Fresh trends: what's new in Moscow restaurants in the spring
The Russian capital is rightfully considered the trendsetter of gastronomic fashion in our country. Moscow restaurants generate new ideas based on both international experience and their own national and regional culinary traditions. The most notable events shaping the current gastronomic agenda of the metropolis are described in the traditional Izvestia material.
Serious ease
Vitaly Saveliev feels more and more confident in his role as the chef of the Twins Garden restaurant. He recently launched his second author's set since the relaunch of the project, Twins Easy. Compared to last year's Golden Ring, this work looks much more mature, both in concept and execution.
Atlantic mackerel with greens
There are 11 serves in the set. The gastroprotection begins with a series of light fish snacks. Tuna belly with tomato sabayon is replaced by lacedra with extruded rice and onion hollandaise and Atlantic mackerel with herbs, as well as the thinnest croutons with whipped butter, goat cheese and black caviar. Then comes the turn of the freshly baked, crunchy, and tender—fleshed bread, a kind of homage to one of the main symbols of any Russian table. It is served with a sauce of pickled pears, sour cream and dill oil.
The bread symbolically announces the transition to the main section, which opens with perhaps the most impressive position — Kamchatka crab with carrot tagliatelle baked with smoked bacon and a bisque with carrot puree.
Crispy brisket
However, the rest of the submissions are no less informative. A dense fillet of monkfish is served with wakame and sweet lemon, the quail is taken apart, offering a separately smoked breast with a quail consomme in the form of a "raw egg" and a "bone" of freeze-dried eggplant caviar, and then the leg itself, glazed in hoisin sauce, with baked eggplant and fresh plum. The main section ends with an incredibly delicate stewed brisket with a spicy crispy crust, shimeji and mustard sauce.
At this point, the waiter cautiously asks the guest if he is feeling hungry. If the answer is yes, he is offered a wonderful sausage of wagyu beef and lamb loins with stewed sauerkraut, pickled onions and cranberry sauce.
Smoked quail breast with a "bone" of freeze-dried eggplant caviar
The curtain is followed by sea buckthorn with marzipan in the form of bees on chamomile and honey cake in the form of honeycombs with sour cream and honey-citrus marmalade, which is served in an edible bowl of caramel. And another bonus is a variety of handmade candies made in the form of vegetables and reminding the guest that the restaurant has its own farm in the Yaroslavl region.
Between the past and the future
The opening of the Kalinka on Neglinka restaurant of Russian cuisine is one of the most notable events in May in the gastronomic life of the capital. We are talking about a new project that combines the experience of national cuisine on the one hand and attention to regional products on the other.
Baked vegetable vinaigrette with hamsa
Chef Alexey Tkachenko, himself an enthusiastic researcher of the Russian culinary heritage, not only pre-revolutionary, but also Soviet, is responsible for the cuisine. He developed a relatively small, yet conceptually complete menu. Eggplant caviar, jelly, pickles, vinaigrette, olivier, kulebyaka, borscht with pampushki, pancakes, cabbage rolls, dumplings, shish kebab, fish cutlets with mashed potatoes, etc. All the dishes, without exception, are well known and understandable, nevertheless they are executed expertly and with close attention to detail.
Cabbage rolls in pepper and sour cream sauce
So, the vegetables for the vinaigrette are baked in the oven, and when served, they are complemented with hamsa. Pike caviar for a snack is mixed not with sour cream, but with whipped butter, which allows you to preserve its wonderful grainy texture, and is served with the finest pearl barley croutons. Pickles contain soaked quince, dogwood and grapes. The jelly is dense and delicate at the same time, cooked from three types of meat and served with apple horseradish. A little fat is certainly added to pike cutlets, which gives them an expressive juiciness, usually uncharacteristic for such fish.
Three types of meat jelly with apple horseradish
Among the undoubted successes are okroshka on kefir, torn goose stewed in the oven with millet porridge, cheesecakes with whipped sour cream and beef stroganoff with crispy oyster mushrooms.
Okroshka on kvass or kefir
There are also several tables with samovars in the establishment, so guests can arrange real tea gatherings with pies, jam and bagels. The selection of ingredients for brewing is extensive, including exclusive blends created specifically for Kalinka.
New handwriting
A change of chef is a crucial event for any restaurant. Because behind this, as a rule, the owners' desire to significantly correct something in their project is hidden. The concept of the institution may remain the same, but its specific content sometimes becomes radically different. This spring, the chef was replaced in several restaurants that occupy an important place in the gastronomic picture of the capital.
Rooster in red wine
For example, a new chef, Evgeny Utkin, an expert in the French culinary tradition, known to many for his work at Brasserie Most, has settled in the kitchen at Neobistro Geraldine. Moreover, he has already made significant changes to the menu.
— Our main menu contains unconditional and wonderful French classics, to which I add new accents, — chef Utkin told Izvestia. — Let's say a rooster in wine is served with mashed celery. Kok-o-wan is a rather tart dish with a concentrated sauce, which means that the side dish should balance it. The delicate creamy taste of celery puree does a great job with it.
Tartare in a rustic way
The beef tenderloin tartare, which is mandatory for French establishments, has also been updated. In the new version, it is very finely chopped and due to this technique, the taste of the dish becomes more saturated. The appetizer is served with a fresh baguette and potato espuma (referring to traditional French fries), which also makes the position more aesthetic and easy. A similar author's approach can be traced in the foie gras terrine, which is elegantly served with onion jam on a crisp brioche.
