Russian Tea Time Restaurant, Chicago IL
>> Thursday, December 22, 2011
When Joe was awarded a dinner for two for an excellent sales week, we knew where we wanted to go: Russian Tea Time in downtown Chicago. It's one of our favorite, romantic restaurants in the city, especially in winter-time when we're craving rich, hearty dinners. Russian Tea Time is on 77 E. Adams, just around the block from the Art Institute on Michigan Avenue. It serves a mouth-watering variety of classic Russian and Central Asian foods, and the tea menu is larger than a wine list in an upscale restaurant (our favorite is the coriander tea, a fruity, fresh blend).
The decor is just the way I'd picture an old-world Russian restuarant, if the restaurant was located in a storefront in a big city. The glistening antique samovars, cushy red booths, and balalaika music set a romantic, comfortable mood, and all the staff we've met, except the busboys, are from Russia or the Ukraine. If you choose a vodka tasting flight, it comes with a piece of dark brown bread, a gherkin, and instructions on how to take a shot the Russian way. Na zdorovje!
Joe and I had visited the Art Institute on our engagement anniversary, December 20, and decided to make reservations at this restaurant afterwards. Everything is good, even their beet caviar, though ordinarily I treat beets like you'd treat toxic waste. Since then, we have been trying to re-create the items on their tasting platter, and I'll be posting our recipes here. Hope you enjoy them!
Russian Tea Time platter for two: appetizers.
Clockwise from top: Tashkent carrot salad, stuffed mushroom, beet caviar, cracked wheat (tabbouleh) salad, apple-beet vinaigrette salad, chick pea spread, beef dumplings (pelmeni).
Russian Tea Time platter for two: entrees.
Clockwise from top: chicken pozharski, beef stroganoff, stuffed cabbage, Moldavian meatballs, rice pilaf.
Related Recipes:
- Beet Vinaigrette Salad
- Beef Stroganoff
- Tashkent Carrot Salad
- Parjoale - Moldavian Meatballs
- Roasted Beet Caviar
