The Moscow Times

Market Matters: As Conflict Ends, Markets on Road to Recovery
After tumbling to its lowest point in almost two years on Tuesday, Russia's MICEX Index began to slowly claw its way back over the rest of the week, suggesting a possible end to the volatility that has plagued the country's markets since tensions erupted between Russia and Georgia on Aug. 8.

The Moscow Times » Dining

Issue 3981 | 4 Sep 2008

Folk, Fire And Food To Feature At Festival
By Svetlana Osadchuk / Staff Writer The annual open-air folk music festival Harvest will take place on Saturday for the fifth time as a part of Moscow's City Day celebrations.

Issue 3933 | 30 Jun 2008

Salmon Kebab
Chef's Secrets

Wall St. Watering Hole
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Wall St. Bar, as the name might suggest, is positioning itself as a place for stock traders and the like to unwind after a hard day working the markets.

Issue 3931 | 26 Jun 2008

Summertime Swan Lake
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Last year, Kak na Kanarakh was ""the"" summer spot. Created by the people behind Solyanka night club and cafe, the pontoon restaurant was a virtual floating resort on the river beside Gorky Park, complete with a swimming pool and deck chairs.

Ask the Chef
Alexander Saburov is head chef at the St. Tropez restaurant.

Issue 3929 | 24 Jun 2008

Mango Mousse
Chef's Secrets

At Home in Dom i Ko
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Natura Viva with its unusual colonial theme, has passed into the history books, and in its place has arrived Dom i Ko. Unusual is not the word needed to describe this new restaurant, however.

Issue 3928 | 23 Jun 2008

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey / Special to The Moscow Times

Diky Ris Hits the Center
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer The opening of the original Diky Ris late last year was promising, as the democratic Japanese eatery offered more than just the typical selection of sushi, sashimi and rolls, including some other Asian cuisine.

Issue 3926 | 19 Jun 2008

Meaty Treats at Torro
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer The first Torro Grill opened at a shopping center in southern Moscow in February, 2007. A little over a year later, Torro Grill No. 2 has opened, this time much closer to the center. Not only is the new grill house better located, it also has more serious lodgings, with its own separate entrance from the street.

Ask the Chef
Jonas Grip of Sweden is the head chef at Scandinavia restaurant.

Issue 3924 | 17 Jun 2008

Restaurant Called Cafe
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Given the crowds of the well-to-do spilling out of the upmarket restaurant Aist, it would seem that rumors of its fading mojo are exaggerated.

Chef's Secrets: Summer Yogurt Soup
A recipe from Yankel Schein, concept chef at Filimonova & Yankel fish house.

Issue 3923 | 16 Jun 2008

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey / Special to The Moscow Times

A Democratic Debut
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer According to the staff of the recently opened Dem restaurant, ""Dem"" is short for ""democratic,"" which seems fairly appropriate. The cafe, as it calls itself, is indeed democratic in the egalitarian sense of the word, or at least the atmosphere is.

Issue 3921 | 10 Jun 2008

Lemon Sole Belle Meuniere
Chef's Secrets

Finding a New Guroo
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer The veteran Indian/Thai restaurant Guroo has just opened a second branch -- this time right downtown. The original has been around for years, so it is somewhat a surprise to see its sudden expansion.

Issue 3920 | 9 Jun 2008

Southern South Korean
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer You could call Sammi the secret Korean restaurant. Its location is certainly hard to find -- there's absolutely no way you could just stumble upon it while walking by.

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey / Special to The Moscow Times The city's restaurants continue to unveil their summer terraces, patios and balconies. The Pinocchio chain of upmarket restaurants has simultaneously opened three summer outdoor options.

Issue 3917 | 5 Jun 2008

Syrok
By Maria Antonova / Special to The Moscow Times Icon

Designer Coffeehouse
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Design guru Artemy Lebedev has certainly branched out with his latest creation -- a diminutive cafe on Bolshaya Nikitskaya called Lavka Artemia Lebedeva.

Issue 3916 | 4 Jun 2008

Rytsarsky Goes French
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Rytsarsky Club has undergone a complete culinary transformation. The restaurant, which is well liked for its spectacular position perched atop Sparrow Hills, has dropped its Georgian menu in favor of a predominantly French selection.

