Like many Israelis in the aftermath of October 7, Tamir Barelko felt compelled to do something for the people whose homes and communities were ravaged by the Hamas attacks.

Drawing on his nearly 30 years of experience in the food industry, Barelko and several activists came up with Cafe Otef — a series of coffee shops to be run by members of each of the seven hardest-hit communities from Otef Aza, the Gaza envelope region that suffered the worst losses during the October 7 attacks.

The idea was that the cafes would provide a space where displaced community members could work, socialise and generally gain a sense of belonging after the trauma they experienced. Cafe Otef, would also provide employment and act as a place of hope for displaced community members from the Gaza envelope.
There are already two locations in Tel Aviv and according to co-founder Barelko, this is just the beginning of Cafe Otef’s mission to unite the people of Israel.

“We thought when we started we would just bring in some donations for this project, give these community members the ability to open, and this was the main reason for the business,” said Barelko, a restaurateur and former CEO of the Arcaffe coffee chain. “Right now, we understand that it’s more powerful than we thought because it gives them meaning in life, it gives them hope."

The Cafe Otef in Re'im features a shop with products from small businesses in southern Israel.

“I wanted to open a real business that was going to be the place for the community; they are going to be the owners of the place, they are going to have a reason to wake up in the morning and get a salary, meet people, and the community of Tel Aviv will embrace them.”

The Re'im Cafe Otef includes a chocolate counter selling confections based on the recipes of the late chocolatier Dvir Karp, who was murdered in his home on October 7.

With funding from several banks and tech companies, Barelko opened the first Tel Aviv location in the Sarona complex for the community from Netiv Ha’asara, a moshav in southern Israel where at least 20 people were killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7. It started as a rent-free pop-up, but given the cafe’s “booming” success, the location has since become a more permanent fixture.

Next came a Cafe Otef for the community of Re’im in Tel Aviv’s trendy Florentin neighbourhood, where the 435 members of the kibbutz were relocated following the attack. The Re’im branch seems to be where Cafe Otef really found its stride, with the inclusion of a counter selling pralines and chocolates based on the recipes of the late chocolatier Divr Karp of Dvir Chocolates. Karp, a former kibbutz Re’im member, was murdered along with his partner, Stav Kimchi, in front of their children at their home on October 7. Karp’s ex-wife and the mother of their three children, Reut Karp, is now the owner of the branch.

Cafe Otef co-founder Tamir Barelko, right, poses with Reut Karp, former Re'im community member and owner of the Cafe Otef Re'im branch.

The menu is similar to that of the original store, with coffee and sandwiches created by Chef Ruti Russo, but the Re’im branch includes a store featuring Cafe Otef branded merchandise as well as products like wine, olive oil, cheese and jams from southern Israeli businesses. Barelko said half the revenue from Cafe Otef comes from the coffee side of the business and the other from the shop.

After the success of the first two locations, Barelko said he and the Cafe Otef team decided to expand the model to include communities outside the Gaza envelope and include communities impacted by violence in the north of Israel.

Although he acknowledged that “the situation is not so easy” in the region close to the border of Lebanon, Barelko has plans to open a Cafe Otef in Rosh Pina for the largely evacuated community of Kiryat Shmona in the coming months. That branch will serve sandwiches from Esterika, a local restaurant with “the best sandwiches in the area.”

Merchandise at the Cafe Otef shop in Tel Aviv.

There are also plans to open two locations in Sderot, and to build locations for the communities of Nir Oz, Kfar Aza, and Yad Mordechai. According to Barelko, each location will have a unique flair that showcases ingredients and products from local businesses.

His aim, above all else, is to give opportunities to the communities and businesses that have suffered the most as a result of what happened on October 7, and so far, Cafe Otef seems to be achieving just that.

“Living here, I feel we are brothers,” Barelko said. “I know Israeli people are willing to stand up and to help. Everyone is supporting everyone. And I think the future is going to belong to these communities.”

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