Don't tell me. YET ANOTHER Slavic soul food kitchen in the back of a heavy metal music venue serving up some of the city’s best value food?

Yawn.

Not again.

When will someone come up with something NEW?

Ah, we’re just loll-ing your chain. Fake headbang your way to the back of Siberia and belly up to the serving nook where your curiosity will be met with the town’s best kept secret. Last time I went, there was a themed burlesque show going on while I waited for my food. If you time your order right, you can get a free ten minutes of entertainment while you get your takeaway.

The brains, brawn and beauty behind the operation is Chef Matt Ribachonek, aka Matt the Hat, and he has this food in his blood, having grown up around an East European family who demonstrably loved their culinary traditions. If nothing else, you want (trust me) to experience what one man can do with beets, and I urge you to order the beet burger, which is a near-religious experience.

As well as this, you have the choice of good stuff like pierogi and east-European takes on local classics, such as the Pol-boy, a Polish version of the famed local sandwich. Cheap. Tasty as all heck.

PO

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Where: Marigny
Food: Slavic Soul Food
Price: Cheap

What you're eating: The beet burger in the name of all that is holy.

Kukhyna website