It's several years now since I was last in the beautiful city of Barcelona, truly one of the most enjoyable cities I've had the pleasure of visiting. When discussing art and Barcelona in the same breath, it is somewhat inevitable that you think automatically of Gaudi, a man whose influence on the capital of Catalonia is almost everywhere. 

Although it's still a work in progress, his Sagrada Familia, the extraordinary cathedral that draws millions of visitors every year to marvel at the architecture and breathtaking beauty of the project, is something to behold. So too is the stunning Park Guell, up on the hillside overlooking the city, and the Gaudi designed buildings in the very heart of the city centre draw gaping admirers at all hours of the day.

For those not quite so enamored with Gaudi, many people trek half way around the world to experience a tremendous collection of works by Pablo Picasso at the Museu Picasso de Barcelona which is housed in the La Ribera Palace. I have to confess that Picasso had never particularly 'turned me on', his paintings often being a little too bizarre for my unrefined taste, until a visit to the museum, moving through his various periods of professional development was tremendously enlightening and most enjoyable. I found myself marveling at the quality of his earlier, more formal work, both as a painter and as a sculptor.

Now, you're probably wondering why on earth I've come over all 'arty' and am rattling on about a dead Spanish genius. Well, it's because this very evening, without having to go through security checks, flight delays and currency exchange,  I had dinner with Picasso here in my home town of Zichron Yaakov! 

I should explain. A couple of years ago a new restaurant opened in town called 'Adama' (which means 'earth' in Hebrew). It's located in a very pretty part of town and is housed in what was once an old cowshed. Lovingly restored and elegantly decorated and furnished, Adama soon built up a good reputation and has carved a niche for itself both locally, and further afield.

Last year a terrible tragedy struck the owners of the restaurant when their teenage son, Gal Azoulay, was killed whilst training with the elite Shayetet navy diving unit in the port of Ashdod. It transpired that a fault in the diving apparatus he was using caused him to suffer oxygen poisoning and he could not be revived. The terrible loss was borne with tremendous dignity by Gal's parents, and the popular restaurateurs received a great deal of support from the local community .

Not long after losing their son, a couple came to dine at Adama and were most impressed by both the food and surroundings. After striking up a conversation with owner Deganit Azoulay, they casually suggested that maybe the restaurant might like to host an exhibition of some of the paintings they had at home. Having been approached before by various local artists of varying abilities and not taken up their offers, Deganit once again did her best to politely move the conversation on, until the couple, (who remain anonymous), mentioned that their collection contained works by Marc Chagal, Modigliani and, Pablo Picasso.

At this point Deganit began to wonder if the couple were, shall we say, living in a world of their own, but it soon became clear that they were deadly serious and for reasons known only to themselves decided that they would make their collection of ten Picasso sketches and drawings, and one bronze sculpture, available without charge to Adama to exhibit to their paying customers. 

And so it was that a probably priceless collection of works of art by one of the most celebrated and sought after artists in the history of the world came to adorn the walls and central dining area of a former cowshed turned restaurant in Zichron Yaakov and was gazed upon by yours truly whilst I tucked into my starter of a platter of smoked aubergine filled with minced beef, tehina and lentils, which I promise you was delicious.

Together with our friends Rami and Yael, Paz and I enjoyed a very good dinner this evening from a creative menu that certainly tested the boundaries of regular cuisine, in parallel with the works of art around us. The food was unfailingly interesting, although Rami's spare ribs in a coffee-based sauce challenged the taste buds to some degree, rather in tandem with the bronze bust of a woman that Picasso had created in the 1930's which gazed rather bulbously across at us. She might not have been a supermodel in her day, but surely she couldn't have been that ugly in real life!

I'd never taken the time to read up on Picasso and so never quite understood just why he created human faces out of perspective, with one half of the head often painted significantly higher than the other, almost as if the artist was drunk when he took up his palette and brushes. As it happened, Rami had suffered a nasty headache earlier in the day and, whilst on the subject, enlightened me to the fact that Picasso suffered many terrible migraines throughout his life, and that whilst in awful discomfort his vision and perspective became warped and he perceived the human face drastically out of symmetry. So, that is one explanation as to how his pictures, lauded by art critics and the general public for nearly a century and the extraordinary artistic style he created, came to be.

Apparently the couple who appeared at the restaurant and donated the Picasso collection to Adama for the season are now considering a further exhibition of works by Chagal. I look forward to viewing the next season of international works of art and having my taste buds challenged at the same time in the comfortable surroundings of our very own local 'art' restaurant. I'd say it's a class or three above the normal restaurant art where superimposed pictures of James Dean, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, propping up a bar together tend not to be out of the ordinary.

Who needs Barcelona when you can have Zichron Yaakov any time?!  

  

  

  

 

Add Comment