I always search for special places with added value, especially in the countryside. I like open spaces that interact with nature, and when combined with small businesses you get inspiring creativity. The Covid 19 pandemic brought with it a lot of chaos, damage, and hardship, but also many new opportunities which can be seen by the many businesses popping up and growing.
I had recently heard from a friend that works in the baking industry of a relatively new place that has opened up in the town, which peaked my interest and so I had to go check it out.
In the north side of Israel, next to the Sea of Galilee, you’ll find the beautiful town of Sharona. A working settlement, inhabited mostly by farmers and their families.
Google Maps directed me to the bakery - a small and beautiful place next to a family stable. The bakery is named, “Maafia”, the hebrew word meaning “bakery.” They open 4 days a week and I came there on a Friday (their busiest day of the week). I was surprised and happy to see so many people coming to sit for a warm cup of coffee, enjoying mouth-watering pastries, or ordering it as take-out to enjoy later.
From the moment you step inside the smell of the pastries drives you crazy. There is a wide variety of sweet and salty items and everything that I ordered was fresh and delicious, with my favourite pastry being the berry pastry with patisserie cream, and it goes perfectly with the high quality coffee they make.
The bakery opened up back in 2017 by Yohai, one of the town’s residents who has worked many years in a well-known bakery in Tel Aviv. I like the fact that he decided to leave the big city in order to come back to his childhood homeplace and open a new, prospering business there. The place itself is decorated beautifully and in great style, and if you want to sit down there a tables outside. The staff is very welcoming, which include 3 other people working alongside Yohai in the crew; there is Mor, a super friendly person bringing in great energy and light into the place, who met Yohai while working in Tel Aviv, as well as two other young and friendly women.
In my opinion, what takes this fantastic place to the next level is the people who work there - you really feel the difference when the staff really put their heart and soul into their work. This place is a winning combination of professionalism and humanity.
#Support small businesses
. I’m getting a sudden urge to eat bakery foods now. Looks delicious.
ישר כוח חבר 