Photo n2 courtesy of Alexandra Kalinina
TO EAT
L'ATELIER
About
Definitely the most upscale restaurant in town, L'Atelier serves a fusion of French and Russian cuisines. Located in a large room on the first floor of Tatiana Provence Hotel, it is spacious, bright, and cozy, with the well-thought-out design and planning. Once a week, on Saturday, they invite a professional pianist to play the grand piano which stands in the middle of the restaurant. The menu was put together by the French chef Patrick Turpin. Traditional Russian dishes are cooked in a Russian oven, fired by birch and pine logs. It does take time but it's definitely worth it! Note that there're very few vegetarian dishes but they can prepare a dish without adding meat or fish to it, just ask them. Don't miss the breakfast here, it's absolutely delicious. Their oven-cooked porridge is our all-time favourite breakfast meal.
Info
12 Moskovskaya St. (Московская ул, д. 12)
+7 495 597 70 28
7.30am (8am in the weekends)-11pm
Menu in English
English-speaking staff
Best for breakfast/lunch/dinner
Order this: duck with carrot pudding and pear in red wine; farmer's beef with potatoes and forest mushrooms, with Bearnaise cauce; goose with apples.
CHEKHOV WAS HERE
ЗДЕСЬ БЫЛ ЧЕХОВ
About
A cute coffeeshop and a bakery on the central street of Zvenigorod. The name of the place speaks for itself. Chekhov has actually visited this rose-bricked 19th-century house, which was then the central pharmacy of Zvenigorod. Anton Chekhov moved to this town after graduating from the State Medical University in Moscow. He worked as a doctor in a local hospital, and it's heardly surprising that he often sent his patients to the central pharmacy, and frequented this place himself. Sadly, none of the interiors have survived but, nonetheless, it's a very cozy place with loads of books, games, and cushions, with excellent coffee, and a good variety of homemade desserts.
You can buy beautiful postcards with Chekhov's quotes in Russian and English and watercolour and ink designs at the till. The postcards were designed specially for the coffeeshop by a Russian journalist called Alexandra. Sign your postcard while sipping your cup of coffee, and hand it in to the staff of the café. They sell stamps, and will help you to attach as many as you need for your country. Then drop your postcard in a box next to the till, and the coffeeshop will post them for you. A new collection of postcards with English translations of the quotes is due to arrive in spring.
Info
27 Moskovskaya St. (Московская ул, д. 27)
Go to Website (only in Russian)
Mon-Fri 7.30am-8pm, Sat-Sun 9am-9pm
English-speaking staff
Best for breakfast (served daily until 11am)/coffee/dessert
Order this: Raf-coffee (latte with cream and vanilla sugar), honey and buckthorn tea, a house special cherry&chocolate drink called 'Cherry Orchard'. Many delicious and unusual desserts made by the pastry chef. Chocolates to die for from the French chef Frederic Andrieu, and the best macarons we've tried in Russia.
PURVEYANCE TOWER
ПРОВИАНТСКАЯ БАШНЯ
About
A very unusual café is located inside one of the ancient towers of Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery. The tower once served to store supplies of the monastery hence its name, and the name of the café ('purveyance tower'). There're 4 levels, each with its own kitschy interior and a bar counter where you can order food. There's a bakery on the ground floor selling monastery-made bread and various pastry. Some of them come in very unexpected shapes (think of a gigantic pastry in a shape of fish with apples and cinnamon inside) but regardless of their look, they're all delicious. The menu of the cafés upstairs vary a little but it's pretty much what you would expect to eat in a monastery. Russian soups, salads, and traditional kvass and mead. From the 1st floor of the café there's a door that leads to the defensive wall. It's a good place to take photos of the monastery.
Info
Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery (Саввино-Сторожевский Монастырь)
Directions: as you enter the gates of the monastery, turn right, and enter the nearest tower.
Mon-Sun 7.30am-7.30pm
Best for lunch/snack
Order this: bread and various pastry from the monastery bakery, mead made by the monks