Kornmehl farm, goat cheese and restaurant

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Kornmehl Restaurant sits atop a desolate hill on Route 40 one kilometre south of the 211 turn-off, a 15 minutes drive from our guesthouse.  All you can see of it from the road below are rows of parked cars of the customers,

which is better than a road sign or even a 50 ft billboard, it tells you all you need to know.

You approach it along a climbing dirt road, steep in parts and at the top you find yourself in the middle a farm with silos, goats, milking enclosures and huge, fluffy, unkempt shepherd dogs lolling about in the sun.  You walk past a pen full of goats to get to the restaurant. I’ve had goats myself and they were beautiful creatures but none were as fine and in such condition as those of Kornmehl. The core of this herd came from the Jerusalem area 25 years ago, apart from three billy-goats which were brought over from the USA ten years ago to strengthen the stock. The herd is hermetically sealed (as much as that is possible) from other goats in the region. It is these creatures that produce the milk that makes the cheese that is served in the restaurant.

Another twenty paces and you are outside the restaurant. To the left you catch sight of makeshift caravans which are the home of the Kornmehl family; these people are real farmers with zero pretentions, they are in the business of making cheese, cheese is their passion, the restaurant is almost an after-thought. The restaurant itself is unprepossessing; two railway goods wagons anchored together and a shaded seating area outside.

To one side is the cheese shop where you can taste and buy. The customers all look as if they have just arrived from Tel Aviv – you don’t see many foreign tourists – there are children running around the farmyard chaperoned by elegant mothers in their high heels struggling to keep up. I’m not going to claim or pretend that this is a three star Michelin establishment, they have good days and average days, the staff are young, but the tastes and textures are pure pleasure and the general effect is extremely pleasing. Our favourites are the pizza (delicious home-made dough) or the cheese plate with their home made leaven bread.  Don’t go there if you don’t like goat cheese because the only two items on the menu which are other than goat cheese are a lettuce and a cherry tomato salad.

The cheeses themselves are peerless. Marion my French wife, says it is the best goat cheese in Israel. The Telavivians tend to sit outside so as to keep an eye on their children, to revel in the dry breeze, and to enjoy the view. They look around bemused, ‘it’s so quiet’.

but we prefer to sit inside because it smells so nice. Daniel and Anat Kornmehl love their goats, love their work and love their cheese.

I asked Daniel where he learnt the art of cheese-making, which academy, at the feet of which master…  “I worked at cheese farms in France, Piedmont, southern Italy, I can’t remember the names of the farms. I have read books, I learn on YouTube, much trial and error, no diploma.”

The restaurant is open everyday of the week except Mondays from 10.00 to 18.00.