Ariana Soho

A restaurant run by a pop singer is usually not destined for great success. Ariana Grinblat, known in Russia as just “Ariana,” hopes to change that.

The self-described “foodie at heart” says that “Russian food in the U.S. has remained stagnant for the last 100 years while cuisine in Russia continues to evolve and transform.” At Ariana Soho, her aim is to “shock your senses, and redefine what you thought you knew about Russian food.”

Born in Houston to Russian parents, Ms. Grinblat divided her childhood between the U.S. and Russia (she speaks English without an accent). I know nothing about Russian R&B, but Ms. Grinblat is obviously successful, winning “6 Russian Grammys” (the first of them while she was still in high school), “3 Song of the Year Awards, an MTV Europe Music Award Nomination for Best Russian Act, and a platinum debut album selling over 500,000 units.”

This is not one of those celebrity restaurants where the nominal owner appears for a photo-op, and is never seen again. Nearly three months after opening, on a rainy weeknight in late April, with no more than 10 customers present, Ms. Grinblatt was there all evening, dressed rather more chastely than in the photo.

She and her husband/co-owner, Lev Schnur, have their work cut out for them. The 2,000-square-foot space is divided into four rooms, three of which were totally empty when we visited, and even in the fourth there was not much energy. No professional critic has reviewed it. Where are the throngs of Russian ex-pats that have filled Mari Vanna since it opened?

There clearly is potential here. The serene back dining room with a spectacular skylight, contemporary art work, and generously-spaced seating with white tablecloths, lacks only for customers. A curtained grotto at the back of the restaurant, with a gas fireplace, could be one of the city’s most romantic tables, if only people knew about it.

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Mari Vanna

The new restaurant Mari Vanna can make at least one strong claim: it isn’t a clone of a hundred other places. It did not open on the same expensive block as Gramercy Tavern and Veritas because there was huge demand for home-style Russian cooking. So I have to assume the owners actually believed in what they were doing, which is an excellent start.

The name, pronounced like “marijuana,” is apparently fictitious. We are supposed to believe we’re in Mme. Vanna’s parlor, where a privileged few feast on Russian classics like borscht and beef stroganoff. Companion restaurants in Moscow and St. Petersburg operate like private clubs, to which only the annointed are given a key. They wisely ditched that idea, but a bit of it remains. When we arrived, there was a placard on our table that read, “Reserved For Mark [sic].”

The only pro review comes from Sarah DiGregorio of the Voice, who complained of “suffering three hours of Soviet-style slow dinner service.” No one could call this a fast-food place, but we didn’t experience anything like that. And the food, if not revelatory, is certainly very good.

The menu is compact, with six appetizers ($12–25), five salads ($12–17), three soups ($10), and six entrées ($18–27). Naturally, there are vodkas: 70 of them. The wine list is a bit too expensive, with hardly anything under $50.

The décor looks like a cross between a fin de siècle Moscow parlor and an antique shop with little knick-knacks lining the shelves (photos here). There are fancy chandeliers, little doilies at every place setting, candles at every table, and lovely china that does not always match. The area near the front, where we were seated, is a bit cramped; the tables seem to be more spread out in the back.

The bread service (above left) was very good, with a house-made spread that seemed to be a mixture of butter, sour cream and dill.

We ordered two appetizers, but our server was confused, and only one came. It was for the best, as the Hachapuri (cheese pie) was more than enough for two. It resembled a cheese pizza, but richer, thicker, and heavier.

The first entrée listed is a braised duck leg. The server chided me for trying to order it. “Won’t you have something Russian?” I figured that anything on this menu was already Russian. Apparently not.

So I switched to the Rainbow Trout ($27; above left) with chanterelle mushrooms in a white cream sauce. This was a very well executed dish: a whole fish, split and filleted, with mushrooms stuffed inside. Again, it was very rich, and two could easily have shared it.

My girlfriend had the Chicken Kiev ($25; above right), which was much better than we expected for a dish so often phoned in at lesser restaurants.

The restaurant was full on a Saturday evening, with much of the clientele Russian-speaking, from what we could overhear. Service was friendly and mostly attentive—a tad on the slow side, but not bothersome, as we were in no hurry.

I don’t have much of a basis for comparison, as I haven’t tried many Russian restaurants. Okay, none. But we had a relaxing time at this somewhat unusual restaurant, and the food is certainly a lot better than it needs to be.

Mari Vanna (41 E. 20th Street between Park Avenue & Broadway, Flatiron District)

Food: ★★
Service: ★½
Ambiance: ★★
Overall: ★★