Meraki: Dinner Review

A Greek restaurant from the creators of Maroon and Arkady Novikov. The name carries a hidden meaning that's beautiful in its own way: doing something with "meraki" means putting a piece of your soul into what you do. That's probably where the compliments to the restaurant end. Studio Krivtsova & Redina (Gina, Garda, Erwin Patriki) worked on the restaurant's interior, but unfortunately it, like many of the details, got stuck in the brightness of the 2000s. Inside, the space is divided into several zones — perhaps even too many: a room with an open kitchen, a room with a grill, a "wine cellar," a room with arched windows and an olive tree. Gaudiness is felt everywhere, from the walls to the table settings. It looks cheap for an average Moscow price point. Everything got mixed together: molding, brickwork, murals, paintings and plates on the walls, wooden ceilings. There's a sense that they overdid it trying to create an atmosphere. 

The menu offers classic Greek and Mediterranean cuisine, with traditional appetizers and plenty of seafood: 12 kinds of mezedes, sea bass ladolemono with sautéed tomatoes, shrimp saganaki in tomato sauce with feta cheese. Brand chef Vladimir Bogozhavets, who is not new to running the kitchen at Arkady Novikov's projects (Salon, BOLSHOI, Maroon), works on it in tandem with Artur Kholikov (who worked at Eva, AQ Kitchen, Zuma in Vladivostok, Frantsuza Bistrot in St. Petersburg). Head sommelier Ruslana Tsyuplyak (Maroon, Buono) handles the wine list, which includes some exclusives from Greece among its selections. Instead of a menu, they brought a stack of paperwork: several sheets in different formats, where you have to sort the main offerings from the seasonal ones, the festival items from the wine list, and so on. On a Thursday evening, the restaurant was 30% full.

What did I try? 

— Big Greek salad, 1650₽. Nowhere close to the quality of the salad at Eva. It's more like something I could make myself. The tomatoes are mediocre, there's too much feta, though it's saved by not being too salty. 

— Zucchini fries, 590₽, cut like French fries, served with mustard sauce. A bit healthier than usual, but the sauce tastes like McDonald's. 
— Peppers with tuna cream, 750₽. A typical tonnato cream, nothing new or particularly gastronomic. 
— Shrimp kebab, 1190₽. Sounded delicious, turned out to be oddly plated with pomegranate, cilantro, tomato sauce, and lemon. I didn't get that combination. 
— Lamb souvlaki, 1390₽. A basic, fitting composition with sauce here, the meat slightly overdried. 

The moment the waiter says, "Are you still eating?", I decide I won't be coming back. The black plastic straw and the disregard for detail confirm it for me completely. A place to drop by for a business lunch, not one to make a special trip to for dinner. Conveniently, this "Depo" location is a bit calmer than the one at Belorusskaya, and you can park right by the restaurant. 

The place feels more like a potential regional franchise than a restaurant for our guide. Weak, even for "Tri Vokzala. Depo." The crowd matches: you won't find any trendsetters, intellectuals, or IT crowd here. It's noticeable that the creators are clearly cutting costs on staff, which shows in their appearance, the quality of service, and the overall impression. I might come across as too blunt, but Novikov without Pinsky just doesn't seem to land on-trend anymore, though he's probably not even aiming for that.