Baran-Rapan

Caucasus, Armenian, Georgian, Greek, Uzbek and, of course, Russian cuisine: Sochi restaurant menus are as diverse as the “geography” of holidaymakers flooding this Black Sea resort during the hot summer season. The food is cooked on flat pans, in casseroles, on salt, in deep fryers, on the grill or over charcoal.

Location: 11 Teatralnaya Street, Sochi

Average bill: PPPP

Cuisine: Georgian

Tel.: [phone]

Open: 2 pm-midnight daily

Two cultural and culinary traditions are encoded in the restaurant's name. While Caucasus cuisine is rich in juicy meat, fragrant mountain herbs and Abkhaz spices, Black Sea cuisine offers fish (including Caspian) and seafood. All ingredients come from local farms. The restaurant positions itself as a conceptual premium-class establishment, so be ready for bold gastronomic experiments and an expensive bill.

The concept is matched by the interior: a combination of rock, wood and metal. The first floor with an open kitchen and a concert stage is connected by a shell-shaped spiral staircase to a cozy room upstairs: with a charcoal grill, a bar and a wine repository offering exclusive wines. Some dishes look like true works of art: for instance, imperial shellfish with Abkhaz lime in lilac, emerald, yellow-green and silvery tones, or a saddle of lamb with sautéed artichokes and truffle mousse in violet, red, coral and cream shades. Portions are small, as in any haute cuisine: customers are supposed to please their palates, rather than merely satisfy their hunger.