At the location of the iconic restaurant: Zoti is the most expensive restaurant in Tel Aviv
The Jerusalem group that took over the location of Topolopompo continues to expand and is opening Zoti, a grandiose restaurant with an investment of millions in the space where Herbert Samuel once operated. Zoti continues the group's 'dine and party' concept, with a DJ playing every evening, a Mediterranean menu, and pricing that can be defined as absurd.
They started their journey in the nightlife of Jerusalem, opened two chef restaurants there, broke into Tel Aviv with ALALI, a kosher chef-restaurant-club that settled on the ruins of Topolopompo, and now the group of Jerusalem childhood friends continues to expand in Tel Aviv with a particularly dramatic project. Meet Zoti, a super-invested, stylish, and insanely expensive restaurant that opened in the space where the legendary Herbert Samuel restaurant of chef Yonatan Roshfeld once operated.
How did a group of childhood friends from Jerusalem, all under 30, manage to open two grandiose restaurants in Tel Aviv in less than two years? We have no explanation, but they are probably doing something right. The concept the group runs with is 'Dine and Party': restaurants that combine a chef's meal with a club experience. There are already quite a few of these, all of them kosher and very expensive. In 2024, the Jerusalem group took the space where the Asian restaurant Topolopompo of chef Avi Conforti had operated for a decade and turned it into ALALI, and now they are doing it with Zoti.
Before we discuss the menu and prices, we will address the location. The huge space (600 sqm) that housed for 9 years what was considered one of the best chef restaurants in the country and redefined 'fine dining', received a non-standard design. The inspiration here is Miami and Dubai, something between Petra and the Wild West, a grandiose and blatantly immodest style that corresponds perfectly with the concept. The open kitchen on the top floor overlooks the sea. There is valet service, personal towels in the restrooms, and a dedicated clothing collection for the staff in collaboration with a fashion company. Every evening, the service is accompanied by a DJ, and the decibels rise as the evening progresses.
Chef Daniel Marciano, who is also one of the partners in the place, is responsible for the Zoti kitchen. He built a menu that is Mediterranean at its base, but one that draws from techniques and raw materials from different kitchens, with some of the dishes telling the group's Jerusalem story. The prices are among the highest we have seen. Appetizers cost between 36 shekels (for a plate of spicy items) and 168 shekels (for foie gras gyoza). Beef tartare costs 112 shekels, red tuna tartlet costs 98 shekels. The prices of the first courses range from 82 shekels (for a chicken heart skewer) and climb up to 298 shekels for a raw fish platter. In between, there is a cucumber salad (86 shekels), veal sweetbreads (172 shekels), and hamusa ravioli (112 shekels).
In the main courses, you will find sea bass fettuccine (168 shekels), beef fillet (268 shekels), lamb chops (348 shekels), foie gras medallion (136 shekels), sirloin steak (198 shekels), and there is also Nebraska prime rib (92 shekels per 100 grams). The desserts continue the trend: American ice cream costs 76 shekels, profiterole costs 84 shekels, mille-feuille costs 86 shekels, and the Zoti dessert, a chocolate sphere filled with chocolate mousse and hazelnut patissier, costs 154 shekels. In today's world, where restaurateurs are shrinking portions to lower prices, offering happy hours with 40% discounts and affordable couple meals — these are prices that are almost inconceivable. The cocktails cost over 70 shekels.
There is no doubt that this is one of the most beautiful and invested restaurants opened in Tel Aviv. It is a grandiose project that does not try to broadcast something everyday, but is exactly the type of restaurant you come to once a year for a landmark event to feel on top of the world. The exact opposite of a bistro and brasserie, as far as possible from wine bars, Italian Mediterranean restaurants, and pan-Asian restaurants that have been opening here in recent years. The expensive food is served elegantly, the place looks like a fairy tale, so the bill is accordingly. Anyone who wants to feel in Dubai for two hours, on some expensive and prestigious rooftop minus the price of the flight ticket, will find exactly that at Zoti.
Address: Koifman 6, Tel Aviv. Sunday-Thursday from 17:00, Saturday from 20:00 to 24:00. Kosher.
