SF - Gastronom Redux – Kvas & a third type of piroshki

With a few interesting reports starting with Melanie’s cherry cheese pastries, I decided to check them out after reading they made kvas in-house.

The kvas at Gastronom is a drink that tastes like a slightly fermented good apple cider. Memories of sampling cider at apple farms in New England returned. It had that cider tang to it.

Actually, this Russian drink is a yeast-based beverage, often made with bread and spices. Why it tastes like apples, I have no idea.

Cinderella Bakery also makes kvas. At Cinderella it tasted like sparkling apple cider but with more yeasty notes. They are both good, but the edge goes to Gastronom. The apple taste was sweeter more with maple notes.

The Kvas is kept in the back and you have to ask for it. Don’t buy the pre-packaged or bottled kvas. The first time I had kvas, it was bottled and one of the most memorably vile drinks I ever tried.

As reported before, this bakery makes two types of piroshki – fried or baked. The baked is unlike any piroshki I’ve ever tried. Usually they are flakey like a turnover. This was like a sweet roll. In fact, while I was looking at them, I thought maybe they were some sort Russian take on a sweet cheese Danish.

It was lovely with a savory potato mushroom filling. Although the filling was on the bland side and the mushrooms were finely chopped so there wasn’t too much of that flavor, I thought it was tasty. I’d give it a try with other fillings. I’m going to microwave the rest for breakfast tomorrow and see how it tastes warm.

This is really a very nice Russian deli. If I wasn’t on other food searches, I would have bought more. They had these delicious looking mini babka-like breads topped with white icing and colorful sprinkles. These were getting snapped up as the tray was brought out.

I like this better than the ‘wall of meat’ place. The cold-cuts are unwrapped, the smoked fish looks like something I would buy (and probably will in the future). It doesn’t look like the old and unappealing fish sold at most Eastern European delis in the area. Nice selection of cheeses and dairy products as well as pelimi and blini. Good looking deli items too. If I wasn’t illegally parked, I would have spent more time looking around. Everyone, customers and deli clerks, was speaking Russian, but the lady who waited on me spoke perfect English.

I’ll definitely be back to see if they are in fact as good as they look. And, uh, I forgot to ask if they ever make rye bread ... I was rushed. I don’t think so, because I saw a lot of the usual brands of bagged Eastern European breads on one shelf.

Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[bigwheel042]

An update to this thread, as I have become mildly obsessed with tasting real kvas lately. Went to Gastronom this afternoon and asked about the homemade kvas. They seemed to have no idea what I was talking about, even when I mentioned that people used to get it from the back. However I did buy the attached bottle from their fridge ($6). Unlike the soda-like kvas that takes up most of the shelves in these stores and is half the price, this is not from a large commercial manufacturer and is apparently made in the US. It also has a small hole punched in the screwtop to vent carbon dioxide, as it's still fermenting. Flavor is significantly less sweet and more complex than the bottle of Monastirskiy I bought at New World Market (which I didn't think was as undrinkable as some of the reviews I'd read of it implied, just don't expect it to be like beer).

Incidentally I stopped in at New World Market also while I was in the neighborhood and...as with the other things I've bought at Gastronom, discovered that NWM carried the same brand of kvas for ~10% less, hidden in the bottom of the fridge. I asked the guy there (either the manager or their beer buyer) a bit about it and he couldn't have been nicer. This guy loves his kvas and was happy to make suggestions about which brands he prefers.

Cinderella still has homemade kvas but it looks more expensive still ($2.50/glass, not really viable for home drinking).

[bigwheel042]

photo of local (?) kvas below. Reminds me in color and flavor a bit like a cross between a cider and a brown ale, quite malty, with a clear flavor of raisins in the finish.

[rworange]

Thanks for the update. What brands did the guy at New World Market suggest? i'll have to give that local kvass a try.

[bigwheel042]

The main takeaway I got from the conversation was that nothing in this area truly tastes like the homemade stuff in Russia. The "fermented drink" pictured above that I bought probably comes closest and is quite popular. Beyond that, it sounded like he thought Monastirskiy was fine and there was another bottled brand from one of the Baltics that he also liked. Don't remember whether that one came from Latvia or Lithuania but it came in sort of a long-necked bottle in a middle shelf of the kvas fridge. Unfortunately I neglected to write down any of the names but I could probably recognize which ones he pointed out if I saw them again there.

I forgot - did you check out the Russian deli and market in San Mateo (Busy Bee?) on El Camino Real a block north of 25th? I'm only ever by there when it's closed and I've been curious if they have dining tables or if it's strictly a market operation.

Thank you for all your reviews of Russian food. I really enjoy them.

Haven't checked out Busy Bee yet, but I want to get down to San Mateo to check out a Brazilian market and that Carribean restaurant. I'll add Russian to the itenerary.

I probably should start asking at the Russian places if they have kvas.

A few weeks ago I was in the neighborhood, actually attending a tasting at Blackwell's. I went into the Russian deli on the same block and didn't see anything particularly delicious looking. I wanted to pick up a jar of taramasalata but wanting to make only one purchase decided to walk over to Gastronom. The taramasalata was 50¢ less (not insignificant on something that only costs $3.50), and I had a chance to pick up the "pizza" that I'd been so curious about my first trip.

This had a mound of roasted chicken meat chunks and cheese that was about the size of a medium cheeseburger and turned out to be substantial enough for dinner. I heated it a bit at home in the toaster oven, just enough to soften the firm, chewy crust and open up the aroma. Very fragrant with dill and baked cheese, under the meat and cheese was a slice of ripe tomato (wonder how they managed that) baked down to a sweet jellied consistency, and some fresh mushrooms in a creamy base. The golden crust was well-oiled adding a buttery richness. Can't remember how much this was, on the order of $1.75 to $2.50. This was quite a deal again and so delicious.

Image: http://static.flickr.com/51/136774690...