Confit duck with stewed red cabbage and quince
The "hot appetizers" section in Geraldine has been expanded with stewed jerusalem artichoke with fried champignons and beef bacon, buckwheat noodles with shrimp and chicken, and in the "Main dishes" category, duck confit with stewed red cabbage and quince, as well as entrecote with potato espuma and pepper sauce have been added to the rooster in red wine.
"In French cuisine, scrupulousness is important: choosing the right ingredients, using them correctly, and following a strict cooking plan," our interlocutor continues. — Everything should be clear, and this discipline always gives the right result.
Entrecote with potato espuma and pepper sauce
In April, the chef was replaced in one of the first wine projects in Moscow, the Touché restaurant. The restaurant's kitchen was headed by Bulat Ibragimov, who previously worked at the Kazan restaurant Artel, known for its modern serving of local dishes. He recently presented his first menu, full of fresh and rather unexpected ideas. It is based on popular dishes of European cuisine, complemented by local products available right now.
—Touché style is a simple meal for every day, with the quality and seasonality of the product at the forefront," Chef Ibragimov shared his vision of the concept. — The main idea of the update is a light summer menu with lots of greens, vegetables and berries.
Tuna carpaccio Le Bernardin
Unusual creative discoveries begin already in the raw section, where two fish carpaccio are presented at once. The tuna version is inspired by the signature dish of the New York restaurant Le Bernardin, which has foie gras under thin slices of tuna. In his version, Chef Ibragimov placed the slicing on a cream cheese pad. As a result, the tender fillet was complemented with a pleasant creamy component, making the snack slightly less greasy. Another carpaccio is made from Magadan sockeye salmon, a wild fish that feeds mainly on small crustaceans, so its meat remains low-fat and bright red. The chef complemented this dish with tomato gel and fresh raspberries, which creates an interesting contrast with the deep taste of sockeye salmon.
Tonnato tongue with homemade cheese and herbs
In the cold appetizers section, beef tongue with tonnato sauce is intriguing. It looks like there are two long sausages on a plate in front of you, but in fact they are thin slices of strongly boiled tongue wrapped in tubes filled with a mixture of cream cheese and mascarpone with basil. Another interesting warm summer snack is a sophisticated version of the Tuscan panzanella salad. It is based on cubes of bread soaked in vinegar, with slices of octopus, cuttlefish and Argentine squid lightly fried in butter. Selected seasonal herbs are added to these ingredients: juicy tomatoes, young beans, mint and two types of basil. The Greek kalamata olives add a spicy accent to the salad.
Panzanella with octopus
The chef's undisputed find is a beef heart steak. The muscle is fried to a medium state. This approach allows you to preserve the rich meat taste of the product. The steak is served with a side dish of spring vegetables and herbs — asparagus, new potatoes, green peas and green beans, complemented with velute mushroom sauce.
Artichokes in tempura with cheese mousse
Bold experiments continue in dessert dishes. One example is fresh beetroot panna cotta with cream and vanilla. The sweet is accompanied by a summer salad of young peas, rhubarb and strawberries, as well as rhubarb jam, which adds sweet and sour notes to the dish.
Chinese attraction
Moscow's gastronomic life today is absolutely impossible to imagine without Chinese cuisine, the interest in which is only growing every year. The restaurateurs move on, introducing the guests to the curious traditions of the feast of the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire. So in the restaurants "Chinese Letter" on Sretenka and in Barvikha, on weekends they are now invited to hogo, an original meal with a history dating back more than two thousand years. The very concept of khogo includes both a method of cooking food using a special boiler called a Chinese samovar, and a form of leisure activities with family or friends. Each participant of the meal prepares their own snacks by placing various foods in a hot broth.
"In China, khogo does not have a strict schedule — it is eaten when you want to sit at the table tasty and leisurely," Zhang Xiancheng, chef of the Chinese restaurants, told our publication. — This is usually a dinner, especially between five and nine in the evening, where families or groups of friends gather. During big holidays like National Day or Mid-Autumn Festival, hogo often becomes the main dish at home feasts.
According to our interlocutor, the khogo in his project is a thoughtful and popular weekend option for those who want to try the traditional taste in an adapted format. During the meal, a classic split pot is used with two broths — ma la (with chili pepper and seasonings) and tomato. The sharpness of the first one has been slightly reduced so that it is not too harsh for those who are not used to it, but if you want something really spicy, it is enough to inform about it in advance.
The broths are served with plates of vegetables and herbs, which include bok choy, lotus root, green onion, iceberg lettuce, cilantro, daikon, spinach, soy asparagus and wild pepper. Also in a separate bowl are mushrooms (black wood, shimeji, enoki and eringi), thinly sliced lamb and beef fillets and fillets of duck breast, shrimp, squid fillets, tofu cheese and transparent noodles. Khogo is served with a large number of sauces that can and should be mixed: nutty, soy, coconut, chili, seafood and meat.
The participants of the feast decide for themselves what to try and how long to cook food in the samovar. The boiled ingredients can be eaten separately or tasted with broth in the form of soup, and the temperature of the broth is regulated using the hob.
"This format is suitable for both local guests and visitors from China. Someone is looking for a familiar taste, someone wants to try something new, but without shock," the chef shares his observation. — The Chinese come to us and, judging by the reviews, the taste remains authentic for them.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
