Welcome to Haifa’s Downtown COFFEE MAKERS & BAKERS tour
Now that you have received the tasting card and the gift bag, we are ready to go...
Here you can read interesting stories about each place you will visit and taste along the way. The order of the stories shown corresponds to the order of the places we will visit, according to the map on the tour ticket, but this is only a recommendation order, and you can also tour independently, at your own pace in the order you choose.
Shall we begin? bon appétit!
It is clear to everyone why Cafe Palmer is considered one of the best coffee shops in the city - its location, menu, and of course, the fine coffee (that you will taste for yourself). The cafe is one of the first to open in the Haifa’s downtown, when its restoration began and it became a center for entertainment, nightlife and culture. Since it opened, it has become a regular meeting place. A home and an office for people around, for students, hi-techs, office workers in the area and of course the residents of the neighborhood and the surrounding area.
Cafe Palmer is one of the first cafes in Haifa to include dishes such as t BLT sandwich, blueberry muffins and banana bread on the menu. But the highlight of the place is, of course, the coffee. The coffee was carefully selected by the owner, after many tastings in roasteries, until he reached the exact taste he desired, and the rest is history. The regular customers of the coffee come here a lot, thanks to the signature taste of the coffee, which is already associated with the place.
- Breada bakery
Breada started out as a small and humble bakery, but today it’s already the most talked about bakery in the city, with three branches - on St. Ha-namal, St. El-Marine and Talpiot Market. Breada’s story begins somewhere with what is left of the mythical club "Hurva", (which became the "Kartel" club) and in the worlds of graffiti and street art.
The beginning of Breada started with Daniel, the owner, attempting to bake bread and sell it to friends and business owners in Haifa’s downtown and the surroundings. It continued as a small bread shop and over time grew into a thriving empire, becoming a touching Cinderella story of Haifa that is retold again and again!
From the best pretzel breads in the world to the incomparable mascarpone croissant, the constant line outside Breada testifies to the quality and taste that cannot be argued with. Also on the menu at Breada are handmade breads, sourdough breads made from wheat, oats, and rye alongside sweet pastries, brioches, rich challahs, focaccias, and more.
The motto of Breada is primarily... to do what you love! Baking, food, art, or music. You choose.
- Saro - Coffee Konditorei
The old residents of Haifa remember Saro in its previous incarnation "Spira Confectionary”, which operated for almost 70 years and closed in 2017. Spira was one of the first confectioneries in Haifa, and its regular customers enjoyed saberinas, cheesecakes and roulades, made in an authentic Austro-Hungarians style.
The place was bought by two brothers - Julian, the confectioner, and Christian, who’s in charge of managing and operating the place. Julian and Christian are sons of the Abu Shakara family, a well-known family in the culinary field in Haifa. Julian kept the European authenticity in the pastries, but upgraded the baking methods to modern methods, and added his own touch to it.
The coffee in the pastry shop comes straight from Austria - Julius Meinl, a coffee that has been roasted since 1860 in Vienna and is still considered one of the best in the world.
The confectionery is a Haifa pride, also in everything related to coexistence. When you arrive, you will hear all the languages, and feel the harmony in the air. During the Christmas time, the pastry shop is decorated in the holiday atmosphere and cakes and cookies are added to the showcase in the spirit of the holiday. Even on Israeli holidays you will find the most delicious traditional pastries.
- Electric bakery
The Patt family, a large and extensive family of bakers, immigrated to Israel from Poland in the early twenties. The family members dispersed throughout the country and established bakeries in Haifa, Jerusalem and in the center of the country. The Haifa bakery was called electric as an homage for the electricity that came in that time to Haifa, and with it, also an electric kneader (you know, for the bread). It was certainly an exciting innovation in those years in Haifa.
The bakery was a large and "sophisticated" bakery. Daddy Patt sold bread for about thirty years and in the fifties decided to close the bakery. Years later his grandson, Ofer, the man behind Electric bakery today, started baking bread at home as a hobby. The hobby kept growing, as Ofer says, until he decided to open the bakery in its new incarnation as a sourdough bread bakery. All the breads in the bakery are handmade, slowly rising and baked in a stone oven and do not contain yeast or industrial ingredients.
Honestly, would you believe this little place has been brewing coffee for fifty years? Neither do we. At Sammy Coffee you will find Ihab and his brother, the famous Sammy. The cafe was founded by their father, Faisal, fifty years ago. After years of Father Faisal working in the coffee field, he decided to set out on his own independent journey.
He understood that the beans are the basis for the perfect coffee experience. Therefore, he decided to travel around the world, visiting many coffee farms and testing countless beans, with the aim of putting together the perfect blend. He practiced his coffee skills for a decade, and only then opened Sammy Coffee.
Sammy Coffee’s coffee blend consists of coffee that comes from six countries, and it has remained exactly as it was then since the place was founded until today. Since 2018, Cafe Sami's coffee has represented Israel at food exhibitions around the world.
The strength of the coffee ranges from 1 to 10. When you taste the coffee, try to identify the strength of the coffee you are drinking. Let's see how close you are to being coffee experts.
- Knafeh De Lux
Meet Knafeh De Lux, the little sibling of Lux restaurant. Here you will find a gourmet Knafeh (yes, this thing exists). So even though it’s the little sibling of, it is still an high-demand place, in its own way.
Lux Restaurant was opened by chef Alaa Musa in 2018, after years of working in restaurants in Israel and abroad. After a while, the desserts at Lux restaurant gained their own spotlight. There were those who came from far away, just to taste the famous Knafeh. That’s when the chef realized that the Knafeh demands a space of its own, and that's how Knafeh De Lux was born.
The Knafeh is made from an Arabic cheese called Jibneh, and a pile of high-quality and tasty pistachios is placed on top. The Knafeh is prepared for you in an open kitchen, right in front of your eyes, with Turkish music playing in the background for good vibes. Today there is also a vegan Knafeh, with halva and pistachios.
- Leggenda
Affogato (in Italian: affogato - literally: "drowned") is in the range between a dessert and a drink. But what is important to know is that it comes from the Italian cuisine. So, who drowned? A scoop of vanilla ice cream of course, in a sea of hot espresso.
The affogato is eaten immediately, before the ice cream melts in the coffee. Over time, and after the ice cream has slowly melted, drink the remaining coffee, seasoned with the melted ice cream. You can say it is the perfect dessert because of the ideal combination between hot and cold, between sweet and bitter...
