Borscht and Kisses: Boris: NYC

Boris finds a bit of his mother Russia in the center of NYC:

"The Russian Samovar is an overlooked Russian spot in the heart of the theater district. The vibe was so shady it brought tears of joy to my eyes. In attendance were a gaggle of hardened Russian working girls at the bar, disgruntled Russian businessmen drowning their sorrows in carafes of vodka, some chubby underworld character in a guayabera sitting at a corner table downing vodka and bowls of borscht in between getting kisses from all the pretty professionals in the house, and a beautiful blonde bartendress. It was excellent! Shamus (my comrade in enterprise) and I dined on blinis with smoked salmon and creme fraiche, meat blintzes, Chicken Kiev, Beef Stroganoff, washed down with plentiful amounts of wodka--all of which was delicious albeit heart attack inducing. Adding to the lovely food and crowd was a delightful piano player who was taking breaks every half hour to go outside and chain smoke and looked as though he hadn't slept in weeks. I tipped him a 20 hoping that might buy him a little yayo, No-Doze, or at least a pillow. Granted there were a couple tables of random tourists but not too many to ruin the evening. I must say the only thing I would do to this spot would be to convert the upstairs dining room into boom-boom rooms for after-dinner interludes with the in-house ladies of the night."

+The Russian Samovar, 256 West 52nd Street, New York +1 212 757-0168.
+Vodka: London: Borscht and Tears, 46 Beauchamp Place, SW3 1NX. [square meal].