Russian food in New York City

RUSSIA is the largest country in the world located in Northern Asia and Eastern Europe. Its diversity due to its size and multicultural expanse, naturally
reflect on its cuisine, which I know very little of except for the more common dishes like Beef Stroganoff and Chicken Kiev. Russian food to me immediately translates to caviar and vodka.
Upon my arrival in New York last month, our Hugo Boss fashion stylist friend Marlon Corvera was full of excitement over his dinner invitation to Mari Vanna, a chic Russian restaurant on 20th Street, Eastside of New York City. Marlon stylizes outfits of top restaurateurs and their staff so he is quite known in this circle. It was a Monday Party Night and Marlon handed over a key dangling
on a matryoshka holder to open the door for exclusive guests only afte
9 p.m.  Matryoshka or Russian nesting dolls are the most popular national
souvenir and Russian gift.
Mari Vanna transports diners to an archetypal Russian home and the menu offers time-honored classics.  Their Vodka Program, naturally complements
the authentic fare featuring top-shelf Russian vodka and an eclectic list of house-infused vodkas. Lest I get tipsy before enjoying a few of the Russian
appetizers, we settled for Lambrusco di Sorbara Nicchia Sparkling Red while checking out the menu. My eye caught the Caviar Menu and settled for Homemade Blinis with Red Caviar and traditional condiments of chopped hard-boiled eggs, onions and sour cream.  The Osetra Black Caviar was too pricey! Anyway, I have had my fill of this expensive black beluga caviar in my sister, Enchay’s home every time I visit San Diego. Her refrigerator is always stacked with this expensive delicacy—gifts from her billionaire Russian bank client. A Trio of Golden, Platinum and Paladium Osetra Black Caviar at 30 grams each cost $475.00!! I enjoyed the blinis (Russian crepe) filled with red caviar that bounced in my mouth with the condiments. Traditionally, caviar is the processed, salted non-fertilized sturgeon roe, with black beluga from the Caspian and Black Sea as the most expensive. Caviar also refers to roe of fishes like salmon, trout and other species. Our next course- Eggplant Caviar does not have caviar. The term, caviar is also used to describe dishes perceived to resemble caviar. The roasted eggplant with zucchinis, tomatoes and peppers was served with toast.  The parade of Vodka infused Martinis was flowing for us to enjoy—Kalinka Malinka (strawberry), Klubaichka (raspberry), Pioneer (pomegranate) and Grusha (pear and elder flower) A piping hot Kashapuri was served—homemade pie with Feta (goat cheese) and Mozarella. With satiated appetites, we had to skip Beef Stroganoff and moved on to desserts. With the flickering candlelight, the Smetannik looked like a gorgeous work of art—Russian signature dessert of cream and strawberries. Onegin— sponge cake with layers of vanilla cream, apricots, prunes, raisins and
almonds was scrumptious.   Oblepiha,
a seaberry and passion fruit- infused vodka, complemented our choice of desserts.