REVIEW: TAIGA, Hudson
Taiga, Hudson. Photo credit: Susie Davidson Powell/The Dishing
Taiga Restaurant, Hudson
119 Warren Street, Hudson | taigarestaurant.com
We like it for: Weekend date night for 2, brunch, quiet conversations, dinner for 1.
Must try: Russian herbal teas, classic blinis, borscht, dumplings, desserts
The Vibe: A slice of wild Siberia in Hudson.
Sound: Russian singers like Maya Kristalinskaya and Lydumila Senchina with Gruppa Igorya Talkova.
Style: Wallpaper and crocheted table cloths, mismatched vintage china, antiques and ornate napkin rings might invoke a grandmother’s house if it weren’t so stylishly executed with dried wild flowers and a certain palm-reader mystique.
Taiga is only open 3 days a week, but whether you go for breakfast or lunch on the weekend — it opens at 9 a.m. - or head over for a three-course dinner Friday, Saturday or Sunday, you should end your meal by dipping into the room in the back to shop for the chef’s Russian skin-care products and scents or handmade silk pajamas and dresses. He even shot the oversized photos on all the walls. (The couple also have two stores in Manhattan.)
But the real story on the menu here is one of the Taiga - or boreal forest - of Siberia and local ingredients from Altai region honey to the caviar and lingonberries are all imported. Masses of dried wildflowers and herbs hang in bunches from the doorway and around the walls recalling the mountainous Altai region at the edge of Siberia known for its clean air and medicinal plants. Chef Vlad makes traditional teas, some with 30 different herbs, but no caffeine or sweeteners; his seasonal menu ricochets through Russian classics from charred cabbage with red bell pepper sauce and vinegret, a potato salad with beets, peas, and pickles to thickly pleated Altai manty dumplings with sour cream and tomato sauce or more delicate cheese and salmon pelmeni topped with salmon roe.
The focus is on wild ingredients from plants to fresh caught fish or whole rabbit served (without its head) surrounded with wild spruce and lingonberries. Borscht comes with sour cream and sala, shaved lard over ice; a fish course on the summer menu is a sea bass roulade with honey-tinged roasted peaches and foraged mushrooms. Dessert might be lemon posset, blinis with apple sauce, or syrniki, little parcels filled with farmer’s cheese, served with plump fresh berries and homemade strawberry jam.
Parking: Street parking
Nearby: All of Warren Street lies before you but here, at the lower end of Warren Street, you’ll find: 1. Via Cassia 2. Paulette’s Grocery Store + Caribbean 3. Kitty’s 4. Wm. Farmer & Son 5. Half Moon Pizza + Bar
