Piroghi in St. Petersburg

Piroghi from Stolle

One of my most memorable experiences in St. Petersburg was eating piroghi in a restaurant chain called Shtolle. I remember the first time I had piroghi from Shtolle. We had just arrived to St. Petersburg, and were all hungry, so we decided to go have dinner.

I was in the middle of my cold, and my throat hurt. I seem to remember that it was raining, but my memory may be deceiving me. You see, it is raining right now, so I might just be projecting the current atmosphere into the past. My mind sometimes tricks me this way.

The shtolle we entered into had a cellar-like atmosphere. I immediately liked the dark light, the wooden tables and leather couches in the restaurant. After ordering some soup, piroghi and pelmeni, we sat down in one of these comfortable chairs (of course we moved a couple of times because my sister Dasha couldn’t find a comfortable place to sit) to wait for our food. The soup and piroghi came out at once. I’m not sure if this was just because I had a sore throat, but I found the soup and piroghi to be incredible soothing. The soup massaged my throat, and the soft, tender flavors of the piroghi (with cabbage) lathered my throat with smooth, delicious flavors. This was the first time in Russia where I was inspired to close my eyes in order to fully enjoy the complementary flavors of the salty mushroom soup and the mild, sweet flavor of the piroghi. This meal was a celebration for my mouth, my throat, and my mind.

The next day, my sisters, Kolia, and I made a similar excursion to another St. Petersburg Shtolle, but this time we took our piroghi to go, as we planned to eat them during our night-long excursion of St. Petersburg’s white nights. But, the piroghi weren’t as good the second time around. We ended up eating the piroghi at home after heating them up, but they weren’t the same without the soup, the dark atmosphere of the restaurant. Maybe it’s just that we were tired, but I found it much harder to appreciate the delicate flavor of these piroghi at 6 am. Piroghi at Shtolle is one of the things I look forward to the next time I visit St. Petersburg.