The Washington Diplomat

From Russia With Love
Downtown’s Maxim Serves Hearty Russian, Georgian Dishes
by Rachel Hunt and Stephen Qualiana

You might not guess as you enter Maxim that beneath its stately elegance beats the heart of a vibrant nightspot. But after dinner on a weekend evening, Maxim is transformed from a formal dining establishment to a hopping international party spot.

Thursday through Saturday, diners may dance to the live music in both Russian and English. (On a recent evening there were two birthday parties taking advantage of Maxim’s late night.) Which is all part of owner-manager Alexandra Costa’s plan for this newest Russian establishment in downtown Washington, D.C. She hopes to make Maxim a sort of Russian-American cultural center offering music and other Russian arts to diners. At a recent New Year’s celebration, large puppets operated by second-generation Russian puppeteers entertained diners.

Maxim is a family business. Zourab Tsiskaridze, a professional singer, and Costa’s husband, performs both traditional and Russian songs, and Costa’s son is responsible for the wine list, which is considerable and interesting. Georgian wines are featured, and there are a number of excellent reds.
The substantial menu at Maxim ranges from the familiar to the exotic and is often difficult to pronounce. Traditional Russian favorites, such as chicken Kiev and beef stroganoff, that many American diners have become accustomed to seeing on menus, are paired with Georgian specialties such as kharcho and khinkali.

The menu boasts a considerable list of cold and hot appetizers, easily sufficient to make a meal in their own right, and perfect as a late evening snack accompanied by one of the many vodkas available. Among the numerous cold appetizers were a number of vegetarian dishes, including an interesting assortment of pickles ($5.95), excellent marinated mushrooms ($6.95), and two eggplant dishes. There was a dip of chopped roasted eggplant, tomatoes, garlic and onion dressed in a vinaigrette and served with warm pita ($4.95).

More unusual, and even more delicious, was the Georgian eggplant with walnuts. Slices of roasted eggplant were wrapped around a mixture of ground walnuts, garlic and herbs ($5.95). Another excellent choice was one that may be familiar to many diners, a cold vegetable salad, called Olivier ($5.95). This Russian version of potato salad brought together eggs, carrots, green peas and pickles, all cut to the same size, dressed in sour cream and mayonnaise and flavored liberally with dill.

Perhaps our favorite among the cold appetizers was a dish called satsivi ($7.95). Chunks of chicken were drenched in a ground walnut and garlic sauce. The sauce was flavored with a complex Georgian spice mixture in which the dominant flavor was cumin. The dish was delicious and may be rather surprising for diners not used to the range of flavors that can be found in Russian regional cooking.

The warm appetizers were equally interesting, consisting of two puff pastry dishes and a startling array of dumpling–type dishes from various regions of Russia: Georgian khinkali, Siberian pelmeni, Ukranian varenki ($11.95 to $17.95), with fillings varying from beef, pork, potato, cheese and cherry. All were excellent but quite filling and are best shared. Khachapuri ($5.95), another Georgian specialty, were puff pastry is filled with a three–cheese mix and was as delightful as the pirozhki ($1.95), either meat or mushroom, which were done in the Russian style with puff pasty.

The menu poses an interesting dilemma. Much of the food is hearty and substantial—even the vegetarian dishes are quite filling. Even before you come to the main courses, the menu is so interesting that one is tempted to try a bit of everything, and most are well worth a try. By the time you get to the main part of the menu you are at risk of being very full. Maxim’s menu, and ambience, lends itself to large parties willi ng to share dishes. It’s the only way to avoid missing something.

Choices of main dishes are more limited than the appetizers but are still considerable. Beef stroganoff ($17.95) and chicken Kiev ($16.95) were both well executed and very rich. Another excellent dish was the kulebyaka ($16.95), a puff pasty filled with salmon, rice and hard-boiled egg. It was simpler and lighter than many of the other choices.

A more unusual Georgian dish, chicken tapaka ($17.95), was an alternative to the more typical fare. A tapaka is a Russian skillet. In this dish, a whole Cornish game hem was split, rubbed with garlic and adjika sauce, then sautéed in the skillet under a press. It is an exotic-tasting dish because of the adjika sauce. Adjika is a traditional West Georgian condiment. It is a complex blend of spices and other ingredients and in its most traditional form, not readily available in the United States. But Costa is serious about her food and wants it as authentic as possible. So to get the right kind of adjika she relies on friends traveling from Russia to bring her the right stuff. It is this attention to detail that characterizes Costa’s approach to Maxim and what makes it such a pleasant experience.

For serious fish lovers, Maxim offers a real treat—sturgeon. This increasingly rare fish is often difficult to come by fresh in the United States. If available, it is most often frozen. After some effort, Costa was able to establish a regular supply of fresh sturgeon. To taste one of the sturgeon dishes was to know it was well worth her effort.

As an appetizer, try the sturgeon napoleon, an unusual variation on that classic sweet dessert. Smoked sturgeon is layered in puff pastry with whipped cream and fresh cucumbers ($11.95). Two entrée versions are available, either baked or broiled (both $21.95). An apple-crusted baked filet is served with tkemali cream sauce and a broiled filet is topped with a salmon caviar sauce. In both variations, the firm, coarsely fleshed white fish is accented rather than overwhelmed by its sauces, allowing its unusual flavor to remain unchallenged. Other sturgeon products are also on the menu. Two caviars, the renowned Beluga (subtly flavored, large, loose, dark berries) and ossetra (stronger slightly nutty flavored, smaller, lighter colored berries) were available at market price on the appetizer menu.

Although Maxim offers a number of dessert choices, this was the weakest spot on the menu. The desserts were fairly routine with the exception of the homemade sorbet whose flavors change frequently and seem a better choice after a heavy meal than the richer cheesecakes and other such offerings.

In addition to the ubiquitous vodka, Maxim offers another traditional Russian beverage that non-drinkers may enjoy. Kvas, a non-alcoholic malt beverage made of fermented brown bread is available by the pitcher and seems a much more fitting accompaniment for the meal than soft drinks.

Maxim is located one block from the White House at 1725 F St., NW. Dress for the restaurant is business to cocktail casual. All major credit cards are accepted. Maxim is open for lunch Monday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and for dinner Monday to Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. For more information, please call (202) 962-0280.

Rachel Hunt and Stephen Qualiana are the restaurant reviewers for The Washington Diplomat.