There is only one way to describe it: Classic Russia in the heart of New York. The history of Russian Samovar starts well before the restaurant itself. Originally Jilly's Canteen, and owned by a friend of Frank Sinatra, Jilly Rizzo, Samovar was the go-to hot spot for Sinatra and The Rat Pack. In 1986, Roman Kaplan, founder of Russian Samovar acquired the property and was joined in 1987 by friends and business partners: Legendary dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov and Nobel Award Winning poet Joseph Brodsky. Baryshnikov's baby grand piano is still used daily by our performers and guests can still request the Brodsky table, where the legends used to sit and drink away the hours. Guests of private events also enjoy our private dining room, where Baryshnikov filmed Sex in the City.Samovar has remained a celebrity hangout over the years. We've been lucky enough to feature impromptu shows by Liza Minelli and rumor has it that Mel Brooks adapted The Producers to film while sitting at our bar.
Cheeseboat is a family-owned Georgian bistro offering an eclectic variety of authentic cuisine with locally sourced ingredients. Our goal is to bring you the best dishes from the mighty country of Georgia in a way that will tease your palate and introduce you to a whole new cuisine.
Russian Vodka Room invites guests to spend time with friends while savoring quality vodka and Russian delicacies. Decorated with wooden furniture, artwork and chandeliers, the restaurant creates an ambience of a traditional Russian home.Its menu features caviar, borscht, duck liver pate, meat dumplings and other appetizers, as well as herring under a fur coat, a typical layered salad. Russian Vodka Room’s patrons can dine on main entrées such as beef stroganoff with kasha, a type of porridge, roast duck with apples, prunes and apricots or breaded and pan-seared sea bass. Farmer’s cheese pancakes with chocolate and other desserts are on the menu, as well. As its name implies, Russian Vodka Room serves a wide selection of vodkas and infusions that range from raspberry and cranberry to ginger and garlic pepper and dill vodka. Visitors can also enjoy live piano and jazz concerts.
Old Tbilisi Garden Is The Only Georgian Restaurant In Greenwich Village, New York City. Old Tbilisi Garden opened on July 4th, 2014. Since then, it has been one of the only few restaurants that offer authentic Georgian Cuisine in Manhattan. Winemaking is deeply rooted in Georgia’s history, cultureand economy. The world’s first cultivated grapevines arethought to have originated in the country’s fertile valleyssome 8,000 years ago. Georgia’s long winemaking historyhas given rise to unique methods of production, such asthe “Kakhetian rule”. Georgians make wine that is aged andstored in a special cone-shaped clay vessel known asa Qvevri.
