Cafe Pushkin is housed in a newly built mansion just off Pushkin square which has successfully recreated a Russian aristocrat’s home from the 1800’s from the wood panelling to the heavy furniture, the chandeliers and the candlelit tables, the plaster moldings on the ceilings and even the waiters dressed in period outfits making it feel like we were having dinner during the time of Anna Karenina.
Opened in 1999, the restaurant is spread out on three floors with the cafe-like Drugstore hall on the ground floor serving more casual food and the restaurant on the upper floors called the Library hall with a more extensive and pricier menu.
Our good friends Farina and Satesh invited us to dinner because they really wanted me to experience Cafe Pushkin and see what Moscow became right after I left in 1997. They went all out to welcome A and I and we did a classic Russian dinner starting out with Russky Standard vodka with beluga and blinis. The first bite of the salty black caviar pearls popping in my mouth with the warm pillowy blinis and cold smetana (sour cream) brought me back to the Russia I fell in love with and the ice-cold shot of vodka that followed reminded me of when I was young and adventurous. As a start to a Moscow meal, nothing beats that.
We shared a few hot appetizers – julienne, the classic white mushrooms baked in sour cream made more luxurious with the addition of chanterelles followed by piroshki, traditional meat pies. Four our main courses – Farina and I shared large plate of pelmenis – meat and mushroom filled dumplings served with a bit of broth, sour cream and vinegar, Satesh had the roast chicken and A had the kotlety pozharski – a breaded veal cutlet stuffed with mushrooms served with fried potatoes which we enjoyed with a bottle of Carmenere. Dinner was delicious and it was definitely the best Russian food we had in Moscow and the company of Farina and Satesh helped made the evening memorable. Even the weather cooperated to give us a full Russian experience as the streets were covered in fresh white snow when we left the restaurant.
Cafe Pushkin
Tverskoy Bulvar 26A
Moscow
Telephone: +7495 739 0033
*Open 24 hours daily
Travels with a Gourmet 