An Italian woman walked into a Soviet dining room and refused to leave until she tasted all the dishes. I had a taste shock: “This is food with a soul!”

Chiara grew up in Tuscany, where good food is considered an important part of life. She is used to homemade pasta, fresh mozzarella and olive oil, so a trip to an ordinary Soviet dining room promised to be an unusual adventure.

The Italian asked her to show her where ordinary people go after work. So she ended up in the dining room on Mira Avenue, where instead of waiters there were a distribution line, metal trays and cooks with ladles.

Chiara looked around and asked in surprise:

- It's like a buffet, but it's real?

The rules were simple: take a tray and choose what you want. But each new dish raised questions from the guest.

First on the tray was the vinaigrette. Chiara carefully considered pieces of beet, potatoes and carrots.

- Why are all the vegetables cut so finely? Where's that color from?

After trying the salad, she thought about it and made a verdict: the taste is unusual, reminds a little of winter, but there are not enough fragrant herbs.

Despite the comments, she ate the whole salad. Then they brought a plate of hot sour cream. At first, Chiara was wary of the soup, but after the first spoon, her opinion changed.

The acidity of sauerkraut was a real discovery for her. She tried again, and then admitted that she had not eaten anything so unusual in a long time.

Shih quickly took second place in her personal rankings, though explaining why the soup should be that way required a separate conversation.

The main dish was a golden cutlet in Kiev. Chiara compared it to Italian meat patties but after warning of hot butter carefully cut it with a fork.

When the oil flowed from the inside, the Italian could not hide the delight.

- This is not just a cake, but a real surprise! How do you achieve this result?

She was happy to finish the dish and asked for a recipe. According to her, the cutlet deserved the highest praise.

For dessert, Chiare was offered a dried fruit compote. Seeing a dark drink with bits of fruit, she first thought it was juice. But after the first sip, she laughed and compared compote to fruit wine without alcohol. Then came the turn of the eclair and the sand ring with nuts. The Italian was surprised by the amount of cream, but could not refuse sweets.

By this time, the tray was empty, and Chiara was already asking about other dishes to try next time. After lunch, Chiara admitted that she didn't expect to get so many impressions from a regular dining room.

- Do you know how different it is from our restaurants? It's fair here. Food doesn’t seem like something else. It is simple, hearty, and has a soul, she shared.

Then the Italian suddenly announced that she would like to open a similar institution in Milan. With one more addition: good Italian wine.

Back home, Chiara remembered a Moscow dinner for a long time. She was particularly interested in goulash gravy. She found recipes online and tried to make it herself, but the result was more like an Italian stew.

It seems that the Soviet dining room really has its own secrets, which are not so easy to repeat in someone else’s kitchen.