Description
Russian food sometimes defies real fanciness, but Firebird Restaurant transforms meat, potatoes, and cabbage--oh, and vodka--into an experience fit for the Hell's Kitchen environment in which it's found itself. The interior and decor are plush and luxuriant, and nothing less. Red velvet-backed chairs, thick carpeting, ornamental walls, sculpted busts framed by huge, heavy mirrors--this place is a near-literal time warp. The food is not particularly inaccessible, but the prices may be: a so-so beef stroganoff will run several dozen dollars, and the chicken kiev is much the same. More worthy dishes are anything with lamb and the particularly interesting wild boar, which is something you can't really find outside of a Russian or Slavic restaurant. But the experience as a whole--with its opulent atmosphere, super attentive service, and ridiculously extensive list of fine vodkas--is worth the high cost. --Shane Barnes
