TranslationEnter the new chain.. Collaboration usually brings about awesomeness and when I heard of highly acclaimed restaurateur Alan Yau’s recent partnering with internationally lauded Thai chef David Thompson I couldn’t have been more excited. The lovechild is Naamya Cafe – a large-scale, well-funky and tactically conceived *urban Thai restaurant* in Islington. Its menu, featuring a …
TranslationKatz’s Deli On East Houston Street has been standing Katz’s Deli for God-know-how-many years (since 1888 – I don’t do maths). This is a proper Jewish delicatessen of NYC Lower East Side (which London’s dear Mishkin’s takes an inspiration from). The walls are adorned with memorabilia of the past (with a lot of sleb diners) …
TranslationAnother of the kind.. At first glance Fornata struck me as another Italian addition to London’s now exhausted “cicchetti/ small plate” scene that mighty Russell Norman of Polpo started a couple of years back… But, if you could get over that, Fornata does boast a good pedigree. Opened by the team behind Babbo – a …
TranslationTwo so-so meals at Cafe Pushkin could already have shattered my expectation of the Pushkin’s and we could have given Confectionery Pushkin (just next door to the restaurant a miss). NOPE. This did not happen. I had Pushkin cakes half a year back in Paris, at a small Cafe Pouchkine – very annoyingly Francocentric spelling …
TranslationRestaurants in Moscow fall into two categories.. roughly. They are either heavily themed (I’m talking big trees, farm animals or a recreation of the Versailles!) or merely “places to be seen” (I’m talking mafias swinging luxury watches that could bail out Greece economy). Vogue Cafe, just opposite Moscow’s prestigious department store Tsum (imagine classy, spacious …
TranslationMy first stop before Moscow? Sort of.. I headed for The Merchant’s Yard. A Russian deli in the heart of affluent Knightsbridge to align my taste bud with the Tsar’s at the price that wouldn’t overthrow any empire. The ground floor dining room was relaxed and bright; the service attentive for a deli. Unfortunately, the …