Russia: Dinner at Tatiana Grill via Coney Island, Brooklyn

Tatiana Grill Russian food in Coney Island, Brooklyn 

Subway: Coney Island Stillwell Avenue Stop

Location: 3152 Brighton 6th Street (btw E. Boardwalk & Brightwater Ct) (718) 891-5151

So, finally we made it to the circus! 

Below, you can see Short and Bald outside the entrance.

(Short is beneath the arrow) After the circus, we’re going to complete our trip to Russia by having dinner with our friend, Monsieur Saint Louis, (who is late…) at Tatiana’s Russian Grill on the Coney Island Boardwalk. But first, the circus! And it’s not just any circus, it’s “The Ringling Brother’s Barnum and Bailey Circus”, which, according to their publicity, is “The Greatest Show On Earth.”

BALD: “That may be true, but how do they rate on Mars?”

SHORT: “Can we go in now?”

BALD: “You go in. I’m going to stay out here and say a few words to our bloggers about The Ringling Brother’s.”

SHORT: “You’re crazy! See you inside.”

BALD: “Now, while we’re waiting for Monsieur Saint Louis, let me tell you about this circus…just some random facts I remember from…my history of circus classes. Ringling Brother’s Circus was created by the 7 Ringling Brothers (they had to start a circus, didn’t they? Can’t imagine 7 Ringling Brothers opening a law firm, can you? “Hello? Ringling, Ringling, Ringling, Ringling, Ringling, Ringling and Ringling – can I help you?”)

Anyway, they first pitched their tent in Baraboo, Wisconsin in 1884. In a few years, their little caravan of covered wagons had grown into “Ringling Brothers United Monster Shows, Great Double Circus, Royal European Menagerie, Museum, Caravan and Congress of Trained Animals.” I didn’t make that up. Wish I had, but I didn’t.

What made them popular was their clean reputation: they wouldn’t allow shell games and card tricksters in their troupe, so the public grew to trust them. Eventually, they could afford to buy train carriages and were able to skip the small towns and perform only in major cities. They bought Barnum & Bailey in 1907 and became America’s Biggest Circus enterprise. Ah, there’sMonsieur Saint Louis. Let’s go inside and join Short.”

BALD: “Short! Is that you up there?”

SHORT: “I’m here, you lunatic. Next to you. Did you bring popcorn?”

BALD: “No.”

SHORT: “Oh, pity. The elephant looks hungry.”

BALD: “The ELEPHANT is hungry, is it?”

That elephant is huge, which gives you some idea of how big the tent is inside. The audience sits in tiered seating on three sides of the performing area, the traditional ring, with a curtained entrance/exit at the back. They also have a live, amplified band. We wondered how the animals dealt with it.

SHORT: “They were kinda loud and smelly.”

BALD: “You mean the animals?”

SHORT: “No, the band.”

BALD: “Nice… That’s my Short!”

You can see here the classic circus ring with a troupe of clowns and acrobats strutting their stuff. Circus performers have a wonderful physicality about them. They don’t just walk, they bounce. They don’t just talk to a crowd, they invite us in, daring us to share for a moment that boundless joy and superhuman fearlessness we only know in our dreams. The metal ring on a stick (like a giant magnifying glass in the center background), is the Wheel of Death.A guy climbs inside and walks around the ring as the whole thing spins. Later he runs on the outside of the ring, jumps rope and does one circuit blindfolded.

SHORT: “I wanted to take a photo, but I could hardly breathe!”

This girl tied herself in knots (literally) hanging high above the ground. She swung and glided and looped and swooped, and all the time, she had a big smile on her face.

MONSIEUR SAINT LOUIS: “So did I.”

SHORT: “And what about you?”

BALD: “Hm? Me? Oh, yes. She seems quite talented.”

SHORT: “I think it’s time you went to get popcorn, Baldy.”

Once again, it’s astonishing to see how large elephants are in the flesh, and how dexterous they can be. There came a point, though, when we felt uncomfortable watching these beautiful animals performing these tricks. We much preferred the daring human feats. But, at least they did appear to be in good health. There’s a sign outside the tent explaining how elephants and humans have interacted, in Asia, for centuries, and how elephants can be seen exhibiting behavior like this in the wild. I guess the natural behavior exhibited in this picture would be called “mating”. Or more specifically, a “menage a trois”.

BALD: “If you include the girl on the first elephant, (which I wouldn’t recommend) it’s a ‘menage a quatre’.”

SHORT: “Popcorn!!!”

BALD: “More natural elephant behavior. Who knew elephants went to pedicurists in the wild?”

SHORT: “The one in the middle is looking right at me. No, little one, I don’t  have any popcorn. Baldy won’t do as he’s told.” 

SHORT: “Tigers! It looks here like she’s conducting them in a band.”

BALD: “They looked stuffed in this photo.”

SHORT: “Can I have one?”

These beautiful white tigers actually aren’t albinos, they’ve just inherited the recessive white gene, like being left-handed.

SHORT: “They actually have pink noses, pink pads and icy-blue eyes.”

