When you walk through the doors of Mari Vanna, the Russian restaurant in New York's Gramercy neighbourhood, you're immediately thrown because you feel like you're in a Laura Ashley catalogue. The restaurant has such a country cottage kitchen feel - warm yellow walls, wicker chairs, lace doilies on the table. You catch yourself thinking, "it's nowhere near as ostentatious as the Russian Tea Room ", because it has the charming feel of a genteel home. And just as this thought crosses your mind, you're handed a long list of the home-made infused vodkas on offer, and you realise this ain't no Laura Ashley anything. This place means real Russian business. And I liked it immediately.
If I were taking a leisurely Friday lunch, you can bet I would have sampled at least one of the amazing vodka flavours, which ran the gamut from cucumber and dill, to pineapple and strawberry. But alas, I needed to get back to the office, so a bubbly Prosecco quenched my thirst nicely.
I was brought up eating European foods courtesy of my Polish grandma, so I don't get squeamish when presented with anything pickled, brined, or preserved. In fact today, I actively sought out the pickled herring as my starter on the two-course, $27 prix fixe menu. As you can see, it was served in a tiny jar of pickling liquid, dill, bay leaves, and peppercorns, with pieces of dark rye bread and plain boiled potatoes on the side. So simple, and really delicious.For my main course, I chose the chicken stroganoff. Not an adventurous choice really, but I wanted the comfort food. And indeed, it was perfect - creamy, and tangy and the serving was accompanied by fluffy mashed potatoes, which I haven't had in a long time. Blissful. The food coma crept in. My afternoon productivity was going to suffer for sure.
But we weren't done yet, because our server delivered us complimentary mini strawberry martinis for dessert. Oh, those Russians! The martinis were only tiny of course, and I couldn't taste much (any) vodka in mine, but it was icy cold, and the delicate strawberry flavour came through so beautifully. Delicious!Mari Vanna is located in a really busy area of Manhattan, but on a quiet side street alongside some of the most beautiful bars and restaurants I've been to in this City. It's one of the most un-Russian Russian restaurants you'll ever visit, until you see the menu and appreciate the traditional cuisine and extensive vodka selection designed to wrap you in the kind of embrace you'd expect from your babushka.
