Rushin' Russian

Though the weather wasn't as frigid as the typical climate in Mother Russia, the Culture Club embarked on a journey to Uncle Vanya's, an authentic Russian cafe named after Chekhov's play, in the heart of Midtown. We sampled some Russian cuisine such as blinis, spinach pancakes, Russian dumplings, beef stroganoff, and washed it all down with some of Uncle Vanya's homemade cranberry infused vodka, which is strong enough to knock you from here to Moscow.

After noshing on some classic Russian offerings, we came to the conclusion that there is a reason Russians are known for vodka and not their culinary prowess. We then decided to explore this complex country through its history and trademarks - we discovered, among other things, that Russians are a force to be reckoned with in the community of arts and sciences, and Russia itself accounts for 1/8 of Earth's land area and is considered a mineral and energy superpower! The Culture Club thought it best to apply some of this new knowledge to a little game of trivia about Russian influence in American Pop Culture, which turned into a cut-throat battle of... hand raising.

Before leaving Uncle Vanya for the day, we asked our waiter to take a picture of our group. We charged our vodka glasses and asked him how "Cheers" is translated in Russian, to which he replied, "We don't Cheers." Such is known to be the icy nature of our Kremlin comrades, but it didn't cool our heels, as we next decided to don our fur hats and warm up in the Russian Vodka Room a few blocks away. Just in time for attitude adjustment hour, we sipped their signature infused vodka creations, reflected on our journey, and enjoyed some equally authentic Russian atmosphere. The day concluded with sharing homemade Russian Tea Cakes to take our separate ways, and a recipe to make them the next time we're Rushin' for a little Russian.