BALD: “And they were very well behaved this night, not one person was eaten.”

Their trainer, the same woman who later performed high up on the rings, used a fine whip and a stick to “persuade” them to do their various tricks. The most extraordinary moment was when one huge tiger jumped backwards and forwards over the back of another one.

And then suddenly, there was confetti and bows and cheers and applause, and it was over. We all agreed that the show was very impressive. The acrobatic stunts were gasp-inducing, the clowning was belly-laugh funny (one clown rode a miniature bike around the top of the ring they’re standing on, and then through a flaming hoop while the band played Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man), and the overall standard of production was really high.

We can’t speak for Mars and the other planets (known and unknown) but Ringling Brother’s Barnum and Bailey Circus must surely come close to being “The Greatest Show on Earth” when it comes to traveling circuses. And there are tickets for as little as $7.50 online, so if you’re looking for a great family treat, go along – they’ll be on the Coney Island boardwalk until September 7, 2009. The packed crowd we were with had a fantastic time, and so did we!

And now, hungrier than a herd of elephants trapped in a phone box, we headed out onto the boardwalk to make our way down to Tatiana’s Russian Grill.

There’s so much history out at Coney Island. For a start, it really WAS an island once, separated from the mainland by a creek. It was joined permanently during World War Two. There’s some uncertainty about where the name Coney came from, but most agree it has some connection to the Dutch and Old English words for rabbit. Apparently, this area was once infested with them. It used to be a resort type getaway, until the start of the 20th Century when steam trains finally reached here. 

The first carousel opened in the 1870’s, and at the end of World War One, the train line became a subway line, and the area exploded. Nathan’s Famous opened in 1916 (America: Quick Bite at Nathan’s Famous) and the peak period for Coney Island was between the wars. There was a Dreamtower and Lagoon, Steeplechase Park, Luna Park and many more attractions. 

It all started going downhill in the late 1940’s and it’s only now, in 2009, that there are serious plans to revitalize Coney again. Of course, the Wonderwheel survived, as did Astroland and the famous Cyclone roller-coaster, but much was demolished. What more will be lost in the redevelopment? Buildings like the one above? The night we were there, this was being used as an indoor roller-skating rink.

It was a beautiful, early summer night. There’s the former Parachute Jump Ride (America: Quick Bite at Nathan’s Famous). The boardwalk and pier are currently being renovated, but it’s still a joy to wander along here day or night. In the daytime, on summer weekends, this is a very different scene, ie: chaos! But at night, with the lights reflecting on the water, and the sound of the waves lapping the shore, you can sometimes forget you’re so close to the Big Apple.

At last, we’re here! And not a moment too soon.

BALD: “Monsieur Saint Louis, please stop gnawing on my wife’s elbow.”

MONSIEUR SAINT LOUIS: “Food!”

There are actually two Tatiana’s right next to each other on the boardwalk. One is referred to as a grill (less pricey, which is this one), the other a restaurant (more pricey, not this one.)

We were seated in this “indoor/outdoor” section under a canopy festooned with fairy lights.

BALD: “Romantic, don’t you think?”

MONSIEUR SAINT LOUIS: “FOOD!”

SHORT: “Bald, tell your friend to stop chewing my ear.”

In the daytime, the “windows” roll up and you can enjoy views of the Atlantic Ocean. We figured many recently arrived Russian immigrants dining here aren’t familiar with Mayor Bloomberg’s anti-smoking laws as there was a lot of indoor puffing going on.

Khlyeb and Peevo! Bread and Beer. We ordered Russian beer, Baltica 7 ($4.50), a pale lager from St. Petersburg, and the chunky bread came with the Ukrainian Borscht we ordered as a starter.

SHORT: “The beer was light and went down very easily.”

BALD: “If you don’t want all of yours, I can always…”

SHORT: “Get your mitts off it!”

Look at that beautiful, deep, rich redness. Borscht is the “national soup” of Russia and popular throughout Eastern Europe. The main ingredient is beetroot, which is why it always looks so red.

SHORT: “And it’s why, Bald, you should never eat it while you’re wearing white!”

BALD: “It’ll come out in the wash…”

There is cold borscht and hot borscht and meat based borscht and vegetarian borscht. This version was hot, vegetarian – full of chunky vegetables like potato and celery and onions and beans and cabbage. And on the side you can see a little container of sour cream, which you empty into the soup and swirl around. The mixture of sweet, hot soup and tart, cold cream is wonderful! It was almost a meal in itself and the price ($6.95) made it great value as well.

BALD: “The only thing missing was a sprig of fennel on top of the sour cream. It’s like hundreds and thousands on the icing on the cake!”

Monsieur Saint Louis ordered Escalope (doesn’t sound too Russian. In fact “escalope” is French and usually refers to any of the white meats; chicken, veal, pork, or turkey, as opposed to the read meats.) This Escalope was 2 pieces of pork loin with home fried potatoes and steamed vegetables.

BALD: “What do you think, Monsieur?”

