Slavic legend has it that Mari Vanna was a fairytale grandmother who welcomed hungry travelers for a home cooked meal. This new West Hollywood restaurant with the same name offers a lightened version of Russian homestyle cuisine. Located on LA’s sophisticated Melrose Place, the interior resembles a trippy garden party-meets grandma’s house where peeled wallpaper, brass chandeliers, stuffed armchairs and plenty of tchotckes could be easily mistaken for your babuska’s living room, while birdhouses, flower baskets and lanterns adorn the outdoor patio- think Tolstoy meets Catherine the Great. Mari Vanna is the first West Coast outpost of this international chain of chi-chi restaurants founded in Moscow, with locations in London, New York and Washington DC.
The menu features traditional Russian fare such as herring under a fur coat- I like anything that comes with a fur coat- house cured salmon, braised veal with homemade noodles, beef stroganoff and chilled borscht which is served on mismatched flowery plates. And you can’t get more Russian than 70 different varieties of vodka, as well as their famous house-infused version. Mari Vanna just started Blini Tuesdays, where all you can eat blini’s- with sour cream and salmon roe- is not only my type of pancake but pretty much my ideal meal. And the people-watching is just as colorful as the food, where you may find blonde Russian women in furs- not accessorized in herring by the way- toting their designer shopping bags from nearby luxury boutiques, as well as celebrities and fashionable LA types who all pop in for some caviar and Russian-style good cheer. Nazdorovye. www.marivanna.ru/la/
