Going Green in St. Petersburg

The Green Room

Ligovsky Prospekt, 74

St. Petersburg

Tel. +7(812)458-8003

Open daily from 

noon to midnight

these days, “sustainability” is the buzzword in American food politics. Sustainable agriculture, environmentally friendly packaging, locally produced foods – all have become part of our current way of thinking. But a recent visit to Moscow and St. Petersburg reminded me that in Russia little attention is being paid to ecological concerns.

Although the grand agricultural and industrial projects of the Soviet era famously ignored the environment, Soviet citizens in their day actually engaged in highly sustainable domestic practices. To help mitigate the failures of centralized agriculture, they gathered mushrooms and berries and dug potatoes from their own garden plots. They carefully washed out bottles for return at collection points. They had no access to shrink-wrapped produce, and plastic bags, if any were to be found, were rinsed out and used over and over again. Purchases generally made their way into avoski, handy cotton string bags that could even hold meat and fish from the marketplace that had been wrapped up for sale in old newspapers. You can’t get much more environmentally friendly than that.

But wasteful packaging is all over Russia now. While many Americans have begun bringing their own canvas bags to the grocery store, Russians are reveling in disposables. Bottled water is ubiquitous, and city supermarkets stock single-serving plastic cartons of yogurt and tvorozhok. Discarded wrappers and containers reveal plenty of meals eaten on the run. So it was with particular pleasure that I discovered a glimmer of things green, in the form of Zelyonaya Komnata (The Green Room), Russia’s first organic vegetarian restaurant, which opened a few months ago in St. Petersburg.

The Green Room is part of a contemporary-arts center called Loft Project Etazhi (Floors), which occupies five floors in the former Smolninsky Bread Factory. The complex includes galleries, a hostel, and a wine bar featuring organic wines.

The restaurant has been carved out of an airy industrial space that opens onto a rooftop patio. It feels like a haven, especially after the climb up a dank stairwell to the third floor. Long wooden tables and verdant houseplants soften the exposed ducts and old factory equipment and lend a natural, earthy appeal.

The food is prepared in an open kitchen overseen by talented British chef Steven Brayshaw. From the start, Brayshaw hits the right note: lemon-infused water is brought to the table in tall glasses instead of the small, disposable bottles that chic restaurants currently like to provide. Even the tableware is artfully designed. Butternut squash soup is served in a flat plate with a deep, central indentation that makes the soup appear to float along the surface. It is ladled with heavy spoons designed by Robert Welch.

In keeping with the gallery theme of Loft Project Etazhi, Brayshaw presents his dishes as works of art. Ribbons of red and yellow and purple shimmer in red pepper and Fontina lasagna. The pumpkin blini are an architectural feat – three towering golden pancakes layered generously with fried mushrooms and potatoes and highlighted with dollops of pale green sauces on the side – dill and sour cream and chive. This is a perfectly modern, vegetarian take on a blinchaty pirog, the traditional Russian torte made of layered pancakes and minced meat.

My only regret is that I did not manage to try everything on The Green Room’s menu, especially its special seasonal offerings devoted to pumpkin. Where else in Russia could you find “Barack Obama’s All-American Pumpkin Pie with Down-home Vanilla Ice Cream”?

French Lentil Soup

1⁄4 lb. each red, green and brown lentils

1 medium onion, diced

2-3 large carrots, diced

1⁄2 lb. fresh fennel root, diced

1 clove garlic

1⁄4 cup olive oil

6 cups water

1 tbsp olive flavored vinegar

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp lemon juice

salt, black pepper, parsley, to taste

Rinse lentils. Cover with water three times the volume of the beans and simmer until cooked (about 35-40 minutes). Drain.

Saute the onion, carrots, fennel and garlic lightly in the olive oil (4-5 minutes).

Bring water to boil, then add lentils and sautéed vegetables. Simmer for 40 minutes, until the mixture turns into a thick soup. Add vinegars, lemon juice and spices. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Serves 6.

Recipe courtesy The Green Room.