MONSIEUR SAINT LOUIS: “Back off, I’m eating.”

SHORT: “He seems to be enjoying it, Bald. Can I try some?”

MONSIEUR SAINT LOUIS: “G-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!!!!”

Later, we did manage to pry a piece of pork from Monsieur Saint Louis’s plate and it was delicious. Firm but not chewy. And not at all dry. The sauce had a lot of flavor, but the meat retained a nice, smoky pork taste as well. As for the vegetables, they were a big disappointment, for all our dishes. Plain, steamed summer vegies with a clump of diner quality home fries. Like putting a cheap frame round a beautiful painting.

The plate is a giveaway, huh? Not going to serve chicken or beef in this, are you!Bald had Sturgeon “Polina Viardo” ($24.50) Polina Viardo apparently was a French opera singer, but we don’t know her connection to this fish dish.

SHORT: “Maybe she was onstage one night and she coughed up a fish bone from dinner. She yelled out for a surgeon to help her, but everyone thought she was just blaming the ‘sturgeon’.”

BALD: “Thanks, Short. I can always rely on you.”

So, this surgeon was baked with vegetables, (onion, bell pepper, celery, tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, capers) all inside a wrapping of mozzarella cheese with “home-made sauce”.

BALD: “It was a bowl of warm, wonderful, cheesy, gooeyness. I didn’t realize  till I read up on it later, that sturgeon is mainly a freshwater fish. Some varieties do venture out into saltwater estuaries, but most live  primarily in rivers, so the flesh has a more delicate texture and a more watery, less salty flavor. The capers added a salty tang, which I loved, and, I must say, I was surprised at how the savory cheese  topping pulled the whole dish together. I wasn’t sure, at first, but  it was very satisfying. Once again, the side dish of vegetables is not  worth mentioning. I know I just mentioned it, but, trust me, I wish I hadn’t.”

Sturgeon is very popular in Russia where it’s farmed extensively. Sturgeon roe makes wonderful caviar, but the huge fish takes a long time to mature, and so it’s now considered endangered.

Short had a classic Russian dish, Chicken Cutlet Kiev ($17.95), once again with boring home fries and soggy old vegetables. As Kiev is the capital of Ukraine, now a sovereign nation, we really shouldn’t call it a Russian dish…

SHORT: “The chicken was r-e-a-l-l-y tasty! Outside, the fried, breadcrumb  crust was not too thick, and just lightly crunchy. They put  a leg bone in one end to use as a kind of handle, so here it looks  a bit like a big, fried mango. Or a giant monster leg of chicken.”

BALD: “Or duck”

SHORT: “Where? Bald, stop teasing me! It also came with a little dish of Cranberry Sauce. Sw-e-e-e-t!”

SHORT: “Boring, oily, home fries. Ecch! The only good thing about  the vegetables was that long, thin, green, chive stalk in the middle.  It’s used a lot in Korean and Chinese cooking and it was nice to  nibble on, with a really strong flavor.”

SHORT: “Inside, was a chicken breast, with no bone (thank god! I hate  biting bones in anything. Except my Bald.) The hollow inside was filled with a buttery, garlic sauce with a nutty sort of stuffing. I was quite full by the time I’d finished this. Of course, Bald very  kindly offered to help.”

We weren’t GOING to have dessert, but then our kind, Latvian waitress just happened to mention they had a Napoleon with fresh berries.

SHORT: “Napoleons are one of Bald’s favorite desserts. I’ll eat them  if I HAVE to. I HAVE to? Oh, all right!!!”

The fruit was fresh, and the Napoleon was pretty good – though not as layered 

and tasty as Bald’s favorite Napoleons from Lassen and Hennings in Brooklyn Heights (Thailand: Dinner at Lantern via Court St.)

And what Russian night would be complete without a wandering musician playing folk songs on a piano accordion?

BALD: “I was reminded of a beautiful line from the play, “The Seagull”,  written by the great Russian playwright, Anton Chekhov. After a lively conversation, there’s a sudden lull in the proceedings, and the doctor,  Dorn, whispers in the quiet, “The angel of silence is flying above us…”

Well, that was never gonna happen with this guy around! As you can see by the blurred photo, he was squeezing up a Slavic storm! 

SHORT & BALD: Nastrovya! (Cheers!)

Maybe Tatiana’s isn’t as authentically Russian as we had hoped, but we sure had a great time there, and we can really recommend it, especially on a hot, summer evening after a stroll by the Atlantic.

SHORT/BALD/MONSIEUR SAINT LOUIS: “Dasvidaniya!” (Goodbye!)

Our overall opinion of Tatiana Grill: 

1. Great entrees with good variety of meat, poultry and seafood. Their Ukraian Borscht was especially good. Boring sidedishes…

2. For the location and the whole Russian experience, the price ispretty good. 

3. You may or may not like the decor, but it’s very romantic to look out at the ocean and stars at night.

4. On weekends, it can get pretty busy as they have live shows and dancing.

SHORT & BALD: “Now go and grab your “metrocard-passport” so you can join us in our next country!”