CULTURE

Please be seated

48 Chairs // 15 Bolshaya Morskaya Ulitsa, Tel: 315 7775 // Open daily from midday until the last customer leaves // Menu in Russian and English // Lunch for two with alcohol 1,735 ($56)

By Tobin Auber

The St. Petersburg Times

For years (the last 15, to be precise), these premises housed Bremen, a German restaurant. Back in 1848, however, the same location was home to Chairs, a newly opened restaurant that would go on to attract guests such as Anna Pavlova, Grigory Rasputin, and ballerina and courtesan to Russia’s imperial family Matilda Kshesinskaya, not to mention leading literary lights such as Fyodor Dostoevsky and H.G Wells. Recently reopened after a major, somewhat eclectic renovation, it’s certainly worth investigation, not least for the 40 percent discounts currently being offered on weekdays before 5 p.m., the parties at the weekends and the live jazz every weeknight.

The first thing that strikes you as you walk in is the pack of Harleys lined up in the archway that leads to the restaurant’s inner courtyard — rumor has it that, rather than just being part of the d?cor, the bikes are owned and regularly driven by the restaurant’s owners. The threat of rain sent us scurrying inside to two dark, cozy and very ornately decorated rooms. The restaurant’s publicity bumph tells us that the restaurant is done out in the style of a luxury dining cabin, but maritime motifs are in fact few and far between, and your attention is far more likely to be attracted by the black-and-white erotic art photos on the walls and pinned to the ceiling, the chairs that have also been pinned to the ceiling, assorted Rat Pack memorabilia (Sinatra and Dean Martin are also playing on the sound system) and the incredibly tight black hotpants worn by long-legged waitresses. Unexpected when you’re nipping out for something to eat at lunchtime.

As well as the two main rooms, one of them complete with a stage, there is also a secluded VIP dining room for 28 and smaller private alcoves that can be curtained off. This, then, is somewhere you might head if you’re trying to keep a low profile.

The food was similarly eclectic, ranging from weird and wonderful to simply weird. We started with a sorrel soup (248 rubles, $8), which was an absolute gem — a vast bowl of potato and lush sorrel leaves, with a dab of smetana that somehow managed to be rich and filling while also creating a light, summery impression.

Another cracking starter was the fresh romaine leaves in a ginger-nut sauce with marinated duck or veal (348 rubles, $11.20), a large, filling portion that again managed to create an impression of lightness with the freshness of its ingredients, which included nuts and a white sauce (the hint of ginger was delicate, bordering on the entirely absent).

Rather than broaching a full main course, my dining companion opted to follow her salad with another starter — grilled scallops with pasta stuffed with pumpkin and truffle oil (348 rubles, $11.20). It’s not exactly something you order every day, and it’s not something you’ll find on the menu at McDonald’s any time soon. The verdict was bemused, rather than outraged, although it was a touch too heavy on the oil.

The salmon stuffed with homemade cottage cheese, cowberry, white grapes and mint with a creamy vanilla sauce (548 rubles, $17.60) was similarly far out — essentially, a hillock of tvorog cottage cheese with a roofing of salmon packed on over the top. The sauce was excellent, but in short supply, the combination of the cottage cheese and the fish proving quite dry and the lush grapes failing to provide sufficient moisture.

Certainly not your average meal, then, but the convenient location just off Nevsky Prospekt and the intimate ambience certainly make 48 Chairs worth a visit.

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