with Marina Gladka

New address for "Basic Instinct"

The Belgian chocolate boutique "Basic Instinct" offers to treat autumn depression with pleasure. The establishment has changed its address, and now it is much easier to visit the boutique that smells of cocoa beans - you no longer need to go down Gorky Street, the store has moved to the very center, to the Opera House area. This patch has recently become densely populated with establishments and is slowly becoming a noticeable point on the gastronomic map.

The boutique window was decorated with chocolate novelties. All of them are designed to give a little pepper before the start of the school year to busy mothers and still inert children. For example, the Arabian Nights candy with lime zest, bay leaf and light notes of chili gives warmth, it is not harsh or forceful, it can be prescribed before the first dictation or the first test. There are two more varieties of candies from the same spicy series - with curry and chili pepper, as well as “Spicy Mint” with peppermint. The "East" candy, on the contrary, is full of tenderness and will most likely remind you of summer trips - it contains fresh mango with spicy notes of saffron. The best new product to soothe parents is the Amarula truffle with the liqueur of the same name. For many, chocolate has become a necessary dope that helps them feel the fullness of joy. Perhaps in September this is just what schoolchildren, students and their parents need. (The price of any chocolate products is 69 UAH per 100 g)

Seabass fillet with mashed potatoes has appeared in Biancoro
Photo: Vladislav Sodel, Kommersant

New in Biancoro

From Monday Boutiquebar Biancoro invites guests to try new dishes. Almost all sections, except desserts and main fish dishes, have new items. However, seafood lovers will not be disappointed either. Fresh fish appetizers have appeared at Biancoro - dorado carpaccio, decorated with confit tomatoes, arugula and parmesan (125 UAH), smoked sea bass with asparagus puree (129 UAH) and smoked halibut with lettuce and yellow tomato cream (129 UAH). A seasonal dish on the meat snack menu is warm roast beef on eggplant puree, garnished with lettuce (125 UAH). Eggplant is the main character of autumn; it strengthens the immune system well, and nutritionists often recommend it for heart patients.

Another seasonal product is porcini mushrooms. In Biancoro you can find it in a consommé with homemade mini noodles (75 UAH). In the fall, there is a desire to replenish the calories wasted over the summer, so the appearance of duck breast with confit apples and grape sauce (129 UAH) is a completely justified September move. A more tender and yet satisfying offer is veal filet mignon, garnished with chickpea puree and mustard sauce (159 UAH).

Crayfish at Premier Palace

The Premier Palace's restaurants have undergone a number of changes. A new chef, Sergei Bolotov, arrived here from Russia. He updated the menu of the hotel's establishments and proposed spending the entire month of September at the rooftop bar. He called his menu “Crayfish on the Roof”. While enjoying the cool evenings on the sofas of the bar, from where you can see the Kyiv skyscrapers, you can immediately order a whole tub of crayfish in a spicy broth (12 pieces - 980 UAH). The crayfish will have to wait 30 minutes, they warn about this, setting up the visitor for a leisurely dinner. Actually, the guest himself can choose a broth for boiling crayfish, for example, tomato with herbs, beer and the addition of white wine; milk with honey and Crimean Madeira; or based on cucumber brine with beer and herbs.

When you want crayfish so badly that you can’t stand it, guests are offered to console themselves with a salad with crayfish, artichoke and herbs (160 UAH), aromatic gazpacho with crayfish tails (80 UAH) and vegetable tian served with salmon mousse and the same crayfish tails (125 UAH) - it’s not without reason that this is the main delicacy of autumn. Or you can really surprise yourself - order a Kyiv cutlet prepared in the style of the September menu, that is, stuffed with crayfish tails (170 UAH).

Crayfish on the roof