Next funny thing. The borsht on the menu costs $32. Now ? for someone like myself ?. growing up with a Russian grandmother and eating borsht on a regular basis ? you must understand that borsht is essentially a poor man?s soup. It is made of water, beets, salt and pepper and sometimes a few chunks of meat ? that?s it. Here the borscht apparently contained some foie gras or duck confit ? or something that does not belong in the soup. Now I do not recall exactly what the ingredients were ? but I do know that they did not belong in borsht. For those of you who are not intimately familiar with Russian cuisine ? I?ll give you an example that we can all appreciate. Lets say that you go to your local fancy Chinese food place ? you open the menu ?. and there it is ?. $32 wanton soup ?. You say ?what? Soup that usually comes free with the lunch special is $32? ? and the waiter tells you ?. ?but sir ? the wantons are now made with kobe beef.? And that?s pretty much what they did with the borscht. The bottom line is that the food is good ? but aside from the Russian waiters and the Russian sounding menu ?. There is absolutely nothing authentically Russian about the Firebird. If you want a Russian experience ? go to Brooklyn!
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