Ask the Chef
Henry Wong, a chef from the Kopi Tiam restaurant in Swissotel The Stamford Singapore, is a guest chef for Swissotel Krasnye Holmy's Singaporean Culinary Week, which runs from June 2 to 8 at Cafe Swiss.

Issue 3915 | 3 Jun 2008

Chef’s Secrets: Caprese
A salad recipe from Dmitry Gotovtsev,
head chef at Italian restaurant Pasta Della Mamma
(Mamina Pasta).

Piano Strikes a Chord
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Piano is your typical local’s local restaurant. It has few pretensions, yet is nonetheless formal in its presentation. The interior is basically one large, dark beige hall.

Issue 3914 | 2 Jun 2008

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey / Special to The Moscow Times

Smelt at St. Petersburg
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Nothing heralds the arrival of spring in St. Petersburg more surely than the appearance of smelt on the Northern capital's menus. It is a tradition to ring in the new season with a large helping of these fine fish. Now Muscovites have the chance to partake in this tradition, as local restaurant SPB is flying in fresh St. Petersburg smelt daily.

Issue 3912 | 29 May 2008

Have Breakfast
By Lara McCoy Roslof / Special to The Moscow Times What to Do

Fish Tanks and Fugu
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Yet another Japanese eatery opening may not seem very remarkable in a city that is host to hundreds of sushi bars, but the new Misato restaurant is noteworthy for several reasons.

Issue 3911 | 28 May 2008

Baking the Daily Bread
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer The Le Pain Quotidien chain certainly has lots of buns in the oven. In less than a year, it has expanded across Moscow, opening bakery cafes not only in new shopping centers, but also in more appealing locations, such as the pedestrian-only Kamergersky Pereulok.

Ask the Chef
Antonio Baratto of Italy is head chef of the seafood restaurant Sirena.

Issue 3910 | 27 May 2008

A Revamped Vinograd
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Given the continuing popularity of The Real McCoy among fun-loving expats, it would seem to be a safe bet that if the people behind it chose to open another such establishment, then it would soon be guaranteed a loyal expat following.

Chef's Secrets: Rojak
A recipe from Henry Wong, one of the Singaporean guest chefs for Swissotel Krasnye Holmy's Singapore Culinary Week, as a part of Spotlight Singapore in Moscow, which runs June 2-8 at Cafe Swiss.

Issue 3909 | 26 May 2008

Steakhouse Surprise
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer It was only late last year when, with great fanfare and much news coverage, Grande Bouffe opened with its celebrity chef Stalik Khankishiyev, backed by restaurateurs Dmitry Borisov and Dmitry Yampolsky of Jean-Jacques, Apshu and Mayak fame.

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey / Special to The Moscow Times Bocconcino, the upmarket pizzeria restaurant that recently opened a second establishment out at the posh Vremena Goda shopping center on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, has just expanded its new restaurant.

Issue 3907 | 22 May 2008

Cabbage of the Sea
By Maria Antonova / Special to The Moscow Times There is a whole array of foods in Russia whose existence can only be justified by the fact that they have a high concentration of vitamins or minerals.

A Bar for High Fliers
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Riding the lift up 21 floors to reach Kalina Bar is an enjoyable experience in itself. The glass elevator provides an impressive view across the city -- in fact, the view may be better than from the restaurant itself. But even there, the view is impressive, making the Kalina Bar one of Moscow's top places to gaze out over the city while you eat.

Issue 3906 | 21 May 2008

Fit for a Thrifty Feast
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer If you're looking for an old-school banquet hall with prices that are hard to beat, then Pakhlava certainly fits the bill. It's huge, with a main hall that could certainly fit at least 200 people -- according to its business card.

Ask the Chef
Vladimir Smirnov is head chef at the restaurant Zapasnik (Art Garbage).

Issue 3905 | 20 May 2008

Ossetian Pies and More
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Moscow's boutique bakery scene keeps getting better as more and more specialty patisseries and bread shops open around town. One of the most recent to open is Tri Piroga, or three pies.

