A Truly Significant Holiday - Passport magazine

tion of “affordable” wines on the list; many
of Moscow’s top restaurants lowest priced
are already stratospheric. To start, we
ordered Cusumano Jalé 2007, a Chardonnay
that we favored in last month’s Sicilian
wine review.
We tried an assortment of starters: Snails
“Boulot” Baked in Parmesan Cheese (700r),
“Vongole” Mussels with Tomato Sauce
(1100r) and a double order of jamon (1400r
per 100g). Boulot are French sea snails,
and six of them were presented, to be
extracted with escargot fork and tongs.
The boulot were firm and tasty with the
accompanying plum-like sauce. The Vongole
mussels were cockles, as indicated
by the term “vongole” but of course were
not mussels. The jamon was a selection of
several very thin sliced dry-cured Spanish
hams presented with huge, green olives.
I also ordered a Risotto with Cep
Mushrooms and White Wine Sauce (950r),
prepared just right, creamy and delightful.
The Caesar Salad with Chicken, a relatively
small salad presented in a pasta basket,
was pronounced “satisfactory.”
Several guests ordered the chef recommendation,
Steak “Andreas” (1500r), and
others the Tuna Steak with Rucola Salad
(900r) and Roast Beef with Sauteed Asparagus
and Mustard Sauce (900r). In Moscow
it is often necessary to order “mediumrare”
to get a medium steak, still pink in the
middle, and this was the case at ANDREAS.
Komm’s Kupol produces one of Moscow’s
best steaks and Chef Radjabov must have
learned this skill – his steaks challenged
the master, tender and juicy – perfect!
One guest even went for seconds. Unfortunately,
the guest that ordered the “Roast
Beef,” really a thick fillet asked for medium
and it came out practically inedible. The
tuna steak, while reasonably good, seared
both sides and mostly pink, demonstrated
that it’s difficult to beat seaside dining for
fresh fish.
As eight approached, management
accommodated and, at 10,000 rubles a
seat, moved our growing crowd to a
corner near the table of the Governor of
one of Russia’s regions and another with
the head of one of Russia’s top grocers. I
headed home before the festivities that
included not only the pop sensation
Uma2rmaN but a follow-on by opera
singer turned pop star Nikolai Baskov, I did
at least score one of the fancy concert
promo Uma2rmaN CDs on my way out. P
ANDREAS
Kutuzovsky Prospekt 12
Restaurant Review
March 2009 35