Bright and colorful Levantine cuisine - Turkish pistachio lamb kebabs, shrimps in Greek pastry kadaif, Israeli hummus; A sophisticated space for 240 guests, with views of Istanbul's Gunaydin, premium Voronezh houses and the most delicate Dagestan lamb, huge panoramic windows, from which - half of Moscow - on the 7th floor of Lotte Plaza on Novinsky Boulevard the Levantine restaurant began to operate.
In the Levantine restaurant, a team of chefs, under the leadership of Chef Ilya Cherkashin, offers, of course, Levantine cuisine. Levant - the common name of the countries of the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea (Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Cyprus, Greece, a little Italy and France.).
Initially, the Levant was described as a “crossroads between Western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and northeast Africa,” that is, it was on these lands that the dishes that now occupy the first lines in the menu of restaurants all over the world were invented and perfected.
Since the 15th century, it was the inhabitants of the vast Levant region who ate baba ganush, all meze options, pasta and risotto, baklava, falafel, tahini, hummus and other kebabs.
The emphasis in the new Moscow restaurant Levantine was made specifically on kebabs, more precisely - on all options of chopped and not chopped dishes from Voronezh beef and from Dagestan mutton.
And since Turkish cooks work best with meat, and this is an obvious fact, the chief Ilya Cherkashin invited two cooks from Istanbul's Günaydın to Moscow. Günaydın (translated as “Good morning”) is Turkey’s absolutely indisputable meat authority.
The project began in the 90s, like a butcher shop, and on the Asian side of Istanbul, and the whole city went to them. Then he opened a restaurant, then the network grew.
Today, two of the best chefs - Burak Osman and Bilyal Rechber - cook and serve in Moscow a hot pide boat with beef and viscous cheese (350 rubles), the thinnest flat cake lakhmajun with minced beef (450 rubles), a body of lamb shish in sauce baked peppers with grilled tomatoes (1100 rubles) or a lamb rack (10-12 ribs) with grilled pineapple (3800 rubles) and chopped lamb kebab with pistachio filling (950 rubles).
All international classics of premium steaks - T-Bon, Ribeye, New York, Porter House.
The European team of chefs is responsible for Italian meat cooking, and they cook a classic beef tartare, which is served with smoked beet and plum tartar under five types of goat and sheep cheese mousse (950 rubles), beef carpaccio served with artichokes (870 rubles), and the spaghetti Bolognese (620 rubles) are tender, but quite fat (620 rubles).
The Israeli page is a classic hummus with crushed green pepper and zaatar (320 rubles), lentil soup with carrots and turmeric (370 rubles); Greece - shrimp in the fibers of the cadaif dough (570 rubles); European classics - salmon in a crust of black pepper with quinoa and eggplant mousse (990 rubles), baked megg steak with parmesan and vegetables with couscous (1150 rubles), risotto with saffron and scallops (1050 rubles).
Ice cream and desserts are brought to Moscow Levantine from Istanbul's Mado, a large network of pastry shops with experts in sweets and ice cream (opening date - 1850). And it is impossible to repeat the recipe of their dishes.
In Moscow today you can try baklava (1000 rubles), cadife (550 rubles), knafe (720 rubles) and ice cream (200 rubles) - vanilla, chocolate, pistachio.
The spacious space of the new restaurant designed for 240 seats, which, of course, involves complex zoning.
Levantine is essentially a few different-format restaurants, united by the idea of the Levant region.
The main hall is made in the traditional Turkish style - warm dark wood, a lot of natural stone, copper utensils polished to a shine.
Small Hall - classic Italian or Greek Mediterranean - panoramic windows, snow-white ceramic dishes in narrow cabinets from floor to ceiling, closely standing light tables, laconic furniture.
In one of the small offices, in that with a fireplace, one of the walls is given to paintings with national costumes of all peoples that are included in the Levant.