Tweet and Russian Teatime - brief notes

Parents were in town so we went out a few times this weekend. However, the occasions were primarily social, so these notes are pretty sketchy.

Friday eve. at Tweet: They took a res. for 6 at 6:00 and honored it. Very friendly welcome. Also they asked over the phone if we'd been there before, in order to make sure we knew they are cash only. A good precaution on their part. (There is an ATM in the building.)

The mussels treatment was a nice variation on the usual white wine/garlic. There was a bit of tomato and saffron along with a hint of chili I think. The mussels themselves were just a bit smaller than I'd prefer, but it was a very generous heap of them. I did a lot of sharing and didn't feel deprived. And the broth was as addictively scoopable as any I've had.

An appetizer involving haloumi cheese seared and surrounded by various veggies and pickled things was very generously portioned and a nice idea, I just didn't think the cheese quite worked. It was so low in moisture that it's exposure to the grill or salamander didn't really affect it much. It was just a fairly dry, salty hunk of cheese, now warm. Didn't soften to spread on the accompanying bread - just kind of sat there on top if you tried to eat it that way. Just change the cheese, and i think they'd have a winner. I rarely order burgers but I was just in the mood. The organic beef (1/2 lb.) was very tasty and definitely fatty enough to satisfy. My only complaint would be that the brioche bun is just too soft to support the whole thing.

Very nice herbed fries with a garlic aioli. (Not quite up to Semiramis, but very nice.)

We had a dessert, it involved chocolate, and we liked it, but 4 days later, I just can't recall what it was.

They also have drink specials that are very good value. Fri. was $5 Ketel martini night. If you're in the mood, and I was, that's a nice deal.

Cannot supply specifics on the rest of the party. There was an order of the veal cheeks which my friends was pretty ecstatic about. (And they make a point of testifying to the humane treatment of the veal calves.)

My wife had a fish and liked it a lot. Dad had a vegetarian plate and was very happy with it.

In addition, the waiter and I, for some reason that I don't think was anyone's fault , had a series of misunderstandings that resulted in him having to re-do things, and he never got remotely testy about it. Further, he took the initiative to ask if my son would enjoy their house-made icecream more as a sundae - not on the menu. Very nice of him.

We were there for about 2 hours and as we left at prime time on a Fri. there were only a few tables occupied. I hope this is an anomaly. They seem to be a nearly ideal version of the somewhat upscale but neighborhood place that you can return to happily many times.

Mon. Lunch--Russian Teatime: I have always enjoyed it there, though I have not really explored the menu in too much depth. Very pleasant service. The menu extols the chopped liver as the best you will ever have including NY delis. I admire the chutzpah, but can't quite second that emotion. It's rather wetter than either Jewish chopped liver or its Italian crostini cousin. Good flavor though.

I love their black bread which I believe comes from Kaufman's but I can' swear to it. Dad had the hot borsht and liked it a lot.

Either it's a change, or I just never noticed before, but in addition to offering vodka flights, they seem to have many more kinds of vodka on the list than they used to, from all over the former USSR. Also, there were lots of beers I never heard of also from all over Georgia, Lithiania, Ukraine, Poland, etc. I've never seen any of these elsewhere and would love to explore. Dad had a Baltic red beer that was quite nice.

I tried the horseradish infused house vodka and loved it. Dad opined that while it wasn't bad, he didn't think that he could distinguish between it and the liquid that you could pour directly out of the horseradish jar at home. After considering this I had to admit that with the neutrality of the vodka, that was probably true, but I loved it anyway.

They make all the familiar dumplings and I like them, but I am no way familiar enough with all the different national expressions of dumpling-ness to really judge either their authenticity or comparative quality.