A Galilee Bistro Where Desserts Are Art and Workshops Hold Treasures
In the community of Shekhaniya in the Western Galilee, a creative hub offers a unique experience: from seasonal Galilean cuisine and homemade liqueurs to artisan guitar making and design workshops.
In Shekhaniya, a small community settlement in the Misgav region of the Western Galilee, everything is close by. You can easily move from a bistro to a studio, from a guitar workshop to a photography studio, or to a room where homemade liqueurs are fermented.
10:00 | Culinary Highlights
We started our morning at the Bistro Bakery, located on the blooming edge of the Shekhaniya creators' complex. The place belongs to Lotem Deri, a pastry chef who moved from Karmiel in search of quiet and inspiration. Deri prepares only what he loves to eat, resulting in an Israeli-Galilean kitchen deeply connected to the season and local raw materials.
Our table was soon filled with a fan of colors and flavors: a crimson shakshuka with charred eggplant and za'atar, Shoshana's kubaneh with green garlic butter, tahini and apricot jam, spinach and chard blintzes, and a quinoa salad with labneh and almonds. Two dishes truly stole the show: fried grape leaves bursting with round rice and delicate seasoning, and sun-colored squash caramelized in maple syrup, which exploded in the mouth with a surprising range of flavors.
For dessert, we enjoyed an intense Valrhona chocolate cake with a lava-like filling, and a mango and rice dish—a tribute to the Thai mango sticky rice.
12:00 | Judy Pinko Studio: A World of Art
Just two steps away, Judy Pinko was waiting for us. For 30 years, she dreamed of her own studio, while her creations piled up in her home's safe room (MAMAD). Just two weeks before October 7th, she received the keys to her dream space. Reality disrupted her plans, but the place became an anchor for her during this period.
Walking through the studio feels like a dream, surrounded by vintage items and abstract works. In the workshop, we were invited to simply play with tools: boxes full of notes, inspiration books, an emotion dictionary, paints, brushes, and even perfume for fragrant inspiration. Every few minutes, Judy pulls out another drawer, revealing another little treasure, and we sit down to cut, paste, and suppress the troubles of the present.
14:00 | Bessudo Guitars: A Dream Laboratory
On the top floor of the adjacent building, Oren Bessudo, a high-tech worker and bassist, welcomes us. 20 years ago, he decided to become a luthier. Today, his atelier looks like a cross between a carpentry shop and a dream laboratory. Beams of maple, mahogany, African walnut, and ash wait to become guitars that someone has imagined for years. Whether it's a Ford Mustang-shaped body or a guitar featuring a Metallica pick, each instrument is built with endless patience and love.
15:00 | Asaf Ronen's Liqueur Laboratory
Oren shares the atelier with his friend Asaf Ronen. What started as his father's hobby in Emek Hefer has turned into a small laboratory of flavors. Today, Ronen balances his work as a commercial photographer with fermenting liqueurs from every fresh fruit growing in his surroundings: lychee, strawberry, cherry, feijoa, Isabella grapes, pineapple, and peach. Each drink tells a story about the season and the person who created it.
16:00 | Yoya Design: The Joy of Creation
"Bari, turn on the oven, you have guests," whistles Asaf to his friend, who is busy preparing for a workshop. By day, Bari is an industrial designer; by evening, he "has fun" with wood, iron, and fire. His workshop hosts classes on wood carving, welding, blacksmithing, and crafting chef knives. Amidst the welding sparks and the scent of fresh wood, it is hard not to be infected by the enthusiasm of someone who believes that in the age of screens, there is no substitute for the satisfaction of creating a real object with your own hands.
