We drove for hours for one dinner – and then discovered that the meal was just an excuse

There are vacations you choose because of the destination, others because of the hotel. In our case, it all started with dinner. When we heard that Chef David Biton would be hosting Chef Elazar Tamno from Studio Gursha for a one-time dinner at the Midian restaurant, it was clear we would go to Six Senses Shaharut. But only on the long road south did we realize that the meal was just an excuse. The real story awaits where the road ends, the desert takes over the landscape, and the clock is no longer relevant.

As you move away from the center - and it is indeed a long drive - the pace changes. Gas stations become scarce, green colors are replaced by shades of sand, cliffs and mountains become more present, and the phone stops vibrating incessantly. Not because we decided to disconnect, but because the poor reception in the desert does it for us. There is something about the road to Shaharut that prepares the body and mind for what comes next - a silence that doesn't need explaining, endless spaces, and a feeling that the daily race has been left hundreds of kilometers behind.

Unlike urban hotels, the Six Senses Shaharut resort, located on a ridge overlooking the Arava and the Edom Mountains, does not try to stand out or compete with the surrounding landscape. On the contrary, it was designed to blend into the landscape, and when driving on the road leading to it, you almost don't notice it. Only when you get closer do you realize that the local stone and architecture create the illusion that the structures have been here forever.

This is perhaps the reason why the place gives a different feeling than that received in other luxury hotels. There is no gleaming lobby here or an attempt to impress through excessive opulence. The luxury comes from restraint. From the fact that the desert is the main star, and everything else is intended to enhance it.

A room that lets the desert in

We spent the night in a Six Senses suite, the resort's base suite, but the word "base" is slightly misleading. Already at the entrance, you feel that this is a room designed with the experience in mind, not just the design. 58 square meters of open space, earth tones, natural wood, soft lighting, and large windows that frame the landscape like a changing picture.

The room has everything you expect to find in a luxury hotel - a spacious bed, a pampering bathroom, a high-quality sound system, a private balcony, a TV, and a coffee machine - but it is precisely the small details that tell the story. The hats and walking sticks for a hike in the desert that await the guests, the organic cotton robes, and the Marshall speaker are not just accessories, they are part of the place's idea, which encourages going out into nature, returning, listening to music, sitting on the balcony, and simply slowing down.

Even from the balcony, you are in no hurry to get up. The desert landscape changes frequently. In the morning it is bright and soft, in the afternoon the mountains take on a coppery hue, and towards evening the sun paints the Edom Mountains in shades of orange, pink, and purple. It's hard to think of a better backdrop for starting a weekend.

If there is one thing that distinguishes Six Senses from other luxury hotels in Israel, it is the fact that the food is not just a service provided to guests. Here it is an inseparable part of the place's identity. Instead of seeing the restaurant as just another facility in the hotel, the resort has built an entire philosophy around culinary, based on seasonality, local ingredients, and collaborations with top-tier chefs and food people. From the moment you sit down at the Midian restaurant, with the windows open to the desert landscape, you realize that this evening is going to be much more than a meal.

Food is the top priority

At Six Senses, they don't treat food just as another part of the hospitality package. Very quickly you realize that culinary is one of the pillars of the place. The ingredients that come from agricultural farms in the Arava and the emphasis on seasonality - all these are not slogans but a philosophy that is felt in almost every bite.

The reason we arrived was the hotel's culinary hosting series. This time, Chef David Biton, who leads the resort's kitchen, hosted Chef Elazar Tamno from the Studio Gursha restaurant. Two chefs, two different culinary languages, but one evening that managed to connect them in an amazingly natural way.

Even before the first course arrived, it was possible to understand that this was not a routine tasting dinner. The space of the Midian restaurant, with the large windows facing the Edom Mountains, fills with the soft light of sunset, and while the desert changes colors between gold and deep red, the first courses begin to arrive at the tables. In the summer, you can also sit outside comfortably, and not feel the heat and high humidity that are burdensome in the center. It's hard to think of a better backdrop for a meal that seeks to tell the story of a place.

The meal opened with a selection of small dishes, each of which was a world unto itself. Crispy millet with pickled yellowtail and lemony crème fraîche, beef tartare served on injera, acarajé filled with tuna tartare, and yellow grape gazpacho with green leaves from the hotel's organic garden. These were not dishes that tried to impress through unnecessary complexity, but through precision.

