Commersant Weekend №3 (149) ...by Daria Tsivina
29.01.2010
Olivier in Cocon
Cocon Home restaurant appeared at former Cocon club in opposite decided to make a bet on sophisticated food; and changed all wild night entertainments to a modest dancing at the ground floor where you can dance all night long and make your own drinks in the bar (and the barmen helps you to do this of course).
All the rest three levels of an offbeat architecture honored a while ago by a lot of disigns awards were re-decorated by a famous architect Andrey Tsygankov in a way to make them more cosy and home-like. A multi-level golden cocoon itself made of pressed ply-wood remains untouched. And to replace club style concrete-glass and chrome interior they brought huge relaxing couches, matt oval shape tables, flowing clothing screens, soft covering of cream-chocolate checkered burberry color, hand-made luster of metal rings and Swarovski crystals, and amazing chill-out up at the cupola with the view to the usual Aptekarsky ogorod (the Garden).
The extraordinary space boldly cleaned from the illusive night darkness but still not completely taken from the daylight and that’s why blended with electric lights you can now find a cozy alcove behind a comfortable table and taste the cuisine of Farbricio Fattucci the consulting Cheff coming from his main assignment in Saint-Petersburg. To my mind senior Fattucci managed to create the best Olivier salad among Moscow’s restaurants keeping the traditional taste but changed virtuous service.
Well customary salad flavored with apple cubes but no meat filled into a cocoon or frankly saying a ball made of the thinnest flakes of marinated Italian beef so that when you cut a piece you then finally taste all of ingredients of Olivier and enjoy its balanced and graceful taste. Just genuine!
Apart from this sublime invent you can find other art food in the Cocon Home menu. For example, lightly fried scallops in teriyaki sauce mixed with fresh passion-fruit & mango sauce (820 RUR), fresh spinach salad with grilled quail, sesame seeds and radish daikon (490 RUR), goose Carpaccio with wild berries, chestnut and honey sauce (640 RUR.), tuna tartar with fennel, jerky cherry tomatoes and orange (610 RUR).
Original home made taliolini pasta with prawns and red mushroom sauce, rucola, slices of parmesan and fresh orange filet that makes the dish juicy and flavored (690 RUR), and spectacular risotto Mojito with crab meat, citrus and mint (690 RUR).
Grilled sea bass followed with light fresh yoghurt sauce making the dish very new (780 RUR). Baked cod served here with spinach, chestnut and pumpkin & crocus sauce (1190 RUR), and duck breast marinated in raspberry vinegar, baked with pistachios under the plum-ginger sauce with pear (760 RUR). With the background like this turkey cutlets don’t pop up especially when baked under mozzarella, Kenyan beans and date sauce (450 RUR).