Russian Tea Room
J. Trudel
7/27/2002

All Images Copyright 2002. No other use permitted except by prior arrangement

 

 (please click on the images below to see a bigger version of them).

So, I was looking forward to a relaxing Saturday, when I got a call from Rachel. "The Russian Tea Room is closing...tomorrow! We have to go before they close forever!" Since we'd talked about going, I felt it my "duty" to pull it together and head on in. She called a few friends, and ended up getting her friend Dean to join in. Since I live in Central NJ, It'd take me an hour or so to get in, once I was ready to leave. No biggie, but I was fighting off some sort of cold.

Anyhow, on the way, I got a call from her and she indicated that she couldn't get anyone on the phone, so our best bet would be to go there and hope for the best. I picked up Dean, and then Rachel, and off we went. The Russian Tea Room is literally right next door to Carnagie Hall (and we all know how to get there ;-) Luck was on our side - we got there just in time, because they wouldn't take evening reservations, and we got THE LAST brunch reservation for Saturday.

I'd never been, and let me tell you, the place alone was worth the visit. We were seated on the ground floor, andthere are several other floors to see. More on this later.

Since Dean and I had never been there, we let Rachel order for us. She picked a good variety of items from the menu. From what I remember, there were Blinis (pancakes with Sour Cream and a small spoonful of caviar), Oysters, Smoked Salmon, something else that consisted of a set of thin pancake layers with eggs and salmon inside, an interesting broth with some beef and veal dumplings (Pulima, I think), a warm borscht that really impressed me, and a very pleasant Chicken Kiev. Of course, I've forgotten to mention the martinis, all of which were quite nice, although I had a preference for their pineapple martini (what can I say, I have a big sweet tooth ;-). I think I remembered everything that we had for brunch, and then there was dinner...

Our waiter was very good, and also very fortunate. His last job was working at Windows on the World, which, and you might know, was in the World Trade Center. He was not working on that that day. Interesting guy, and he came from Bangladesh. He rolled the blinis for us, cut the Chicken Kiev for us so we wouldn't get squirted, and generally talked up a storm about the place.

Rachel's original intent was for us to go for dinner, but we took what we could get. We took our time at Lunch, and easily extended our stay until the 5PM dinner seating. Our waiter was ending his shift, so he had to close out the bill before he left. He was a pretty damn good, and Rachel, who was treating Dean and me, tipped him heavily. He was a pretty damn good, and Rachel, who was treating Dean and me, tipped him heavily.

Fortunately, they weren't in any rush to kick us out. Our waiter passed us off to the next waiter, and Rachel ordered what she had wanted for us in the first place - A Taste of Russia (I think that's what it's called on the menu), which is a sampler of many different things, none of which I can remember. The unfortunate part was that the food was rather rich, and I could not eat anything else. Rachel and Dean took a crack at it, but we ended up having them wrap it up for us for later. At one point, the chef strolled through, and we gave him our compliments. The meal was incredibly good. I'm still thinking of those dumplings. Mmmm-mmm-mmmmm.

The booths we were in were made of this supersoft red leather. Quite pleasant to sit in. My position in the booth was such that I faced the bar. There were a lot of people there, ones who couldn't get a table, but had to be there for one last day. It was funny, because as we were eating, several couples at the end of the bar were eyeing our table with these sad looks on their faces. The good news is that some of them got to order food at the bar, and a lot of trays were delivered there over the several hours we were there.

All the while, Rachel is asking if we can go upstairs. From what I've seen and heard, the upstairs dining rooms are lavish above and beyond anything else out there. Try as she might, we were unable to get permission. The manager came by to see if everything was alright, and we said yes. We also asked him if we could even just sneak a peek upstairs, and he told us they were packing things up, and they weren't allowing anyone up. They even locked down the elevator so that it wouldn't go up there. At one point, I made my way to the stairs to see if I could slip past the banisters they'd put up, but I heard voices at the top of the stairs, so I chickened out.

Oh well, I tried. In the end, I managed to snap some pictures of the pictures they had of the upstairs - you'll see them below. They're taken at an angle, so as not to get the reflection of the flash of my camera. Rachel told me that the bear you see is actually a fishtank with goldfish inside. It's juggling large Fabrege' eggs, and turns on the pedestal. I wish I could have seen it in person. I guess I'll have to settle for these pictures instead.

Downstairs, there was a good collection of "regularly-sized" eggs, and quite a few of them. Quite impressive.

Eventually, it was time to leave. I didn't want to go, but I was not feeling well. We'd also eaten a lot of rich foods, and I think I wasn't alone in wanting to take a nap.

On the way back to the car, we spotted this little Fiat 500. It is smaller than the original Austin Mini, and right as I was taking this shot, this group of people jumped in front of my camera. Fortunately, I was quicker on the draw, and got the shot.

We dropped Dean off, and ended up with tickets to see Austin Powers in GoldMember. Quite funny, overall. As I was leaving NYC, I turned on the radio for traffic info, and heard several stories about the closing of the Russian Tea Room, and how it would be next to impossible to get seated on their last day, Sunday. I feel privileged that I had the chance to go. Thank you Rachel for opportunity!

 

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