WILLIAM'S / UILLIAMS

Moscow's restaurant scene is still growing and the other group responsible for this is Ginza Project.  Hot on the heels of the Novikov restaurant group, Ginza project currently manages forty restaurants including the franchise for Paul. 

Williams (or as the Russians call it - Uilliams) is located in  Patriarshiy Prudy (Patriarch's Pond), which was made famous in Mikhail Bulgakov's cult novel The Master and Margarita and has since become Moscow's hip and happening neighborhood.  Just off the garden ring road, the small streets surrounding the pond are now home to cool cafes, funky boutiques and high-end restaurants which also means that it is now achingly cool live here and many of Moscow's bright young things do.

The place is small and rustic - wooden floors and simple metal-edged tables in the front where the in crowd sits and a smaller back area where a few tables are placed.  The restaurant's piece de resistance is the open kitchen showcasing a large red rotisserie where all the action takes place.  The menu is modern European (some Italian, some French) with a some bruschetta, salads, soups, risotto, pasta, plus meat either from the grill or the rotisserie along with some side dishes and a few daily specials.  They have a separate breakfast menu and unusual for Moscow - a good selection of vegetarian dishes.

A late lunch one day with the girls was a bruschetta of crab, avocado and sprouts and a plate of grilled vegetables followed by a delicious pasta special - spaghetti with a fresh tomato sauce.  Fresh warm bread is served in a brown paper bag along with a complimentary plate of beet hummus.  On our last day in Moscow  A and I went back for Sunday brunch after a morning of sightseeing where we had a creamy roasted eggplant, tomato and mozzarella bruschetta and shared a rigatoni with veal ragu and a pappardelle with wild mushrooms and cream.  If I lived in Moscow, this is where I would go for a simple dinner on a weekday or brunch on the weekend just as much for the food as for the people-watching.

William's / Uilliams

Malaya Bronnaya 20A

Moscow

Telephone: +7495 650 64 62

*Open daily from 10:30 a.m. till late