Saturday was my 23rd birthday, and Orna and Ella was the obvious choice to gather my women of valor for a night of feasting. We, the Tel Avivim and frequent Orna and Ella diners, sat down knowing exactly what we wanted to order. The newbies, our out-of-town guests from Jerusalem and Alexandria, were the receipients of way too many suggestions about the menu's must-haves. By the time our (debatably) very cute waiter approached, we were ready to order the whole menu. He even had to go back for pen and paper when he realized what we wanted.
"That's a lot of food, you know," he cautioned.
"OH. We know." Liana responded, too confidently for a person of her size.
We began with the two bottles of the Pelter Rose, our usual choice, and the sweet potato pancakes. The big plate. For the table. Obviously. These sweet potato pancakes are the staple of any respectable meal at Orna and Ella, and the restaurant's specialty. Please don't imagine fancy latkes or gourmet hashbrowns; these soft pancakes are little bites of sweet potato clouds-- with chive sour cream, tomatoes and cucumbers, just for good measure!
Needless to say, we had finished the pancakes before we had even toasted our Pelter.
Next came our appetizers. We had it all: carrot soup, goat cheese salad, asian chicken soup, smoked salmon with corn bread, risotto balls. It was a synchronized dance of eating: sit up, reach, fork, bite, sit back, breathe, repeat. It's a wonder that our arms didn't bump each other as we all grasped at bites across the table. A delirium began to set in.
We had almost forgotten more food was coming when, all of a sudden!, our main dishes arrived. Salmon scallopini, chicken salad, fish balls with couscous, butternut squash tortellini, ricotta and asparagus ravioli. Dishes covered the table and we barely had room for our glasses. Liana started to laugh, I poured myself more wine, Niriel strategized, Emily quietly surveyed the scene and Monica dug right in. We all tried bites of everyones, but no one dared rank the dishes. It was all too good. 
After we wiped our plates clean, Liana summarized, "This is the best restaunt. I've been to a hundred restaurants and this is the best one." Which may or may not be true, but either way, it is certainly one of my favorites. In Israel, I often get trapped in an Israeli food/Italian/Sushi triangle, even getting sick of food that I usually love. But Orna and Ella unassumingly presents one of the most creative menus available, where Israeli classics are served with a gourmet spin. No matter how many times I order the same thing, it always feels fresh.
Finally understanding our digestive prowess, our waiter cleared our empty plates and offered us dessert menus. No one was hungry, but I sucked up the pain and ordered a tarte tatin for the table. Five spoons please! When our dessert arrived though, it was accompanied by a magnificent birthday surprise: a massive merangue, filled with whipped cream and topped with passion fruit syrup. When our waiter placed our two desserts on the table, we thought we were hallucinating.
"What IS THIS!?" Monica asked in wonder. Having lived in Egypt the past six months with limited food options, she had entered culinary shock two hours before. "Was this even on the menu!?"
Liana responded, "YES! I saw it! It's called the Poof!"
That's when we knew we were in trouble. It took us a whole thirty seconds to realize that Liana had no idea what she was saying. And that Orna and Ella would never print the word "poof."
After finishing every morsel of sweet goodness, we sat back and hoped to digest, of course failing miserably. That's when I knew (although, of course, I had already known) that I have the best friends in the world. It takes true love for five beautiful 23 year old ladies to stretch their stomachs in my honor-- and with such dignity! After a little, we all walked slowly home to our respective Tel Aviv apartments, nursing our bursting bellies with pride, secretly knowing that more dinners like this one are in our future. A good omen for my 23rd year....
