Tel Aviv Vibes: Inside Rice Village’s Brightly Modern New Hamsa

Kirsten Gilliam
Tel Aviv Vibes: Inside Rice Village’s Brightly Modern New Hamsa

Grilled branzino

When it’s hot, you crave lighter fare, served in a breezy environment. Nothing too rich but humming instead with bright flavors and healthfulness. So modern Hamsa in Rice Village, a lovely modern setup with a hip soundtrack of Tel Aviv pop, is right on time this summer. Emanating from the Israeli masterminds of Doris Metropolitan steakhouse and Badolina bakery, it joins an exciting foodie scene emerging in the neighborhood also home to year-old Gratify, the beloved and newly expanded Sweet Paris Creperie & Café and, coming soon, Navy Blue from Aaron Bludorn and wife Victoria Pappas.


Lovers of Middle Eastern cuisine will find many of the gastronomic touchstones they expect on Hamsa chefs Sash Kurgan and Yotam Dolev’s compact menu — hummus, skewers — but with twists. Hummus, for example, may come Shakshuka-style, topped with an egg soft-poached in spicy tomato sauce. Or, then again, it may arrive piled with caramelized onions, pine nuts and cubes of roasted lamb. Other shareable starters include beef tartare with pomegranates, runny egg yolk and aioli — and the utterly guiltless cauliflower couscous with cranberries and almonds offered up on a plate lined with creamy, tangier-than-yogurt labneh.

Mains include the most appealing chicken shawarma ever — chunks of juicy chicken thighs cooked in lamb fat, which you mix with pickled veggies and tahini and stuff into fluffy fresh-baked pita — and grilled branzino, which is butterflied, grilled till the skin is crispy and delicious, and served atop a snappy, sweetly herbaceous fennel salad. Desserts are beautiful, as in the pink-hued, architectural, lightly rosewater-infused Basboosa Malabi cake, and the grilled pear served in a cardamom-scented syrup made from its own cooking liquids.

Basboosa Malabi cake

The bar

Falafel

Flatbread

Gin and Tonic

Shakshuka Hummus

Food

I AM AN accomplished philanthropist, esteemed motivational speaker, renowned fitness expert, and host of an engaging podcast UNHINGED. Through my diversified endeavors, I have established several successful ventures, including TR Beauty and The Vault, a private community catering to like-minded people. Additionally, I am the founder of Houston Style Icons, a platform dedicated to honoring and acknowledging Houstonian style, and Fashion Woodlands, an annual fashion show that I have meticulously curated. Furthermore, I actively engage with my audience through my YouTube channel, providing valuable content and insights.

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BRIAN BOYTER IS a Houston native with an interesting background in real estate. After an impressive 16-year tenure managing commercial transactions in a Fortune 500 Real Estate Investment Trust, he recently made the shift to high-end residential brokerage. The experience left him uniquely suited to thrive in the sometimes-emotional world of buying or selling a home.

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