Jun 14, 2011: Grand Hotel Europe: new menu at the Caviar Bar restaurant

Best place in St Petersburg to sample Russian Cuisine

Caviar Bar restaurant is entering the summer season with some sizzling news: As the tourist season gets underway, the Grand Hotel Europe’s executive chef Marco Alban has breathed new life into the restaurant’s menu.

The restaurant’s main menu has been updated, and a tasting menu has been devised, presenting the establishment’s signature dishes. In addition, a selection of Georgian dishes have been incorporated that guests will be able to enjoy all summer long. Finally, the hit of the season is two new set menus, comprising the finest caviar dishes.

The main menu has been enriched by an assortment of fish dishes, each of which is served with various kinds of authentic Russian vodka, enabling diners to take advantage of a unique service offered by the restaurant: the only vodka sommelier in Russia, who guides guests on an excursion around the world of vodka with a complementary culinary accompaniment. Meanwhile, the dessert section of the menu now includes Pavlova cake, an innovation inspired by the hotel’s general manager, Leon Larkin. Mr. Larkin is from Australia, the birthplace of this meringue and fresh berries dessert, which is very popular there. But that was not the only reason for the introduction of this dish named in honor of Anna Pavlova—the ballerina was a regular visitor to the restaurant, and frequently celebrated her premieres surrounded by devoted admirers in the marble hall of the Grand Hotel Europe.

The tasting menu consists of six dishes. The menu allows diners to sample the most outstanding dishes offered by the restaurant’s chef.

The other innovation is the set menus of caviar dishes. The first menu consists of six exquisite caviar dishes and a dessert, while the second comprises four dishes and dessert. Both menus feature an unparalleled dish with the intriguing name “Egg in egg” — osietra caviar atop scrambled egg with truffle oil, served in a whole eggshell. The ensemble is served in a shot glass, elegantly lined with sea salt. The dish is so spectacular that many guests ask for it to be served in an ostrich egg next time!

A festival of Georgian cuisine will run throughout the whole of June at the Caviar Bar. Caucasian dishes, as part of a great gastronomic tradition, have been an integral part of menus throughout the ages, and remain extremely popular to this day. Guests can enjoy authentic basturma, spicy kharcho soup and satsivi.

Caviar bar:

The Caviar Bar is one of the Grand Hotel Europe’s finest restaurants, offering guests the opportunity to enjoy ice-cold vodka and blini with caviar.

The beguiling atmosphere of the Caviar Bar makes it an excellent place to visit. It is the perfect place for those looking to savour delectable authentic Russian dishes in magnificent, late 19^th-century neoclassical interiors.

The interior of the Caviar Bar, formerly known as the Marble Hall, transports guests back in time to imperial Russia, with its luxurious combination of crystal decorations and elegant copper furnishings. The picture is completed by the historic marble floor, marble columns and walls finished with marble panels, along with the room’s antique mirrors and Gargoyle fountain. The fine details of the interior — the tops of the columns, gilded cornices depicting crayfish and daisies and stucco paneling on the walls portraying centaurs — are quintessential elements of the neoclassical style that was so in vogue at the turn of the 20^th century.

Caviar Bar restaurant

Open daily from 17:00 to 01:00.

www.caviar-bar.com

To reserve a table, please call +7 812 329 6622