Israel is generally one of the more relaxed countries in the world – with a decades-long legacy of austere socialism, Israel remains even in the capitalist age a place where formality is often viewed with slight suspicion, a place where people go to upscale restaurants and weddings in their street clothes. Despite that facet of the national character, you can still find an occasional snob oasis, like Jerusalem's Cafe Paradiso.

With a name exuding pretension, Paradiso caters to a crowd of Israelis and tourists with a bit of extra money to burn, offering pasta, Israeli and European meat dishes and salads on the restaurant end of things (with a wine list too), and pastries and coffee on the cafe end. The cafe also serves as something of a gathering point for Jerusalem's secular community, as it remains one of the still-small number of restaurants open all day on Shabbat.