Golden time: what chefs treat you to in September
Moscow's gastronomic life is not slowing down. Recently, an Indonesian cuisine restaurant, a new Italian project and a Yerevan-style fast food establishment have appeared in the capital. "In "Izvestia" traditional review, you will find out what the new set at Twins Garden consists of, what the menu of the Korean meat restaurant K-BBQ has been updated with, what exclusive dishes appeared in the next "Atlantic" on Vernadsky and how seasonal mushrooms are revealed in Mushrooms. And let's also figure out what virgin herring is, which is now served in the grand cafe "Dr. Zhivago."
Kitchen for the soul
The space around the "Zotov" cultural center is one of the new promising points of gastronomic attraction in the capital. Not so long ago, the Italian cuisine restaurant "Farina" opened there, positioning itself as a local institution for spiritual communication. The name of the restaurant in Italian means flour, which is the semantic center of the national cuisine.
Beef tartare
When going to "Farina", do not let the sophisticated Moscow design deceive you — the menu here has a pronounced Italian temperament and this is perhaps the most important and most pleasant discovery. In the appetizers, you should pay attention to the juicy tartare, which is served with a generous portion of fragrant baked potatoes (by the way, the generosity of portions here is really more Italian than Moscow). Fans of the raw format will find all the usual positions: carpaccio (a choice of beef, octopus or cauliflower with truffle), sea bass crudo and scallop ceviche (with pickled tomatoes and popcorn). The bruschetta series reminds of Italy, and the author's approach is felt in the selection of variations — with tomatoes and strachatella, with roast beef and onion jam, with octopus and Tajik olives. And the traditional arancini appetizer in the form of fried rice balls is stuffed with octopus here.
Even salads, which are usually difficult to surprise, have interesting positions — for example, a bright and hearty salad with a substantial portion of roast beef and an unusual coffee dressing.
But the real highlight of the local cuisine is, of course, the dairy goat — a rare and perhaps not very familiar product in Moscow, but masterfully prepared in "Farina". A mound of tender, fibrous meat, which is quite enough for two not very well-fed eaters, is served on a pillow of baked potatoes soaked in meat flavors. Even if you rarely visit this area, it's definitely worth going there to try this position on occasion.
The pasta here, as you might expect from the name, is exclusively homemade, and therefore satisfying and satisfying. Among the many options, the editors especially liked the version with stewed oxtails and a generous portion of parmesan cheese. Baked quail with wild mushroom stew is suitable for aesthetes and connoisseurs of more dietary meat.
"Tomato" Cheesecake
Despite the lavish southern cuisine, it's too early to relax - the dessert menu also contains several bright spots. For example, Italian canolli tubes with lemon ricotta, chocolate-nut tiramisu and, a godsend for those who are tired of pronounced sweetness, the signature dessert, which is a cheesecake with a restrained curd—salty taste in tomato glaze. It is served, of course, in a form that is difficult to distinguish from a real tomato.
Bali at home
The renovated embankment of Gorky Park is also gradually turning into a full-fledged gastronomic cluster, replenished with new interesting places for those who like to have a delicious snack. A rather interesting project Made in Bali appeared here, the authors of which decided to arrange a kind of cultural representation of the island of Bali in the capital, where the main role is given to Indonesian cuisine.
Salmon ceviche with tomato ponzu and pomelo
Nikita Tolkachev, who is familiar to many from the 0.75 please Moscow restaurant, is responsible for the food. He is currently working with visiting Indonesian chef Nathan Bratajaja, who graduated from the Gordon Ramsay School in London. Together, they offer guests a Moscow version of Balinese cuisine, based on a combination of products more familiar to Russians with characteristic gastronomic accents of Indonesia. Of course, they also tried to minimize the degree of spiciness of the dishes, although this may seem too much to some.
The appetizers include scallop with coconut dressing, salmon ceviche marinated in tomato sauce with pomelo slices and shrimp with mango sambal sauce.
Rendang, traditional for Indonesians, is made here in the form of croquettes stuffed with stewed beef cheeks stewed in coconut milk with spices, and served with spinach curry. Duck leg is prepared using the confit method and supplemented with panicky sauce, which is usually used in bat dishes on tropical islands.
