New York / Food -- Beyond Borscht: Russian Flavors Gain Fans In NYC

NEW YORK CITY - Mention Russian food to many Americans and they're likely to think of the culinary equivalent of a Brezhnev-era bureaucrat: tough, dull and heavy enough to survive a Siberian winter. Bland cabbage soup with sour cream and heavy beef cutlets fried in butter come to mind.

But now a new generation of New York City restaurant owners is determined to reinvent and popularize the cuisine. By drawing on images from Russia's rich history - and some American-style marketing savvy - they are striving to create a new allure for this food.

The most upscale of the new restaurants is Firebird, which evokes the elaborate cuisine and luxurious lifestyle of the Russian aristocracy. (The late wife of owner J. William Holt was a granddaughter of a St. Petersburg mayor.)

Amid such artifacts as original costumes from Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, diners can sample foods from each region of the czarist empire. From Uzbekistan come manti, steamed lamb dumplings served with minted sour cream. Waiters in White Army-style uniforms designed by Oleg Cassini urge you to eat the manti with your fingers so the natural juices don't seep out.

From the Ukraine there is borscht, which Firebird painstakingly assembles using three varieties of meat and a beet extract that takes weeks to prepare.

What may surprise some diners is Firebird's many vegetarian and seafood dishes derived from traditional Russian Orthodox fasts - days when the observant were supposed to eat sparingly or not at all. One example of this fare is pokhlyobka, a hearty, peasant-style soup made with wild mushrooms and three types of grain.

While Firebird appeals to an American fascination with royalty, Pravda, a chic downtown bar and restaurant, uses sleek revolutionary imagery from the 1920s to attract a young, hip crowd. In Pravda's dim, subterranean dining room, cigar smoke mingles with the din of Italian, French and English conversation. Co-owner Ana Opitz describes the creative menu as "Westernized Russian," but Pravda also serves traditional fare like blini (small pancakes) with red and black caviar, and more than 70 varieties of vodka.

Rush'n Express, the city's first Russian fast-food chain, caters to a completely different clientele: those in search of quick service and low prices. Mounted above its counters are fluorescent menus like those at McDonald's, but instead of Big Macs and fries, they list borscht and blini.

Rush'n Express has adapted more than marketing techniques to local tastes. Aware of Americans' obsession with health, the owners have reduced the amounts of oil, sugar, butter and salt in their dishes.

About a dozen other Russian restaurants, bars and nightclubs have opened in the last two years in Manhattan. There are also signs of foreign expansion: Firebird plans to open a restaurant in London early next year.

But Tim Zagat, publisher of the Zagat Restaurant Survey, says that it's the Russian Tea Room's reopening that will mark "the beginning of a major interest in Russian food." The internationally acclaimed David Bouley, the Tea Room's new executive chef, has reportedly immersed himself in the study of Russian food and is planning to introduce unusual, refined dishes.

The Tea Room, which has been closed since its sale last year, is scheduled to return next spring ----------------------------------------------------------------- Local options

Those interested in exploring Russian tastes have relatively limited - but excellent - options in the Northwest. Among the choices are the lavishly decorated Kaleenka (1933 1st Ave.; phone 206-728-1278), where Seattleites have long savored what some New Yorkers are now discovering. Its menu also reflects culinary traditions from Eastern Europe and other republics of the former Soviet Union.

The varied, unique menu of Pirosmani (2220 Queen Anne Ave. N., Seattle; phone 206-285-3360) is based on the cuisine of Georgia, the Caucasus Mountain nation that formerly was a Soviet republic. Chef Laura Dewell also offers some Mediterranean-style dishes at Pirosmani, generally considered one of Seattle's top restaurants.