Night train through Sofia

Our thespian hostess serves authentic Russian food in a railway carriage. And it’s slam bang in the city centre

Text: Gabriel Hershman
Photography: Dessislava Tzoneva-Hershman and provided

Bulgarian MPs from opposing parties once found themselves at separate tables in this Russian restaurant in Sofia. A few vodkas broke the iceberg that threatened to engulf the room. Eventually the political foes became quite convivial until, by the end of the evening, the place resembled a party.

Perhaps serendipity may bring firebrand nationalist Volen Siderov and ethnic Turkish politician Ahmed Dogan to Gara za Dvama (Station for Two) one day. Who knows – a shared meal here could broker an entente cordiale? Quite simply, it’s unlike any other restaurant in Sofia. Constructed to resemble a train carriage, it somehow lures you into an intimacy you may not otherwise seek.

Go to Gara za Dvama and you could find yourself whispering a few confessions. And who better than to receive them than the magnificently matriarchal Emilia Gerginova? Co-owner with fellow thespian Aneta Sotirova, Emilia has the warmth and charm you associate with seasoned actresses. She has a look that invites you into a cosy corner of the “compartment” and beckons you to become her confidante.

Characters make entrances and exits like actors on a stage. Her restaurant – as she comments – resembles a play. When I was there, a mysterious “passenger”, complete with trench coat, sunglasses and a newspaper, walked in alone. He sipped a beer before disappearing wordlessly. Was this a prelude to a spy thriller? It certainly felt like one.

Emilia and Aneta opened Gara za Dvama 10 years ago. The two actresses are old friends, 25 years standing. Emilia’s professional theatrical career stretches back almost as long. She performed for 14 years at the Sulza i Smyah Theatre on Rakovski Street. Her most enjoyable experience, she says, was working with celebrated Bulgarian stage director Dimitar Gochev on a play called Emilia Galotti (by Gotthold Lessing) in which she played Countess Orsina. She described it as a defining performance in her career, one that earned her better roles.

The restaurant’s concept is based on the eponymous 1982 Soviet movie (a drama about the relationship between a waitress at a railway station canteen and a pianist). Gara za Dvama’s entire dйcor is designed to resemble the second-class compartment of a Russian train, complete with 24 numbered green upholstered seats. Somehow it works, perhaps because train travel is still the most romantic form of transport. What can rival the sense of splendid isolation as you whistle through the countryside late at night? Or the frisson of unexpected pleasure as you realise you’re caught in a carriage with an attractive stranger? It’s surely no coincidence that Britain’s most enduring cinematic “weepy”, Brief Encounter, is set in a train station, that Agatha Christie’s most famous work is Murder on the Orient Express, that Hitchcock’s (arguably) best thriller was Strangers on a Train. Or that one of British television’s most critically lauded productions was Caught on a Train, in which a young Englishman finds himself stranded on an overnight train with an eccentric old Viennese lady. Put simply, it’s an ideal plot device to engineer chance encounters.
And so it is with Gara za Dvama. Why a Russian train compartment? Emilia thought that there was an appetite for food from Bulgaria’s former comrade and brother-in-arms. “We felt we could fill a niche in the market in the way of Russian cuisine. In the Balkans, eating and dining together is an intimate experience,” she says. “And so we thought the train compartment was an ingenious idea.”

Many Bulgarians, she believes, still feel close to Russia, perhaps in a way that estranged relatives do after a falling-out. A cooling off period usually ensues. Then, inevitably, one party makes a tentative move towards reconciliation. “Our cultures used to be very close,” says Emilia. “Back in the 1980s, we had regular visits from Russian entertainers, dancers and actors. We also saw many fine Russian movies. Then, after the fall of communism, there was a backlash against all things Russian as Bulgaria tried to assert its independence. This restaurant is a reminder not to forget our friends, because Russia is not necessarily a bad influence. And its culture is becoming popular again. For example, Chekhov is making a comeback on our stage.”

Now, 10 years on, seasoned regulars have remained loyal to the restaurant and its menu. “The Russians say that a typical lunch starts with breakfast (which is the Russian word for “starter”) and slowly and gradually falls towards dinner,” Emilia says – in other words, a leisurely experience. Food is imported from Russia. Typical starters include selyodka – marinated herring with potatoes, butter and black Russian bread, complemented with vodka. The selyodka can vary and may be replaced with warm starters like typical doughy dumplings (pelmeni) and pancakes (bliny) with red caviar. For dessert, Emilia recommends strawberries Romanoff in cream. The cream is boiled, and then jellied, so that it resembles a jelly in a bowl of strawberries.

Mine hostess with the “mostest” provided impeccable food for my wife and me. It’s easy to suspend disbelief in Gara za Dvama; it even has overhead luggage grids and imitation windows from which you “observe” the Russian market and warehouse streets of a bygone era. Other little touches include a notice on the fridge – “Don’t open while the train is moving!” As I left I asked if the train had a toilet… I guess that’s success of a kind. Nazdarovie!


Sea Smiles

Rolls of white fish and smoked salmon in caper sauce

Ingredients:
200g white fish fillet, flattened to prepare rolls
50g smoked salmon
Salt and pepper

Sauce:
One tablespoon flour
One tablespoon butter
One cup of fish stock
One egg yolk
One tablespoon of capers

Instructions:
The white fish fillet is flattened and seasoned with salt and pepper. The smoked salmon is put in the middle. Roll up the white fish fillet with the smoked salmon in the centre. Then cut into five equal pieces. Fry in olive oil. The sauce is prepared by initially frying the flour with the butter (a roux of sorts), then adding the fish stock. Let it cool and then add the egg yolk and beat till smooth. Add your sprinkling of capers. Once prepared, the sauce is poured over the fillets. Serve with a ball of white rice as garnish.

To accompany this particular dish Emilia recommends a French rosй wine from the Loire Valley.

Source: Month2Come