(More) Recent Eats in London

Posted: January 8, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: London | Tags: , , , , | 3 Comments

Big Ben

I’m lucky that I  live near Maroseika, a major Moscow dining street, which has many diverse restaurants. But it’s funny–anytime we’re likely to start talking about Indian restaurants someone says, “oh, Maharajah.” Yes, been there, done that. Oh, Thai food at Thai Thai? That too. In a city of ten million, surely there must be more than one restaurant of each cuisine. While Indian and Thai may not be so popular (“too spicy,” I’ve heard) sushi is huge here, and hopefully it’ll be only a little while before we see other Asian cuisines become equally popular. In the meantime, there are some super-luxe creations to contend with. Just take a walk down Tverskaya and you’ll see what I mean. None of what I ate over the holidays was super luxe, really, but most of the time that’s the way I like it. Simple and delicious:

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, 13-15 West Street, Soho : My colleague suggested this one ages ago. Any time he had a special occasion coming up, he said, he liked to book a place at L’Atelier. With good reason; this branch has garnered two delicious Michelin stars and has reasonable prix-fixe prices for the pre- or post-theatre crowd. Robuchon has been doing well in nine countries, and I see no reason to stop him. Indeed, I quite enjoyed my foam-laced amuse bouche and the most beautifully cooked salmon. Not to mention the darling French waiters and even more darling mango dessert.

Robuchon

The Dove, 24 Broadway Market, Bethnal Green: My sister’s friend lives in the area, which is so cool it might have already become ironic. She said that at one of the ATMs nearby she was asked if she wanted service in English or…Cockney. We made fun of those damn hipsters all afternoon–their beards, Ray- Ban glasses, plaid shirts, open-whenever-they-feel-like-it speakeasies, and the way people sighed after her flat, which used to be council housing–but I don’t know…I like a high-quality wine and an all-arts bookstore every now and again. And, obviously, brunch. This place served it up nice. I’d like all eggs florentine all the time, thanks. Later on we went to The Book Club in Shoreditch, where (case in point) there were no actual books, though there was, I believe, a ping pong tourney going on in the basement. Oh, and a good Aperol spritzer.

Recipease, 92-94 Notting Hill Gate, Notting Hill: There are lots of restaurants around, but I’m not sure I need Jamie Oliver’s name slapped on all of them. I’ve eaten at one of Jamie’s Italian places in Oxford, which was nice, but this one seems more necessary; it’s different because the ground floor is done pantry-style with prepared foods: fresh soups, pastries, even lasagnas and whole chickens, and then the upstairs is more of a traditional cafe: brunch offerings and sweet homemade (read: £3) sodas.

Princi, 135 Wardour St., Soho: For a good catch-up session, my friend Kasia and I ate giant buffalo mozzarella pizzas and sipped on fresh juice in this bustling shop. I wish I had taken my own pictures of their fabulous pastry section, but you can see the website for that. Highly recommended, with extremely good Yelp reviews.

Rossopomodoro, 50-52 Monmouth St., Covent Garden: OK, not our absolute first choice, but it was the 28th of December, and beggars can’t be choosers. This place proved nice indeed, and my olive oil pasta was simple and tasty. I also appreciated the giant portions of bruschetta and the sweetest and most humble Italian waiters.

Thai Rice, 42 Crawford St., Marylebone: I also like Two Point down the street, but this one is probably a bit better, though with strange lighted tabletops. Luckily, on those crazy tables as you enter are free wasabi peas to nibble on and clear the palate. Everything was really well prepared, especially the pad thai and its jumbo shrimp.

Pad Thai

Zayna, 25 New Quebec St., Marylebone: Somewhat hilariously, my Yelp review of this excellent Pakistani/North Indian restaurant was featured in their digest a while back. How proud I was! I’m also glad to know that this place is still going strong since the first time we first visited a few years back. Zayna, La Porte des Indes and Woodlands form the perfect trifecta of North Indian, French-influenced, and South Indian dining.

And there you have it. For more London recommendations, check out my initial Edible Guide to London (Parts I and II), and some more recent eats.