Game Pelmeni
Chef's Secrets

Issue 3904 | 19 May 2008

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey / Special to The Moscow Times

Fashionably Alfresco
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Modus follows the fashion-cafe formula so faithfully that you could almost think it was parodying its fellow followers of fashion. The color scheme features plenty of cream and chocolate tones, and naturally, there are paisley patterns on the curtains and cushion covers. There are framed black-and-white photos of fashion models and the like.

Issue 3902 | 15 May 2008

Rassol Guten Morgen
By Nathan Toohey / Special to The Moscow Times Every individual has their own personal hangover cure -- for some it's Berocca fizzy vitamins, for others it's a hair of the dog that bit you. Rassol, or pickle brine, has been the cure of choice among Russians from time immemorial. This is not just some folklore remedy -- it even has its backers among the medical community.

Suburban Georgian
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Barbaris is the kind of restaurant that is becoming increasingly hard to find in the center. Rising rents have been squeezing out small democratic cafes, which are being replaced by upmarket fine-dining establishments and cafes run by the big-chain restaurateurs. Luckily, further out from the center, these reasonably priced, down-to-earth eateries can still be found -- Barbaris is one such cafe.

Issue 3901 | 14 May 2008

A Kitchen Spectacular
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Until now, Moscow's nicest movie theater restaurant would have been the Oktyabr cinema complex's Porto Chervo -- a pleasantly casual Italian eatery run by the Arkady Novikov Group.

Ask the Chef
Glen Ballis is head chef at Nedalny Vostok restaurant.

Issue 3900 | 13 May 2008

Herring Parboiled in Cream and Piquant Herbs with Caramel Carrots and Green Aioli
Chef's Secrets

Extra Rounds at Litrbol
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer The only sport you're a master of is literball,"" or so goes the old joke. But it seems that this old joke may have a new lease on life at the recently opened Litrbol where a liter mug of the house beer sells for just 130 rubles.

Issue 3899 | 12 May 2008

A Deli for the Pond
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer The area surrounding Spiridonovka at posh Patriarch's Ponds is rife with upmarket eateries and swish cafes, but until now there was no true delicatessen. The recently opened Il Cucinino seems to have filled that niche.

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey / Special to The Moscow Times The warmer weather has led to the opening of more summer terraces every day. The latest is at the Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow, which has opened its Conservatory Terrace.

Issue 3897 | 7 May 2008

Falafel Feast at Feniks
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer When entering the recently opened Lebanese restaurant Feniks, the first thing that strikes you is the security, which is formidable.

Ask the Chef
Andrei Petrusevich is head chef at Tsvet Nochi restaurant.

Issue 3896 | 6 May 2008

The Latest Botanika
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer It was several years coming, but Botanika No. 2 has arrived. The original Botanika, located on Bolshaya Gruzinskaya Ulitsa, is not the kind of place you would expect to become a chain.

Chef's Secrets: Herring Marinated in Mizkan Vinegar With Sweet Potato and Peanut Pesto
A recipe from gastropub Prostiye Veshchi's guest chef, restaurant critic Alexei Zimin

Issue 3895 | 5 May 2008

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey / Special to The Moscow Times

An Azeri Evening at VV
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Vostochniye Vechera is a truly old-school Caucasus restaurant. Although it is situated in a rather unappealing location wedged between busy Nizhegorodskaya Ulitsa and the Third Ring Road, it strives to compensate with the fancifully decorated, free-standing building that houses it.

Issue 3893 | 29 Apr 2008

Fraisier
Chef's Secrets

Flavors of the Caucasus
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Azeri restaurant Bakinets has apparently decided to rebrand itself and is now known as Triumf. Rebranding is not uncommon on the local restaurant scene, especially when a restaurant is looking to inject some fresh mojo, and a fresh name often draws some attention. Triumf has certainly opted for rebranding-lite.

Issue 3892 | 28 Apr 2008

A Lesson in Fine Wine
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Vinnaya Istoria must boast the city's most advanced wine list. This is not simply a large, comprehensive collection, although it does feature 900 wines from 15 different countries.

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey / Special to The Moscow Times It might well seem that a new Japanese restaurant or at least a sushi bar opens every day somewhere around town.

