Striking a Fancy

Croque madame

Place: Denya Café, Beit Hakerem, Jerusalem

When: Monday, mid-morning

Environment: Denya Café is located on a busy street corner, right on the light rail line. Parking is hard to come by in the area. The eatery is much larger than you might expect from the outside. There’s an external seating area; from there, you pass into the “main” area, with a fresh design and limited seating. And from there, you pass into an enclosed area with a (fake) plant wall, a neon sign, many windows that give it an outdoor feel, and lots of coffee-related signs on the walls. There are wicker hanging light fixtures, comfortable seating, and sturdy tables. The waiters wear branded t-shirts. Denya Café is not a fancy place, but effort has been made to give it some style. Considering my visit was on a weekday morning, the place was really busy. There were empty tables to be had, but it was not at all quiet. There was a United Nations vibe, with snippets of English, French, and Hebrew whipping around. Despite the bustle, service was friendly, attentive, and quick.

My Order: Croque madame, with side salad and cappuccino (NIS 67).

The low-down: The coffee was served fairly quickly. I was surprised by the dark color, as I expected something a bit weaker and more washed out. And the flavor almost matched the color. The coffee wasn’t exceptionally milky; for a generic café, it really wasn’t bad. And boy was the croque madame decadent! It was definitely not for the lactose intolerant. The brioche layers had a French toast quality to them (minus the toast), with melted gouda in between the thick slices. The tower was topped with 2 runny eggs (the way I like them), and the whole monstrosity was swimming in truffle cream. The side salad was more than just some leaves and vegetables: It was topped with nuts and seeds and dried fruit, with a tangy vinaigrette, and was more than you might expect from a side salad. In all, this was not an everyday breakfast. There was perhaps a bit too much salt in the croque madame, but it was good enough to entice me to come back and try some other items from the vast menu.

Who else was there: Four older (religious) women came in together and sat around a table for four. They were dressed for winter in their black and navy sweaters, pantyhose, skirts, sensible, non-slip shoes, and hats. They were characterized by varying levels of wrinkles, evidencing their years on this planet. They ordered cups of tea to start, further driving home the feeling that they were mid-winter (notwithstanding the sun and mild weather outdoors).

The four were well into retirement age, with all the kids grown and the grandkids mostly grown, too. They made a point to get out of the house while the getting was good, and to socialize. Being idle was not an option. If you stop moving, you stop living. One of the women was finishing a book about her life, and explaining the story to her friends. It detailed her childhood in New York in the early 1940s, meeting her husband, her later move to Israel, and raising her children. Her story encompassed the bumps and twists along the way, from anti-Semitism to illness, along with the happy highlights, like holding her first great-grandchild. Her story wasn’t really all that unique, but the relatability is what made it good. The kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids are these women’s proudest accomplishments and lasting legacies.