How to Eat Healthily in Moscow: Restaurants

Posted: August 4, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Moscow | Tags: , , , | 6 Comments

Despite what my recipes for scones, chocolate chip cookies and, um, snickers bars may suggest, I try to stay committed to healthy eating. I try to give the sweets to colleagues and guests, aside from the obligatory dough tastings. Those are mine. Most days I like to eat simply, but eating as I was used to in the West can be quite the challenge in Russia. The classic Russkii diet of vodka and cigarettes is definitely going to kill you, but even if you don’t count those most unhealthy of vices, Russian cuisine features a ton of milk fat, meat, mayonnaise, drinking, and pastries. Delicious, sure, but not for every day. I kind of don’t know how all the young Russian devushkas stay so thin…except that I do. It’s the portions: the frustratingly tiny 200-rouble cappuccinos and single scoops of ice cream.  It’s quite difficult–sometimes ridiculously so–to get some of the food that I took for granted back home. Not even my raisin-spelt bread or kamut perogies; those, I now understand, are luxuries. No. What I’m talking about are cans of chickpeas, cartons of tofu and fresh greens–kale, chard, bags of spinach. I miss those things (& almond butter) the most; they’re impossible or extremely hard to find and, when you do find them, beware that they’ll likely be imported from Italy or Germany and will cost a fortune.

Fortunately, there are alternatives, and I’ve been experimenting a lot. For protein, I may not be able to procure a lot of tofu or beans, but I’ve been eating herring, wonderful smoked salmon, buckwheat, millet and nuts. I’ve also been eating more dairy products, like milk and the tasty, ubiquitous tvorog.  There was a time when I lived on very little dairy, and drank mostly coconut or almond milk when I could. But I’m back to milk, and I feel OK about it. And as far as calcium is concerned, there are sardines and cabbage, a leafy green that is widely available here and is very, very cheap. And otherwise, there is seasonal produce: now’s the time for peaches, cherries and blueberries (maybe they’re bilberries?) from the babushka on the corner.

Photo by Sarah Britton at My New Roots

If you’re looking for actual vegetarian restaurants, sadly there are, like, two places listed on Happy Cow. Pathetic! There are over 10 million people in this city, so I am SURE there are heaps of cash to be made if they opened a Whole Foods or, like, a salad bar. There’s a place near me with a bright green sign that claims to be healthy called Focaccia-somethingorother. I never thought that focaccia would count as…health food, and also, those are tortillas. Not the same thing. I don’t know though, if we got some better places I’d probably start having convulsions. That almost happened when I got my nut butter, as documented below on my friend Stasya’s camera:

I don’t need my home comforts every single day, but it’s nice to have them as an option for when I want to splurge or when I feel homesick. With that in mind, here are some restaurants that provide food that feels healthy and fresh and is, above all else, DELICIOUS:

  • Prime Star: Not so much a restaurant, say, as a cafe. They have a location on Arbat, which I frequent a lot when I work in the area. They have a mix of old Russkii favourites like buckwheat with mushrooms, borsch, kefir, and a random array of sushi and wraps. The prices are reasonable, the food is fresh and healthy. On Arbat especially, that’s as good as it gets.
  • Dve Palochki: There is probably more Japanese food in Moscow than any other cuisine, so you can pretty much feel free to go wild. But I like this chain, and have fond memories of it from when I was in St. Petersburg. If you’re sharing, their sets for two are to die for. The service is really quite good, too.
  • Jagganath: This Indian vegetarian resto has three locations, one of which is near me, thank God. They don’t serve meat and they don’t serve alcohol, but they have a variety of tofu, bean, and paneer-based dishes, as well as lots of yummy-looking desserts. You pay by the quantity, which is reasonable, and they also have a small store where you can pick up fixings for another healthy supper.
  • Ludi Kak Ludi: This sweet restaurant serves weekend “brunch” and a good, cheap business lunch. There are vegetarian options and a ton of different smoothies to choose from. On the afternoon we went, it was packed with pretty much 100% of the Moscow hipsters.
  • Avocado: This one, on the Chistie Prudi boulevard, also looks promising, especially since it’s about ten minutes from where we now live. (LOVE this area.) They apparently use only fresh, organic produce. I find this incredibly hard to believe, frankly, but I’m going to test it out. Besides, there’s supposed to be a nice patio for use while it’s warm and beautiful.
  • Gagan: A friend of a friend here goes to India on business a lot, and when asked what his favourite Indian place in Moscow was, he mentioned Gagan without hesitation. It’s a bit far from me, by Dinamo metro, so I’ve yet to go, but I will soon. (However, I would give them a call before–their website is acting up and won’t tell me any of their information anymore.) I have been to another LOVELY Indian place, though: Maharajah on Maroseika. Not cheap, but super, super delicious.
  • Xleb i Moloko: I’ve passed this place about a million times by now on my way to and from work. It’s supposed to serve fresh farmer’s products, homemade bread, etc. It’s sort of in a strange place, right next to the Chistie Prudi metro station and some weird pharmacies, but the interior photos look extremely promising. Can’t wait to go in!

