Press

Outside of Eastern Europe and Brighton Beach, most Russian-inspired restaurants tend to function as ostentatious culinary embassies for the motherland. Establishments such as Mari Vanna and the Russian Tea Room are not places to eat so much as Epcot pavilions, theatrically calling attention to their Russianness and leaning on tropes—chandeliers, crimson carpets, ornamental samovars—to conjure the stuffy atmosphere of an imperial ball. Against this backdrop of unrestrained kitsch, Tzarevna, a modern, elegantly minimalist Russian restaurant on the Lower East Side—where the focus lies on the food, which is superlative—comes as a kind of spiritual relief.

Most owners are antiwar, and many of them are from Ukraine. But customer numbers are down all the same.

Michael Symon makes the call for a throwdown challenge involving khachapuri, the rich, savory, cheesy and decadent stuffed bread from the nation of Georgia. Competitors Ricky and Mariia Dolinsky have mastered this comfort food classic at their hip downtown New York City restaurant, Tzarevna, to the delight of fans and food critics alike. Michael and his sidekick Katie hope their cheesy bread boat sails to victory.

Georgian hachapuri is a bubbling fondue pit with brined sulguni cheese and a bright yolk that gets mixed together. Tzarevna makes the dish its own with a sourdough crust that’s fermented in-house; in the crab version, there’s a playful addition of adjika—a Georgian style paste made with nuts and spices—giving the delightful effect of Old Bay seasoning.

Tzarevna, the daughter of the Tzar of Old Royal Russia, back from the 18th Century picked its residence in the trendy Orchard Street in New York City. Cozy, comfortable and elegantly simple setup with matreshki (Russian dolls) line up in all shapes and colors invite you to enjoy the true Russian Culinary experience you will hold close to your heart.

Get the best that New York has to offer, all on the Lower East Side. Grab dinner at Tzarevna, a modern European restaurant serving up delicious dishes with a twist like borscht beef sliders and Wagyu beef stroganoff. But what they're best known for is their Khachapuri, bread boats of leavened sourdough stuffed with cheese and topped with a runny egg yolk. As if that's not indulgent enough, you can also get it topped with mushrooms and aioli or crab meat and celery. Dine in their beautiful outdoor space beneath a canopy strung with lights; it's a lovely, romantic spot to try some original dishes.

Mariia and Ricky Dolinsky opened There in October 2018 but soon realized they wanted to focus on modernizing Russian cuisine—after all, Mariia was born in Russia, and Ricky is the son of a Slovakian immigrant. By April of this year, they pivoted to Tzarevna, a new concept in the same space. Down the corridor from the basement-level coffee bar is a small, somewhat hidden dining room with a concave, greenhouse-like glass ceiling, fake roses and stacking dolls; the interior design is perhaps a little tacky, but it’s also not beholden to the aesthetic conventions of other LES restaurants.