Vegan cheese perches on dough in a pepperoni pizza for kosher consumers

At restaurateur Tzvi Maller’s latest Jerusalem eatery, the former southern Californian is attempting to recreate the pizzas of his youth.

Some of the inspiration for Mojo’s was Shakey’s Pizza, a local pizzeria he would bike to after school with his best friend to eat Mojos, battered-and-fried potato slices made popular by the California chain.

“They’re so good,” laughed Maller. “Oh, my God, I can taste it. But they’re so bad for you.”

Maller’s new restaurant, Mojo’s, is named for those potatoes, which are definitely not on the menu.

Neither is Shakey’s Texas BBQ pizza or the Shakey’s Special with salami, pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, olives and mushrooms. Maller, a repeat restaurateur who established several kosher spots in New Jersey, keeps a kosher kitchen, which nixes mixing any kind of meat and milk together.

Maller made some significant adjustments to the idea of a meat pizza, with vegan cheeses and lamb bacon (or BĀ-KEN) smoked on the premises. (He calls it BĀ-KEN on the menu, though, with an upside-down ‘e’, in order to avoid the wrath of the rabbinate kosher supervisors who don’t even want to see the word bacon mentioned on a kosher menu.)

The spicy sausage and sweet fennel pizza at Mojo’s, a new kosher meat pizzeria in Jerusalem, opened May 2023 (Courtesy Mojo’s)

But here’s the thing: It works.

With eight different pizzas so far, including a spicy sausage with caramelized fennel; the ‘BĀ-KEN’ jam with Maller’s smoked lamb bacon, glazed onions, green apple and vegan feta; a straightforward pepperoni with vegan mozzarella; a “threesome” pepperoni pizza with sausage and lamb bacon and a short ribs version with kimchi and truffle mayo — and that’s before mentioning the chicken confit with pesto cream and balsamic reduction — Maller has created the ultimate kosher diner’s dream: the ability to experience what pepperoni pizza — and all those other meat-topped pizzas — really taste like.

This is kosher meat pizza for those who’ve been missing it or, like me, have never had it before.

These pizzas are far from the Shakey’s of Maller’s youth. These have toppings like caramelized fennel or anchovy dust, spicy gochujang truffle mayo and olive crumble, all set on thin Neapolitan-style pizza with a pillowy, chewy crust.

There are small plate appetizers too, including a Caesar salad with miso Caesar dressing, panko-crusted fried olives, and crisp umami-dusted French fries served with a truffle garlic confit mayo.

Wagyu beef sliders at Mojo’s, a new kosher meat pizzeria in Jerusalem, opened May 2023 (Courtesy Mojo’s)

My dinner companion and I tried the KFC, a broad wink to the global chicken giant, but this KFC stands for spicy Korean fried chicken, a small plate of delectable deboned dark chicken that has been brined for 24 hours, bringing out its natural juices.

I was curious about the spaetzle, a Hungarian egg noodle dish but made here with wild mushrooms, chicken confit, kale and a poultry reduction, but Maller urged us to try the wagyu beef sliders with roasted mushrooms, pickled ginger and wasabi mayo served on buns made from the pizza dough and served with a side of kohlrabi slaw — don’t skip munching on that, either.

Non-pizza eaters could be satisfied with a selection of the small plates, which include lamb riblets, marinated skirt steak and beef filet. But the real draw here is Maller’s kosher takes on treif favorites. (Mojo’s offers gluten free dough for all its pizzas but isn’t all that friendly to vegans.)

This pizzeria aims to be “disruptive” to the local kosher market, said Maller, but within the confines of what’s permissible in kosher eating.

He started experimenting with pizza when he was at Crave, a street food bistro in the Mahane Yehuda market that he co-owned until recently. He placed a smash burger on top of pizza dough and another time deconstructed a Reuben sandwich on another pizza round.

Tzvi Maller, owner of new kosher meat pizzeria Mojo’s (left), with Luis Cruz of Jerusalem’s Taco Luis and their Cinco de Mayo pizza (Courtesy Mojo’s)

Now at Mojo’s, he’s still experimenting, running specials to see what appeals to customers. He tried a Mediterranean pizza one week, loaded with shawarma and tahini, and a pizza partnership with fellow restauranteur Luis Cruz from Tacos Luis to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, with black beans, skirt steak and avocado piled on a pizza.

At Mojo’s, Maller buys some cuts of beef with kosher certifications such as Landau and Rubin, in addition to Machpud, Beit Yosef and Jerusalem Rabbinate Mehadrin in order to satisfy all his customers’ kosher needs. The pizza dough comes frozen from a local provider.

After Maller separated from his three Crave partners, his team this time around includes his children — he has seven — with three cooking in the kitchen. Maller’s eldest daughter, Eden, is the maître d’ and creator of the cocktail list, which has a smart selection of classic drinks with a twist, such as the Mojo Negroni with Campari, rosso, gin, whiskey and citrus, and the Lavender Dream with gin and lavender syrup.

There are other local touches in the drinks menu, with a wine list that includes Dalton and Vitkin wines, and spirits from Jerusalem distiller Thinkers along with beer from local breweries Jem’s and Alexander.

Mojo’s streamlined Shlomzion Hamalka address is next door to the Interior Ministry, across the street from Kadosh Cafe and down the block from Tacos Luis, and he’s happy with the new location that’s not in the Mahane Yehuda market, where Crave is situated.

The vibe is an upscaled pizza place with a smart, chic bar area and a wall-sized window for diners to look into Mojo’s kitchen. Upstairs is another seating area, a good option for larger parties.

When it’s time for dessert, there’s not much room left after the generously sized pizzas, but Maller smartly created two sweetly sized options, a small bowl of olive oil lemon curd topped with balsamic mixed berries and pistachio crumble, or a plate of warm, chocolate peanut butter bacon cookies that melt slightly in your hand as you bite down into their salty-sweet goodness.

You may not have realized that bacon augments chocolate peanut butter cookies, but trust me, you won’t regret eating it.

Mojo’s, 1 Queen Shlomzion Street, Jerusalem.