Baked halibut is perfect for a large company. It is served on a large tray with salad, edamame cream and pickled tomatoes, thus beating the tradition of eating together adopted by the Indonesians.
Halibut with salad, edamame cream and pickled tomatoes
The dessert card was developed by pastry chef Polina Zubakha, who also previously worked at 0.75 please Moscow. Her new sweets include a basket of raspberries and coconut cream, grilled pineapple with chili syrup, and miso ice cream.
Fast food with a Yerevan accent
In recent years, we have become accustomed to learning how Russian restaurateurs are exploring the markets of near and far abroad. But the process is also going in the opposite direction. One of the recent examples is the appearance of projects by the Armenian restaurant group BeckMan Group in Moscow. Last year, they opened their first fast food restaurant in the Russian capital "Bobby-Q" on Sushchevsky Val, and this August, a second place in the same format was added to it on Pokrovka.
Marbled Beef Kebab
The most important part of the open kitchen of the project is the author's barbecue with an impeccable hood, where key dishes of a fairly short menu are prepared. This is primarily a juicy, spicy and moderately fatty kebab made from marbled beef wrapped in pita bread, as well as its counterparts from lamb and chicken.
Chicken kebab
The signature barbecue is also offered in three versions — pork, chicken and turkey. Generous slices of steamed meat are complemented with tomatoes with herbs and a light sauce, and then placed in a homemade ciabatta.
A separate pride of the project is grilled khachapuri with a crispy crust on the outside and a soft cheese filling inside. As an additional side dish, you can choose potatoes baked on coals, and those who like to crunch the greens are offered a salad with seasonal vegetables and broccoli fried on the grill. Of the original drinks, it is worth paying attention to the cool ayran with spices.
Baked potatoes
The establishment is open until late at night, which makes it a particularly convenient option for those who like to walk around Pokrovka, where the party life is in full swing around the clock.
Eating with passion
At the end of September, Twins Garden chef Vitaly Saveliev launched perhaps the most original set since he took over the restaurant's kitchen. Eight creative handouts are accompanied by a gambling game in the format of an intellectual quiz. The host asks questions related in one way or another to the history of world gastronomy, sometimes addressing everyone together, sometimes addressing each guest individually. As a result, the winner receives a special prize from the restaurant, which is very original and closely related to the theme of the set. But other participants are not left out either — in addition to positive emotions and the pleasure of delicious food, everyone learns something new, interesting and useful for themselves.
Tartare from turbot
As for the set, the idea of the game is integrated into it as fully as possible — the food turns out to be not what it seems, each serving carries hidden meanings. It all starts with turbot tartare in a thin layer of dough, complemented by mint and lemon gel. The dish is formed in the form of a fish bladder, and is served on original dishes made from a single skeleton of the same turbofan.
The second course is served with mahi-mahi tartare, framed with jelly also in the shape of a fish skeleton — for comparison, guests are shown the "source code" that inspired the chef to serve. Next comes the Black Sea sargan in the form of sausage in the dough. To do this, the fish is pre-empted of bones and scales. The meat is lightly smoked, mixed with cream cheese and baked in dough, and served with whipped butter and sea urchin caviar. The "sausage" should be broken in half and eaten by dipping the scalding flesh in fragrant oil.
Next comes the pike cutlet, which Saveliev masterfully turns into a mushroom bowl with oyster mushrooms, and serves with baked potatoes and a sauce based on sour cream and dill. The fifth course is followed by a fillet of trumpeter with garlic broth, vegetables, spinach and shimeji mushrooms. All this is baked in a large tropical clam shell sealed with a slice of aged cheese. When serving, the savory cheese crust is cut and added to the dish.
After a series of visual deceptions, I want at least a little clarity and certainty. The chef has taken this into account and offers a picancha steak with ramiro pepper and cream cheese in a completely classic serving.