Issue 3890 | 24 Apr 2008

Kulich (Russian Easter Bread)
Chef's Secrets

A Tibetan Makeover
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Sansara has opened in the former premises of the Mexican restaurant Coyote. Or more precisely, Coyote has been rebranded as Sansara, a Tibetan-Asian restaurant. The changes are fairly modest, to say the least, as much of the original Mexican-themed dОcor remains, including the wall murals. The new ""Tibetanness"" come in the form of some extra photographs of mountains and various souvenirs scattered about the place. Overall, the interior would best be described as colorfully eclectic, given the mishmash of various ethnic styles and the resulting psychedelic color scheme.

Issue 3889 | 23 Apr 2008

GUM's New Canteen
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Stolovaya 57 is quite incongruously located. Buried deep among GUM's boutiques and jewelers, the new eatery is exactly what its name would lead you to believe: It's basically a cafeteria, albeit a very good one.

Ask the Chef
Andrei Serdin is the brand-chef of the Goodman chain of steakhouses.

Issue 3888 | 22 Apr 2008

Cozy Comforts at Mari's
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Mari Vanna has arrived in Moscow. The Ginza Project team, the restaurateurs behind a diverse range of restaurants including Prado Cafe, Sorry Babushka and the Yaposha sushi-bar chain, have brought their Mari Vanna cafe concept down from St. Petersburg.

Chef's Secrets: Nicoise Salad With Fresh Tuna
A recipe from Yankel Schein, concept chef at Filimonova & Yankel fish house.

Issue 3887 | 21 Apr 2008

Soviet Side Door Eats
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Sluzhebny Vkhod is the latest retro-Soviet eatery to appear in Moscow, having opened just over a month ago.

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey / Special to The Moscow Times Arkady Novikov, a leading restaurateur and one of the founders of Moscow's modern restaurant scene has been awarded the Italian Order of Merit of the Republic, or Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana.

Issue 3885 | 17 Apr 2008

Drink of the Elephants
By Maria Antonova / Special to The Moscow Times Icon

La Grotta the Third
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Hidden away on a little winding lane, Metekhi was one of those mom-and-pop eateries that expats commonly complain there just aren't enough of around Moscow. It served hearty and wholesome Georgian dishes with a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Unfortunately, such inexpensive eateries seem to be falling afoul of Moscow's ever increasing rents. Metekhi has now closed as well, replaced by the third installment in the La Grotta series of Italian restaurants.

Issue 3884 | 16 Apr 2008

Good Beer at Grossbir
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Grossbir's opening coincided with the opening of Grossbif, which is not surprising since they are both the product of same restaurateur -- Vladimir Pavlov.

Ask the Chef
Alexei Strukov is brand chef of the Kolbasoff chain.

Issue 3883 | 15 Apr 2008

Tartare of Herring and Green Apples on Scandinavian Toast
Chef's Secrets

Pasta Around the Clock
By NathanToohey / Staff Writer Pasta i Basta definitely looks set to succeed. For starters, it is a creation of the restaurateurs behind such popular spots as the Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Ogni and Dantes. Furthermore, its location is prime -- on Sretensky Bulvar right by the fashionable Chistiye Prudy neighborhood.

Issue 3882 | 14 Apr 2008

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey / Special to The Moscow Times It's not uncommon for warm weather to roll into Moscow and catch the local cafe scene unprepared.

Fashionable Asian Mix
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Neglinnaya is a pretty posh street, lined with fancy stores, self-important banks and five-star hotels.

Issue 3880 | 10 Apr 2008

Satisfy Your Carb Craving
What to Do

Modern Eats at Grossbif
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Grossbif is a good example of why people living in Moscow's outer suburbs no longer need to look downtown to find a fine restaurant experience. Ulitsa Udaltsova may be far from the center, but this part of town does have its charms. Situated inside a small retail center that neighbors the large and pleasant Park Imeni 50-Letiya Oktyabrya, Grossbif is perfectly placed for a relaxed meal after a day strolling in the park. And Grossbif is a relaxed kind of place. It sports a modern and fairly minimal design, with large windows facing onto a nicely landscaped courtyard that give the restaurant an airy atmosphere.

Issue 3879 | 9 Apr 2008

Likbez
By Svetlana Osadchuk / Special to The Moscow Times Moscow does not have a reputation as a particularly child-friendly city, but there are some restaurants and stores that provide facilities with changing tables.

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