Caesarea's Helena Restaurant Offers a Shore-Foraged Menu - AFAR

"Perched on a window-enclosed porch with giant rattan fans and uninterrupted Mediterranean views in Caesarea, this 15-year-old contemporary Levantine restaurant led by Israeli chef Amos Sion centers seafood around shore-foraged herbs and shrubs. Dishes spotlight regional plants such as sea fennel (Crithmum maritimum), ice lettuce (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum), sea arugula, and saltbush—used in preparations like fried saltbush leaves tossed into fish tartare, sea arugula over brown-buttered scallops, and a crunchy, oyster-flavored ice-lettuce Caesar with raw shrimp, brioche croutons, and hard‑boiled egg. A six-plate tasting menu of foraged flavors, introduced last winter and returning from December 20 through early spring, retails for $120 for two (including dessert) with à la carte options also available; reservations are recommended. Collaborating with forager Yatir Sade—who supplies up to eight different coastal plants and runs sea-foraging courses from Pardes Hanna—Sion experiments across seasons (using leaves, flowers, fruits, or seeds as they evolve) to create items such as a reimagined flattened shrimp carpaccio topped with spicy strawberries, halved cherries, red chili, and pine nuts, and mussels infused with sea-fennel flavors. The kitchen emphasizes sustainable foraging practices—harvesting only a small percentage of plants and avoiding roots—while celebrating a uniquely local sea-to-plate approach that few other Israeli restaurants devote an entire menu to. The experience pairs inventive, texturally arresting plates (notably perfectly cooked scallops and inventive shrimp preparations) with the sensory pull of dining beside the shoreline." - Sara Lieberman