First post! A trial review

(Tasted on September 16, 2007, at 12.30p)

With vodka-swilling Russians pouring out of the doors, and an excellent wine selection*, this unnamed Russian deli reeks of authenticity**.

Actually, no.

When I and the steady stream of customers entered this placei, I did not realize I’d entered the belly of a beast. Look at the ceiling for the solid spine and ribs radiating from it, before the glare of the lighting causes you to look away. Suddenly, the deep red walls take on a more fleshy meaning.

As I struggled to remember any connections between Jonah and this shop, I approached the glass cases where a variety of piroshkies and baked desserts were neatly ensconced. The piroshkies, both vegetarian and meat, are available in a series of plausible combinations of cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, onions, cheese, beef, ham, turkey and salmon – pick two o three. The menu also sport typical breakfast fare and salads, along with pirogues, pelmenis, and desserts.

I opted for the potato, cheese and broccoli – “I’ll get it fresh from the oven,” said the clerk – and reluctantly watching a diet informercial on the tiny television mounted in a ceiling corner, I bit into the doughy crust.

A mild sweetness greeted the tongue, followed by… nothing. It was completely unremarkable in every way. For simple convenience food on the walk, it was, perhaps, a viable means of sating one’s hunger. While my companions remarked that they found their piroshkies salty, I found mine to be unevenly so.

*Unless you know much about wine, it’s a bad idea to comment on the selection.

**This is a play on the idea that because an ethnic restaurant is popular among its people, that it is necessarily authentic or good. As my teacher said, “Denny’s is filled with white people. What does that tell you about Denny’s?”