On that note, I’ll talk about Russian farmer’s products very soon, with part TWO of this article!

Moscow Cafés

Posted: April 4, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Moscow | Tags: , , | 6 Comments

Technically, I don’t live in Moscow, I live in Mytischi, a small suburb to the north-east, past the orange metro line and onwards, onwards, onwards. Mytischi is where I work, sleep, and bake cakes and pastries. One of my teenage students tells me that it used to be a fortified city that protected Moscow from invaders. I’m not so sure what it does now. When I get stir crazy I head south to Moscow on the commuter trains (the elektrichka), all the while listening to people selling everything from slippers to pens to vegetable peelers. Since I’ve arrived, I’ve spent many happy hours in cafes alone or with friends, eating and drinking at some very sweet places. I must warn that espresso-based coffees of all sorts are very expensive here, but to my mind it’s all worth it in exchange for a little break:

Chocoladnitsa (Шоколадница): You can’t throw a stone without hitting a Chocoladnitsa, so I won’t go into detail about locations. I’d like to research where this place came from, though, as their little logo has a strange Poirot-esque character with a monocle?? I quite like the cacao here, but I also sampled some of my friend Stasya’s sea buckthorn tea, and it was very nice indeed.

Coffee House (Кофе Хаус) : Again, so many locations (almost all of which are open 24 hours a day). Fabulous sirniki and a reliable cappuccino make this place one of my favourites. I’d bet my money that this (tied with Chocoladnitsa) is the most popular café in the city.

Eko Bazaar (Эко Базар) г. Мытищи, бульвар Ветеранов, стр. 2: One of the few nice things you’ll hear me say about my area (sorry, Mytischi!). This brand-new place is awesome and my quality of life has easily doubled since I found out about it. At Eko Bazaar there’s the most wonderful Uzbek/Georgian/Caucasian bakery, where you can get fresh lepyoshka, khachapuri and pastries. It just squeaks into this category, because at a café I’ll almost always stop for a pastry. The honey vendors are also awesome, and very sweet to foreigners. I’m not sold on their second floor, which looks a little sad, but the 1st floor is great. All it needs is a real café (not a hallway) and it’ll be set.

Kafe Litsa (Кафе Лица) Остоженка, д. 8: Café faces (Café “Your Face” in my imagination) served up a very nice salad and a good cup of tea. It’s near Kropotkinskaya metro and next to the Multimedia Museum, a super-pleasant area of the city. (As an aside, there are very nice-looking apartments for sale close-by too, and I weep for that they are probably a bazillion dollars.)

Karavaevi Brothers’ Culinary Shop (Кулинарная лавка Братьев Караваевых) ул. Покровка 14/2, plus others: My friend Helena recommended it, and she was so right; crowded with students, young people, and the general hipper-than-thou, this place was awesome. It served up a cheap cappuccino, tasty pirogi and a lovely zapekanka (a semi-sweet cheesecake). I’m so glad that places like this exist in Moscow–semi-independent, creative and cheap. It has a really different feel to it from most Moscow shops–perhaps it has a hint of the Nordic to it?

Marzipan Café (Кафе Марципан) Новая Площадь, д. 14: We thought we were heading to this place, when we found ourselves in this classy joint instead. A coat-check area, a fancy washroom and a very reasonable business lunch await. Ah, the business lunch or “Бизнес Ланч,” if you will: on weekdays nearly every restaurant in the Moscow area offers full meals and a coffee/cold drink for 300 roubles or less. It’s quick, filling, and very reasonable compared to the other offerings in the city.

