Mari Vanna

Enter and get instantly enchanted by the lace curtains, hospitable bagels are wound around the samovar, and the charming sounds of the cuckoo clock.

The restaurant is all about Russian coziness. Mari Vanna restaurants are open in Moscow, London, Baku and New York, but the first restaurant of the chain opened ten years ago right in St. Petersburg. Mari Vanna moved from Ulitsa Lenina to Mytninskaya Naberezhnaya and now its windows face Zaychy Island and the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island. The interior was designed in Megre Interiors: partitions wrapped in Pavlovo Posad shawls are as nostalgic as the retro cupboards and the attributes of the dear old time – old typewriters. Mari Vanna has seating on the balcony, in the hall below and in two smaller rooms: the Fireplace Room and the Dining Room. The soft light that flows from under the lamps covered with hand–knitted lampshades makes you want to sit down with a volume of Chekhov, remember the scenes of your childhood...

... and have a snack. They will serve you homemade food that our moms and grandmas would make: Russian salad with veal, hearty aspic, rosy pie with minced veal livers, and green cabbage soup with chicken. They will cook blini for you: some thin wheat pancakes and thicker Guriev pancakes, with buckwheat kasha, liver or crab, and a side dish of sturgeon or pike roe, or eggplant paste. The banquet menu here incudes roast suckling pig, sterlet stuffed with smoked salmon, a whole baked pike perch with horseradish sauce, salted red Camelina mushrooms,  Olyutor herring, and an iced shot glass.

Behind a hidden door, this restaurant has a very special secret room with truly Leningrad-style ambience. There you can learn the history behind traditional Russian drinks: they will tell you the history behind homemade spirits and infusions. Guests also come here for “kitchen get-togethers,” were you drink and sample great snacks from the secret stashes: sprats, lard, pickled foods and much more.

Everyone is in search of the national idea, and they have already found it in Mari Vanna. You only need to get a personal key, which is presented here to the restaurant’s friends – public and political figures, famous athletes, show business stars and, of course, regular guests. With this key you can open the door to any Mari Vanna restaurant – in New York, London, Moscow or St. Petersburg. The Mayor of New York already has a personal key to the doors and hearts of Mari Vanna.