Located on Dizengoff Street, Keton proudly preserves the legacy of Eastern European Jewish cuisine — hot chicken soup and kreplach are served throughout the year, even in the summer heat, and cold borscht is listed on the drinks list. The restaurant was named by the poet Alexander Penn, who chose the name to reflect the space’s modest dimensions (in Hebrew, keton means “small room”). Its origins date back to the 1940s when Zvi and Sarah Rosenberg ran a watermelon stand. Their clientele — mostly the local bohemian elite, including poets, musicians, and painters — would occasionally also sample whatever Sarah was cooking. Eventually, the Rosenbergs turned their stall into a restaurant.

Gefilte fish. photo by: Noam Preisman

Its walls are adorned with signed illustrations by renowned painters and the visitor books are filled with tales from local fans. Today, Orna Raskin, Zvi and Sarah’s granddaughter, manages the establishment. Even after 70 years, Keton remains dedicated to serving meticulously prepared traditional dishes like kreplach, herring, gefilte fish, cholent, and kugels, complemented by frozen vodka and an assortment of spirits.
Hedai Offaim explains: “Comment start Artist Menashe Kadishman says, ‘We are all homeless at heart, and Keton reminds us of our lost home.’ Perhaps the most important element in creating a new Israeli identity is remembering where we came from.”