Carrot cream caramel
However, desserts bring the guests back into the game. Carrot cream with bitter carrot caramel is served in the core of the root vegetable, and complemented with fresh carrot sorbet in the form of ... tiny carrots. At the end, guests are presented with a finger lime tree made from mochi dough and various fillings inside. Everyone picks their own fruit on their own. Who gets what is a matter of luck.
The sea, worry
The capital's restaurateurs continue to expand their geography — new establishments are increasingly appearing in areas that were previously considered residential. So, Atlantica, a new restaurant chain, already known for its establishments on Kutuzovsky Prospekt (Atlantica), Myasnitskaya, Bolshaya Dmitrovka and Tsvetnoy Boulevard (all in the Atlantica Bistro format), opened near the "Yugo-Zapadnaya" metro station not so long ago.
The regulars of the first restaurant of the project, going to the new "Atlantic", should prepare for surprises. Concept chef Denis Krupenya and chef Bogdan Gogolev decided not to follow the beaten path and diluted their proven hits with a decent number of new items, including two special menus at once: Prime and Japanese Special.
The Big Osami Dog
There is still a wide selection waiting for fans of the raw bar. But those who want to try everything at once can cheat and start with tartare of three types of fish: tuna cubes, baramundi and trout served with lemon dressing and sturgeon caviar. The seafood hot dogs, specially designed for the new restaurant, are also worth a try. A hearty snack is served with a choice of crab (there is also a variation with sturgeon caviar), eel or octopus. Another hearty and elegant hot appetizer is zucchini flowers with baked crab and a trio of sauces. And if you want to try the "local" positions, you should choose cannelloni with red shrimp and three types of caviar or scallop baked on the sash (served with foie gras and sturgeon caviar).
Several types of potato tortillas on kefir with parmesan cheese are prepared in our own oven (imagine a classic Italian pizza, but on a more viscous and satisfying basis) and a couple of types of Indian roti.
The Prime menu features, among other things, trepang marinated with tomato ponzu, casarecce with half a lobster, and a choice of capellini or Grana Padano risotto with black caviar served in a cheese head. The very process of cooking and serving dishes at the table will definitely become a separate attraction and is the best way to meet on a special occasion. However, it is better to book these positions at tables with plenty of space next to them, or on days when there is no full seating in the restaurant (for example, on weekdays).
In Japanese Special, you can find the classics of Japanese cuisine, already loved by Muscovites, in the author's interpretation of the chef. The items range from rolls, sushi and sashimi to more complex options, but we especially appreciated the elegant serving of the Japanese katsu-sando sandwich with a substantial portion of tender tuna.
Mango no Mont Blanc with yuzu sorbet
By the way, the only dessert on the Japanese menu, mango no mont blanc, is perfect for those who are exhausted after a feast. The pleasant sourness of mango sherbet and yuzu sherbet will remove possible remorse from eating too much and refresh the receptors, and a delicate ganache made from a mixture of white chocolate and mango will be an excellent finishing note of the evening.
Seoul Syndrome
The Korean meat restaurant K-BBQ, which opened in April, has already become a popular gastronomic destination in the Patriarch's Ponds area. The menu of the project has grown significantly: if at the beginning it could fit on one page, now it is an impressive book, which includes many interesting novelties in the spirit of modern Seoul cuisine.
The format of the restaurant involves self-cooking meat on mini-grills built into the tables. You can choose from selected beef on ribs, duck fillet marinated in pear juice with soy sauce, and pork matured in kochudyan pepper paste. After roasting, meat is now offered to be eaten in the ssam style. To do this, a tray is served with assorted salads and shiso leaves, which are quite large here, as well as all kinds of panchans: cabbage and daikon kimchi, spinach with kochudyan, spicy tofu, wood mushrooms, pickled ginseng or fern with perilla oil.
Hot meat should be placed on a salad leaf, add the pancake you like to it, and then roll it into a roll and put it in your mouth. The juiciness of the meat meets the freshness of the leaf, the acid of fermentation, the sharpness and umami of the sauce, and the warm rice in the bowl helps to neutralize the fat content of the dish a little more.
