HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Never in a million years would I have ever expected to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary in a famous restaurant in Moscow Russia. We celebrated, along with John and Carolyn Naegle, another senior couple who share the same anniversary date. They have become good friends here in Russia. We wanted to do something extra special for our anniversary and the Cafe Pushkin came highly recommended.

                                           Here we are on the metro on our way to dinner

Cafe Pushkin is near Pushkin Square in Moscow and is ranked #2 of over 5000 restaurants in Moscow. It boasts Russian cuisine. It is a restored 1800's Moscow residence. You walk in and you are whisked away to a different era.

There is someone waiting to greet you upon walking into the building. We were sent downstairs to the coat room where a man dressed up took our coats and handed us our token to to get our coat back. It was not a ticket, but a very nice engraved token.

There are two main areas. We were in the antique pharmacy which has a long bar reminiscent of a pharmacy of the 1800's. Very beautiful and lush and ornate. This whole floor is non-smoking. The waiters are dress in old servan frock and coat. they are very attentive.

The service was impeccable. The silverware shiny and glasses and tablewear spotless and very beautiful.

There is also the Library which has ancient globes and thousands of books. It is very lovely, (but they allow smoking there so we chose to dine in the Pharmacy.)  There is also a roof top terrace which is wonderful in the summer months.

The menu was unlike any I have ever seen (of course, then again, I am not exactly a world-renowned traveler either).

Some of the items on the menu were:

wild boar with apple ravioli, pumpkin mash, mushrooms and cedar nuts

eel stewed in ceamy sauce
\fish sausages

steamed pke head stuffed with fish and apples

Russian degustation

borsch - beetroot soup with smoked goose fillet and sour cream.   (hmmmmmm)

or how about roasted marrow bones with chili sauce and gherkins (Russians love their pickles)

The dessert menu include

pistachio cake

honey cake (which is traditional Russian and very delicious)

Or how about prunes stuffed with whipped curds glazed with forest berries, jelly and chocolate?

This is only a small sampling of what is on the menus.

Our waiter stood next to our table ready to take care of our every desire. We were glad that the menus came in English |(and a couple of other languages as well)

We had heard that the water closet was beautiful so after dinner that was our next stop . the water closet. WOW. BEAUTIFUL. The sinks were stenciled in a blue china pattern and imagine our surprise when the toilets as well had the same beautiful dark blue stenciling in and outside the toilet to include the bowl itself. WOW.

When we went to get our coats, he not only handed us our coat, but he helped us put them on as well. Not THAT's service.

We had a lovely time and made some wonderful memories.

|Until next time, Dos vidonya.