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The Moscow Times Moscow Guide – Winter 2008

Since the middle of autumn one of the most important topics of discussion, could only be … no, not the financial crisis… New Year! The winter issue of The Moscow Times Moscow Guide is entirely devoted to New Years celebrations. Seven great ideas for celebrating the “Night of Nights” will help readers finalise their plans and choose how and where to party, give fresh ideas and lots of practical advice.

And don’t forget – problems will come by themselves, but happiness and luck need an invitation. That why the more cheerful and light-hearted your celebration of the coming holiday is, the happier and more successful 2009 will be for you.

The Crisis: Signs of a Kremlin Fearful Of Unrest
Sociologist Yevgeny Gontmakher has painted a disturbing picture of what might emerge from the financial crisis, forecasting continued unemployment, huge protests and spreading violence.

Market Matters: Huge Grain Harvest No Boon for Farmers
This year Russia is enjoying the biggest grain harvest it has ever seen -- and farmers couldn't be more worried.



Tuesday, January 06, 2009 Updated at 31 December 2008 22:36 Moscow Time.

The Moscow Times » Issue 3931 » City Wise

Nathan Toohey / MT

Lebedinoye Ozero's style has taken Gorky Park's cafes to a new level.

Summertime Swan Lake

26 June 2008By Nathan Toohey / Staff WriterLast year, Kak na Kanarakh was "the" summer spot. Created by the people behind Solyanka night club and cafe, the pontoon restaurant was a virtual floating resort on the river beside Gorky Park, complete with a swimming pool and deck chairs. Unfortunately for sun worshipers, the deck with all its amenities was unceremoniously towed away at the end of summer, after being targeted in a City Hall crackdown on floating restaurants.

Not one to give up easily, this time round the Solyanka team has chosen a more grounded location for their summer "resort," albeit only several hundred meters from where Kak na Kanarakh was moored.

The new offering is called Lebedinoye Ozero, or Swan Lake, and it is indeed situated beside a large pond with two swans named Masha and Borya. The open-air restaurant is through Vremena Goda restaurant's gateway at the very back of Gorky Park (via Leninsky Prospekt), so you don't have to buy park tickets to get in. Besides the lounge area, which is covered but with open sides, there is a space for Thai massages, a small swimming pool and deck chairs for catching some rays. All the teak furnishings have been sourced from Southeast Asia. The overall feel is like a small Asian oasis stashed at the back of Gorky Park.

The menu is concise with a mix of Russian, European and Caucasus dishes plus a lone Thai soup (280 rubles). Cold starters and salads include ruccola with prawns (420 rubles), Caesar with chicken (360 rubles) and tasty hummus with pita bread (220 rubles). Caucasus dishes make an appearance on the hot starters list with khinkali (270 rubles), khachapuri (290 rubles) and Ossetian meat pie (320 rubles). Besides the Thai soup, there is also cold svekolnik beet soup and okroshka with either kvas or kefir (both 250 rubles). Mains include shashliks of chicken (290 rubles) and pork (310 rubles), lyula kebab (360 rubles) and grilled salmon (420 rubles).

Wine starts from 240 rubles a glass, while draft beers start from 290 rubles for a pint for Edelweiss or Harp, while 310 rubles buys a pint of Guinness or Newcastle Brown Ale.

Lebedinoye Ozero: 9/11 Ul. Krymsky Val (by the back gate of Gorky Park), 782-5813, noon-6 a.m., M. Shabolovskaya.