Dear Friends,
Join Ceres Food x Film and The Neighborhood at Brooklyn Art Haus for an evening of food, film, and conversation centered around Orna & Ella, Tomer Heymann’s intimate documentary about a restaurant of the same name, the two women who built it, and what it means to let go of a place that has defined your life.
The pioneering woman-owned neighborhood institution helped set a new standard for dining in Israel: serious about its food without being formal or fancy, with everything from bread and pasta to ice cream made in-house. During the restaurant’s final week, director Tomer Heymann (who had worked at Orna & Ella for six years) documented its final days. What he captured is an intimate portrait of lifelong friends and business partners at the apex of a bittersweet farewell.
After the film, you’ll get to taste some of its food made by Naama Tamir of Lighthouse BK, for whom the restaurant was an integral part of growing up in Tel Aviv! Naama will draw from the Orna & Ella cookbooks to prepare a selection of vegetarian bites, including the much-revered sweet potato pancakes. Naama will also present the food, share her memories of Orna & Ella, its influence, and her own experience as a female restaurateur.
Guests are invited to stay, mingle, and continue enjoying drinks available at the bar through 9:00 PM.
When: Wednesday, November 4
Time: 6:30 PM
Where: Brooklyn Art Haus
Want a taste first? Watch the trailer
General Admission: $40Your ticket includes admission to the screening and food by Naama Tamir of Lighthouse. Drinks will be available for purchase from the Brooklyn Art Haus bar.
Evening Program:
6:30 PM: Doors open. Drinks & gathering in the Brooklyn Art Haus gallery and bar
7:00-8:00 PM: Screening of Orna & Ella
8:00 PM: Food and Conversation with Naama Tamir of Lighthouse
8:20-9:00 PM: Drinks, food, mingling, and reception
More on Orna & Ella
Directed by Tomer Heymann (53 min)
Twenty-six years after the iconic “Orna and Ella” restaurant opened in Tel Aviv, having become a celebrated culinary institution, Orna Agmon and Ella Shine decided to close their shared life’s work. During the restaurant’s final week, director Tomer Heymann —who worked there for six years and for whom it was much more than just a workplace— documents the intense dynamics of the last days.
Farewells to customers, recipes, and staffspark intimate and once-in-a-lifetime conversations. The film reveals the complex relationship between these two groundbreaking women through a spectrum of powerful emotions: love, dependence, conflicting desires, and fears. It boldly raises questions aboutself-fulfillment, the cost of freedom, and nostalgia for an era that will never return.
Hope to see you there!
Warmly,
Maayan and the Ceres team
PS: From our friends at the Infinite Table
Maayan loved The Infinite Table’s Oaxaca: Tierra y Tiempo. It brings the flavors and landscapes of Oaxaca, Mexico, to life through 360° cinema, spatial sound, scent, and a tasting menu. Catch this immersive dining experience in the Meatpacking District before it closes for the season.