do you want to go to a mall for?” He said, “Are you kidding, the girls want to eat at a kosher McDonalds. They’ve been waiting for this.” Kosher McDonalds, Domino’s Pizza, or any of the American franchises can only be found in Israel. And, yes, kosher tourists wait for the chance to try these famous chains’ kosher branches. And then there’s Crave, which goes even one better. Talmud Chullin daf 109 says that for everything that is prohibited there is a permitted substitute. For example, you’re not allowed to eat pork or meat with milk but you are allowed to eat something that tastes like them. It’s not the pleasure of the taste that you’re forbidden, it’s the thing itself. That’s why we’re allowed to eat milk substitutes with meat and meat substitutes with milk and Bacos and fake shrimp. According to Kabbalah, every month has its own tikkun, and the tikkun for Shevat is eating. And what better tikkun for someone who hasn’t always kept kosher to eating faux non-kosher food with a hechsher? Crave is a Jerusalem restaurant that specializes in these foods, allowing its patrons to enjoy these substitutes in a permissible and delicious way. Crave opened in November of 2016, and is located in a narrow street astride the Machane Yehuda market. It was established by four men – Tzvi Muller, James Oppenheim, Todd Aarons and Yoni Van-Leeuwen, all Anglo-Israelis, two of them from Los Angeles, who wanted to recreate the non-kosher Los Angeles gourmet Street Food they had grown up enjoying. The four partners eventually all went their separate culinary ways, and the remaining owner Yoni Van-Leeuwen, a former lawyer, has turned it into a family business with his wife, a nephew, a son-in-law and four of his eight children working there. His wife is Ricka Razel, sister of Yonatan Razel and Aharon Razel, and a singer in her own right. The Razels and Van-Leeuwens are both Dutch American families who made aliyah and everyone is fluent in English. The restaurant also helps build families with a phenomenon called Crave Couples. Four couples, to-date, including Van-Leeuwen’s daughter Michal Wigman, who manages the restaurant met their spouses while working at Crave. Michal’s husband, David Wigman, is the current chef.
