David Nussbaum is passionate about Israeli food, and in particular, hummus — so much so, that he kept his restaurant, Aviv Hummus Bar, running through a pandemic that shuttered other successful restaurants in the neighborhood.
His is a passion that shows up in the hummus made fresh daily and the falafel fried fresh for each order, so it’s no wonder that on September 8th of 2022, he celebrated five years of serving not just Capitol Hill, but customers from all over Washington.
As the only “Hummus Bar” in the state, Nussbaum’s love for hummus is what keeps Aviv going.
“It’s a lifestyle. It’s simple, it’s sexy, it’s delicious. It can be eaten any time of the day; breakfast, lunch, dinner. And when it’s done right, when you don’t overload it with garlic and all these spices, and you have the best quality tahini, there’s just a flavor that you get from it that you can’t get with what I call “hummus” (“HUHM-uhs.”), which is like chunky and thick and all sorts of different flavors,” Nussbaum said. “So I’m really a purist when it comes to it. Keep it simple and clean and the nuttiness of the chickpea and the tahini come forward, it’s life changing.”