The second important feature of the project is rich entrees based on collagen broth with a rich set of amino acids and minerals. And in the first row there is kalbitan, a traditional Korean soup with rich beef broth with the softest pieces of rib meat, sweet potato noodles and an omelet. Hearty and nutritious, it is great for our climate and, surprisingly, works great as a kind of intermission, preparing for the next dishes.
Other interesting gastronomic novelties and rarities include kimchi pancake made from fermented cabbage with starch, fried like a pancake, kimchi rice with duck, egg and tobiko caviar, as well as gerantim omelet pudding with chicken broth and eggs, topped with flying fish roe.
The creators of the project are not going to limit themselves to one point and are already looking at a new location for the second restaurant in Zamoskvorechye.
Mushroom Symphony
It is almost impossible to imagine early autumn without mushroom dishes, and in the Mushrooms restaurant on Yakimanka, this seasonal theme is perhaps revealed in all possible variety. The project has been in existence for 10 years, and recently its concept has been adjusted towards Italian cuisine. And although not all mushrooms familiar to Russians are used in the Apennines, concept chef Anatoly Kazakov and chef Andrey Shamov have managed to harmoniously integrate forest gifts into the Italian gastronomic tradition.
Mushroom expanse begins with cold appetizers. The salad with pears, smoked sour cream and baked potatoes is almost rustic — simple in mood, but well balanced. In another salad, fragrant chanterelles are found with quinoa and fresh tomatoes, whose sweetness delicately emphasizes the taste of red mushrooms.
Black chanterelles are already well known to the capital's gourmets as a southern delicacy. And once upon a time Mushrooms were one of the first restaurants to introduce them to the Moscow public. Now lightly fried black chanterelles elegantly complement the beef tartare, which is served with a piece of crispy focaccia.
The slightly salty white mushrooms turned out to be in not the most obvious, but successful company — with the Dorado crudo. They get along well with fish, too. And porcini mushrooms in the Italian interpretation are found with anchovy sauce and delicate pink veal in vitello tonnato.
Dorado crudo with mushrooms
buttermilk, black mushrooms, horseradish and porcini mushrooms were combined in a thick stew. All this mushroom assortment deeply impregnates the pearl barley, cooked almost al dente, and fills the plate with the aromas of the autumn forest.
An absolute hit is a pizza with calibrated puffers sliced crosswise. It is cooked on a thin dough in just a few minutes, so the mushrooms retain exceptional juiciness. And to enhance the flavor, slices of black truffle are added on top. There is another version with a mix of shiitake, porcini mushrooms, chanterelles and champignons. Here, each mushroom gives its own shade, and together they add up to a rather complex and bright composition.
The mushroom theme continues in pasta: the menu includes homemade caramellas with honey mushrooms and porcini mushrooms, as well as orzo with stewed goat meat, stewed in the oven, and wild oyster mushrooms.
Caramel with honey mushrooms and porcini mushrooms
And even the desserts got their own portion of the forest. The overall line is rounded off by a Basque cheesecake with porcini mushroom ice cream and black chanterelle jam with lingonberries — an unexpected but quite logical continuation of the autumn story.
Virgo Fish
There is a special attitude towards herring in Russia, and for most of us it is primarily a national snack — the same fish with onions, potatoes and a glass of something stronger. But herring has a completely different side — a delicacy. For example, the so-called virgin or non-kissed Atlantic herring of a special catch. She recently appeared on the menu of the grand cafe "Dr. Zhivago."
Such herring is harvested in the waters of the Northern, Norwegian, Barents and White Seas from the end of May to the end of July. During this period, the fish reaches maximum fat content and does not waste energy on spawning yet, and three-year-olds are of the greatest value.
Virgin herring
Of course, it's not just the catch itself, but also the cooking method. Non—kissed herring is marinated using a special Dutch technology called maatjes, which makes the fillet especially oily, tender, and devoid of its usual pungent odor. All that remains is a deep, delicate taste. It is known that Tsar Peter I was a big fan of this dish, and it is thanks to him that it is believed to have first come to our country.
In "Dr. Russian "Zhivago" is served in a completely Russian way - with new potatoes, red onion rings and brioche croutons and Borodino bread are added to them.
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