American Food

Last Friday was a pretty long day for me. I will spare details but it’s necessary to know this to explain my necessity for American food. You know those days where you would elbow a small child for a cheeseburger? Exactly.
We decided to venture out into Moscow to look for a Starlight diner. It’s a common chain restaurant throughout Moscow that specializes in typical American cuisine. Little did we know the treat that was in store for us that evening!
We arrived at the diner fashionably later (about 1 ½ hours after we left) and needless to say, I was starving! So, we’re sitting in this diner and the wait for service allowed us to fully soak in the experience. The décor was stereotypical 1950s, a la Happy Days. It reminded me of a poodle skirt my mom made me for Halloween one year. The waitresses were dressed in “traditional American clothes”- cheerleading skirts and tops. Overall, it was cheesy but still quaint enough to not be ostentatious.
When our waitress came to our table (she was very enthusiastic and unable to speak a word of English) I ordered the best looking cheeseburger on the menu, with mushrooms, mozzarella cheese and some kind of pesto sauce on top. But also with it came… FRENCH FRIES! I had no idea how much I would miss these little bundles of cellulite, but I have. The idea of french fries and ketchup brought a smile to my face, so of course I ordered some. Not going to lie, it was absolutely delicious. It tasted like the American flag, freedom and Capitalism all rolled into one (just kidding, but you get the idea haha). Overall, the entire experience there was great. We had familiar food and we all engaged in lively conversation without the common worry that something we ordered would come out completely different from how we thought it would be (common occurrence at the canteen- I had no idea that the thing that looked like chicken was actually liver…).
I know this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but Russian food is impossibly different from American food. Everything here is starch based, or meat wrapped in bread or a salad with mayonnaise on it. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the culinary experience here, however the same foods can get a little old. Friday night was the perfect way for me to hit a restart button on the food here in Russia. I just needed a throw back to good old America to be able to appreciate the differences of Russian cuisine.