Stanley Lipschitz grew up in Johannesburg. He went to King David School and was a member of the Betar Youth movement, but never saw himself as a Zionist. Jewish national pride brought him to volunteer after the Six-Day War and then after finishing his Accountancy studies in the mid 70s, he returned to Israel. For about twenty years Stanley and his two brothers ran Autocheck, a car-testing institute in the Talpiot Industrial area of Jerusalem. Stanley and his wife live in the beautiful Abu Tor neighborhood in Jerusalem. Abu Tor, a neighborhood overlooking the Old City Walls and Jaffa Gate from the East, was divided into two during the War of Independence, with one side of a street, Israeli, separated by rolls or barbed wire from the Jordanian side. Before '67 Jordanian soldiers would occasionally take potshots at the occupants of the Israeli side. Since 67, Abu Tor has become a well-to-do neighborhood with old Arab houses alongside new luxury apartment blocks. Braaing (the South African term for barbecuing) in the garden was a past-time that Stanley developed into an art over the years. "Today there is a good local competitive market for fresh meat," Stanley reminisces, "but then I was lucky to find a neighborhood butcher in El Azaria who always had fresh meat available." When the time came to change his occupation, restaurant keeping was the natural direction.

Denise Rautenbach doesn't have any formal restaurant training either. Food and how it is served has always been important to Denise: "Preparing and serving food is an art," she proclaims. Denise cares for the poultry, salads and deserts, whereas Stanley cures the red meat and relishes the red wines.

Denise studied Biochemistry at Stellenbosch University. She spent some years in marketing and product development in a large cosmetic company in South Africa and also worked in television production doing nature documentaries. Although not raised Jewishly, she tells of her mother's Lithuanian Jewish ancestry. During a visit to Israel some years ago as part of a long trip to Europe and America, Denise felt that she had come home. A short while later, Denise came to settle in Israel. By chance she started working at a restaurant called Cezanne's which was the beginning of her business partnership with Stanley.

Coming for a meal in Stanley's, don't be surprised if you see politicians, journalists or foreign diplomats enjoying a steak. The discreet atmosphere, good food and friendly, caring service is enough for anyone to want to come back. One of Stanley's favorite regulars is Joel Stransky (see photograph) who comes for a steak whenever he is in Israel. A photograph of Joel scoring South Africa's winning points in the final seconds of the Rugby World Cup in 1995, hangs on the wall next to the bar.

by Frank Zabow