Orloffsky (Орлоффский Хлеб) Новый Арбат 13: Contrary to many “luxe” places in Moscow, this one has clean lines and big, bright windows. No flowing damask here. Instead, simple pastries and coffees, and nice rounded tables. The food is a touch on the dry side, but aren’t the pastries pretty?

Starbucks (Старбакс) Арбат ул. 19/2, plus others: OK, this may seem like a very ordinary idea, but it’s rather special. The thing about Starbucks in Moscow is that it’s really a “thing.” It’s not an average place you’d just hit up for your morning coffee. Even if you’re alone with your laptop, in Moscow you go to Starbucks to be seen. With the average coffee here costing around $6, it’s rather on the fancy side. I used to frequent the location on Arbat (the more easterly location) when I worked in the area, and its almond croissants were to die for. In fact, they still are. And you know what a fan of those I am:

Volokonsky (Волоконски Кайзер) ул. Б.Садовая, 2/46, plus others: You know it’s the real deal when you hear French expats deciding on this week’s bread. There’s always a huge queue, and that’s because the pastries and bread are the best in the city. There are many branches of this popular café, but I like this one by Mayakovskaya, as you get to enter and exit from that incredible metro station. I suppose that being one of Stalin’s favourite poets ensured that Mayakovsky would always get the best stations.

If you’re still feeling low on caffeine, there are also places like Coffee Mania, which I’ve mentioned before (crazy expensive, but worth it every once in a while) and Double Coffee, which has really rich and delicious hot chocolate. There are also a bunch of Le Pain Quotidien (Хлеб Насущный) branches, too, for that Belgian touch. See below Stasya’s yummy-looking sirniki:

Next Stops: I plan to report back soon after nighttime visits to restaurants. My classy students have given me many recommendations, including Café Pushkin, the most expatey, pricey place in the city (may save that for a visit from Mama!); Casa Agave for a real margarita; Tapa de Comida to relive the Madrid experience; and Elardzhi for some top Georgian food. Have a great week!

Brothers Karavaevi Image from here, sirniki photo by Stanislava Kostenko. All other images my own.

New Year, New York: What to Eat in Manhattan

Posted: January 7, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: New York | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments

I’m back in London, having just returned from my first trip to North America in over a year. It was such a great month, one that finished up with five days in my favourite city–New York! It’s absolutely impossible to get bored there, and you don’t have to search hard to find good food (if you go with the crowds and prepare yourself to wait a while). You’ve just got to know the rules when eating there: tipping is all but mandatory, and 20% or $1 a drink is de rigeur these days. If it’s your first time there, you have to get some of the classic Manhattan foods first–spiced peanuts, street vendor pretzels, and maybe some pastrami from Katz’s–but after that there’s such maddening variety that you could have anything you ever wanted any night of the week. On that note, here are a smattering of the places I visited on this trip:

Penelope, 159 Lexington Ave. This was my first stop with Gillian after a super-long Greyhound trip, and it was such a pleasure. New York is the only place I can think of that tops Toronto for brunch. Brunching in New York is like a contest with twelve tables worth of winners, everyone jostling for space and the last of the waffles (which were awesome: pumpkin-flavoured with apple butter and spiced pecans). Best for: Long catch-ups and an invigorating start to the day.

The Ace Hotel, 20W 29th Street. We stopped here for a cocktail or two to begin our night, and the lobby bar was filled with colleagues having after-work drinks, Columbia kids who came downtown with their laptops to study and drink on the lighted tables, and those there to celebrate–like us! Have a glass of wine or bottled beer, sure, but I wish I had ordered a cocktail from their menu; they looked festive and delicious. Best for: An indulgent, posh evening.

The Blind Barber, 339 East 10th St. Barber shop by day, bar by night. Like Beauty Bar that we went to a couple of years back, this place was packed and hot (even on the night before New Year’s Eve); time to get cozy. I suggest crashing the library-esque VIP space at the back, or just mingling and seeing what kinds of characters you find; for example, one jolly gentleman offered a drink and then rescinded his offer, ripping his $20 bill in half and laughing hysterically. Har. You might even have a celeb sighting, as some of us did–what’s good enough for Zooey Deschanel is good enough for me! Best for: Feeling undeniably hip.