But if you have to choose one dish that will remain in the memory long after returning home, it was undoubtedly the agnolotti filled with sweet corn. Seemingly a simple dish, but one that proves how hard it is to turn simplicity into excellence. The pasta was thin and delicate, the filling sweet in the right measure, and the corn cream enveloped everything without taking over. Also swimming in the cream were roasted baby corn, which added fun crunchiness. It was one of those dishes that make you want to slow down the pace, take another bite, and only then realize how much magic is in the dish.

The main course did not disappoint either. Holstein prime rib, which underwent 50 days of dry aging, arrived at the table with precise doneness, juicy and incredibly tender, one that doesn't need too many additions to stand out. The vegetables roasted in the tabun complemented it naturally, without stealing the show.

And then there was the okra. We admit, usually, this is not the dish we would order of our own volition. But it was precisely this that became one of the big surprises of the evening.

The texture was almost as soft as cream, the flavors deep and comforting, and all the prejudices we had about this vegetable simply disappeared. No less exciting was the steamed kohlrabi dish stuffed with cheese. Seemingly two unexciting vegetables - that manage to surprise thanks to proper treatment and seasoning.

The grape salad, which combined green leaves from the organic garden, caramelized pecan, and a sour and precise gazpacho sauce, was also the kind of dish that makes you find yourself wiping the plate with a piece of bread until nothing is left of it.

Alongside all these, a rich wine menu was served, built to accompany the dishes throughout the evening. But beyond the food itself, what remained with us was precisely the balance. No dish tried to take over. The connection between David Biton and Elazar Tamno gave a feeling of a real culinary dialogue, one in which each gives space to the other, and the result is more complete than the sum of its parts.

A morning at a different pace

After such an evening, it seems that the best way to start the day is not to rush anywhere. Instead of running to breakfast, we chose to join a Hatha yoga class, which is offered free of charge to hotel guests.

There is something almost symbolic about doing yoga in the desert. The absolute silence and the feeling of freedom manage to get the body into a different rhythm. This yoga class is exceptional not because of the practice but because of the place where it takes place. For one moment, all the noises in the head simply disappear.

Only afterwards did we sit down for breakfast, and it too continues the same concept that accompanies the entire hotel. The pastries are baked on-site every morning, the ingredients are fresh. The croissants, we were told, go through a preparation process that lasts three days - and after the first bite, you can understand why no one is willing to shorten it.

Here too, there is no feeling of a busy buffet that creates a feeling of FOMO, but everything is arranged elegantly. Also, alongside the cold dishes, a menu is served from which you can choose eggs in a variety of variations.

After a final cup of coffee, we parted from breakfast and headed to the hotel's shared pool. At Six Senses, there are two pools, one outdoor and one indoor. Also, some rooms have attached pools. We chose the outdoor one, which, unlike other hotels, does not suffer from overcrowding and the problem of seating places. The pool also overlooks the desert landscape and nearby there is a bar that offers soft drinks, alcohol, and dishes that can be grabbed by the pool - from pizzas to hamburgers.

Although it is hard to leave the cool water, we finally parted from the pool in favor of a cocktail workshop, which turned out to be one of the funniest activities of the vacation. Beyond the fact that we learned to prepare some classic cocktails, we discovered how much thought is hidden behind the right balance of flavors, alcohol, and aromas. It was a light, amusing activity full of added value, and above all, another opportunity to meet people, laugh, and slow down the pace.

Much more than a chef's dinner

During the weekend, we found ourselves thinking quite a bit about the reason we came here. After all, on paper, it was a long drive for one dinner. But as the hours passed, it was clear that the food was only a small part of the story.

Maybe it's the fact that for two days there was almost no need to get into the car. Maybe it's the landscapes that change every hour, the silence that isn't broken even for a moment, or the feeling that there is no pressure to accomplish anything else. Instead of running from attraction to attraction, you can simply choose how you want to spend the day. Swim, sit with a book, join a yoga class, drink a cocktail at sunset, or simply look at the desert and do... nothing.

In an era where almost every vacation is accompanied by a list of "musts" - must see, must accomplish, must photograph - Six Senses Shaharut offers something completely different. It doesn't try to fill every minute with a busy schedule, but rather reminds you how pleasant it is to leave room for spontaneity and silence. Perhaps this is also the reason why the activities, food, and wellness here are like part of the same idea and not a collection of attractions intended to pass the time.

Culinary also fits into the same concept. Although the meal that brought us here was excellent, on the way back home we were no longer talking only about a specific dish. We talked about the fact that for two days we almost didn't look at the clock.