Gourmet everyday life – Style

Apparition of Athena

The Athena restaurant by Anton Pinsky on Patriki opened on the site of the once widely known Academy cafe. As you might guess, the restaurant is Greek, and brand chefs Artem Losev, Vitaly Istomin and chef Romanos Iliani operate in the kitchen. The chefs say that they wanted to open such a restaurant after a trip to Greece; this is the first Greek comfort food in their resume. The interior is in the generally fashionable Moscow style, the details are made of natural materials (lots of wood, marble and greenery), and the hall is crowned with a bas-relief by sculptor Vasily Selivanov “The Feast of the Greek Gods” on the entire wall.

All tables, with the exception of one (for a large group, which divides the long hall into two parts), have white tablecloths. The kitchen and bar are open so you can watch the moussaka being prepared. There is a lot of light, large windows and a welcoming atmosphere. The staff is courteous and knows the menu by heart. As a compliment, they serve chips with soft, almost airy feta cream. The famous Greek salad (that’s what it’s called on the menu) is offered with large croutons. A signature feature that has already spread across social networks is a broom of dried oregano, which is shaken over the salad to add the dried spice to it. The menu has many Greek classic dishes. Mini appetizer tartare of fresh sea bass and red shrimp drizzled with olive oil, beef tartare served with a spicy sauce and tahini spice, vongole shells come with chicken broth, mashed potatoes, green butter and crumbs of dried mullet roe (bottarga). Several types of yoghurt-based flatbreads are very soft, fluffy and rich. It’s best to take them with meze, but you can also take them separately: for example, sesame flatbread, reminiscent of Adjarian khachapuri, with feta cheese in the center and yolk.

For main course: stuffed ramiro peppers with beef, served with tomato and parsley sauce; very meaty scallop, two pieces, with ju sauce (chicken demi-glace sauce) and cucumber tartare; half chicken with tzatziki and spinach; whole flounder on a large platter in tomato sauce, capers and olives. Be sure to order the Athena cocktail, served in a shell, and desserts. Among them are a feta cheesecake reminiscent of a Greek salad with feta cheese, which will be served on vegetables, with mint oil and olive ice cream; yogurt soufflé with blueberries and amaretto sauce reminiscent of crab sticks.

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Wine Friday

One of the most talented sommeliers in Moscow and famous wine experts in Russia, as well as a true esthete and wonderful storyteller, Sergei Aksenovsky (Maison Dellos), will host a wine dinner “Underrated Wines” at Coffeemania Chef’s on April 5. In the shadow of great terroirs.” The dinner wine list includes seven rare wines and one liqueur, which Sergei Aksenovsky will offer to taste and discuss in a chamber atmosphere. Restaurant chef Alexey Petrichenko will offer a pairing of his signature dishes.

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High gastronomic dictionary “Kommersant Style”

Lately, an ingredient called ganache has been very common in dessert sections. What it is? “In fact, it’s a cream in which the main share is chocolate, black or white, plus some liquid part – cream, or puree (for example, from fruit), or vegetable milk, or even water,” notes the pastry chef of La Bottega Siciliana Valeria Melnik. Ganache comes in classic and whipped varieties. Classic is denser, with a rich taste, mashed with a spatula, while whipped is softer, as it is whipped with a mixer. Soft ganache is most often used in the famous Sachertorte, mini macarons, profiteroles, etc.

Loona restaurant serves raspberry ganache troisgros – delicate farm cream with white chocolate and mango-passion fruit puree. The dessert is topped with grated Gorgonzola cheese and fresh raspberries. Served with cheese-yogurt ice cream and stracciatella cheese. The Phantom restaurant makes white chocolate raspberry ganache: mousse with Gorgonzola, fresh raspberries and ginger crisp. At Atelier de Tartelettes, the ganache for the Hazelnut-Mushroom-Tonka Bean tartlets is prepared on the basis of hot cream, which is flavored with Tonka beans, hazelnut paste is added, the mixture is poured onto the chocolate and punched with a blender.

Olga Karpova