Ray’s Pizza, 27 Prince St. You can imagine how this goes: it’s New Year’s Eve, you’re trying to get home, and there are no cabs. One suddenly appears, but then the group ahead beats you to it. You stand on the curb for 20 minutes, your hand out like a fool, to no avail. You take a pizza break and munch on a hot plain cheese slice like this one from Ray’s. It makes the high heel-induced pain almost worthwhile. Best for: The consummate slice, with consummate New York attitude. Live it, love it.

Nobu, 105 Hudson St, plus a million other locations worldwide. For a restaurant that makes me think of Sex and the City (whether the ladies ever went here or not) it’s actually pretty reasonably priced, as long as you don’t order the delicious-looking (and very expensive) Omakase. You can get super-fresh sushi/sashimi fare here, which is what we did, or you can definitely get a mix of hot and cold plates, tapas-style. Actually, we got those too! The Arctic Char was lovely. The desserts–green tea ice cream, mochi sandwiches and chocolate mousse–also looked fabulous. Best for: Date night, platonic or otherwise.

Reserve, 407 3rd Ave. This place has the honour of being the only Thai wine bar I’ve ever seen–Thai tapas and wine. Cool. With a spicy curry in you, Prosecco at 20% off and complementary glasses of sparkling at the end, this place was the perfect entry to 2012. Happy New Year!

Birch Coffee, 5 E 27th St. Connected to the very cool-looking Gershwin hotel, Birch is preparing for the future with their super-sustainable stuff and friendly service. If that’s not enough,  they even cold-brew their own iced coffee (which I’m sure is more of a tempting treat in the hot, humid New York summers than it was then in the cold). Cool artwork, a quiet space and proximity to the Empire State building means that this is a nice central spot to begin or end your day. You might also try Joe, though beware that you could end up balancing your cuppa on your lap for lack of seats. Best for: An eco-friendly caffeine hit to your day–and an escape from the NY cold.

Sixth Ward, 191 Orchard St. “The Sixth Ward, otherwise known as The Five Points Neighborhood, was a place where tenants were terrorized and all manner of crime flourished. Hundreds of years later, thankfully times have changed.” So warns their website. Now the Sixth Ward is an Irish bar, and you’re more likely to be put in harms way by your own bad dancing than nefarious thugs. Best for: A Guinness, a dance, and an end to your New Year’s Eve.

Serendipity 3, 225 E 60th St. What a favourite. I remember going to many birthday parties and farewells here when I was young. There was also a movie based on this resto, which made it even more famous and crowded. Have the frozen hot chocolate, in one of many flavours (like peanut butter and mocha) but beware both the $8.50 minimum and the fact that they accept only a very few reservations, so you’ll probably be waiting at least an hour. Best for: Nurturing your inner child.

Brasserie 360, 200 E. 60th St. While waiting for Serendipity’s to call our number (as you can see from the address, it’s right up the street), 360 was the place to go for ice water and lox with bagels. If you’re not gonna get pastrami on rye in New York, the least you could do is get some lox, capers and red onions. So New York! I also tried some of my friends’ sweet potato fries and can also concur that they are wicked. Best for: A relaxed, quiet brunch.

Other spots that I loved a lot a few years ago, but whose deliciousness will warrant more recent inspection include: H&H for bagels, Cowgirl for baked potato ice cream (try it!), Peanut Butter & Co. for the best fluffernutter, Babycakes for mostly gluten free vegan treats, Tony’s for enormous portions of Italian food, Lili’s for scallion pancakes and Tasti D-Lite for the original low-cal ice cream. Those places have active websites, so I’m hoping they’re still around, but while writing this I noticed with great sadness that a number of my favourites–like Annie’s, Totonno’s and Samalita’s–have closed. It’s a bit depressing, but I like to think that the owners go on to bigger and better ventures, and keep cooking delicious food. Thanks, New York, you’ve satisfied all my hunger pangs. Stay beautiful!

Image Sources: 1, 2, 3 and by me.