Blini master guarantees perfect blinis on every plate

Petri admits that no other type of cooking in the kitchen requires the same amount of fine tuning than frying blinis.

“Creating perfect blinis is a balancing act that requires a lot of handiwork. They also demand a lot from our waiting staff, as the blinis have to be served hot. They always leave the kitchen with a full platter, and they all disappear after a quick twirl around the restaurant!”

The head chef is impressed by the level of service required by such zakuska-type cuisine.

“It is important to keep the rhythm going. Fresh blinis are being fried up all the time; we don’t wait for orders but keep them coming all the time, as they keep going all the time.”

Petri believes that the perfect blini should be big and thick and fried on a cast iron blini frying pan. Once the pan is hot, the frying process takes eight minutes. The secret behind the beautiful surface of the blinis is clarified butter. Once ready the blinis can stand for only a few minutes beside the stove. During the peak season as many as 300 blinis a day are cooked up.

“Our aim is to offer fresher and fresher blinis to our customers all the time. It demands a lot of attention to maintain the same level of thickness and crispiness,” Petri says.