An anonymous tipster sent word about the Romanov Restaurant and Lounge grand opening gala on Friday night, which we missed. For the most part, sounds like an interesting evening, but there were a few glitches:
Overall, very nice room. Some nice touches like the hand-rolled cigars. No shortage of vodka. Mayor Villaraigosa was there and gave sort of a boozy speech - he had had at least a couple of glasses of wine with the Tisraelyan.We love the image of the Mayor and boozy blonde Russian women all in one room, but the idea that Romanov didn't serve its own food? We haven't confirmed it yet, but sounds suspect. Even if it was a fundraiser/opening party, the host restaurant would supply some food. And a restaurant with one elevator is sure to have issues eventually. Nonetheless, we're sure it was open bar and free food, so why complain.I was a little dissapointed in the food. If you didn't grab one of the few outside tables, you basically had to hover outside the kitchen in hopes of getting some. And it wasn't even the food they are going to serve, it was catered from some outside group. And then they stopped food service around 10:00 PM.
The scene was pretty funny, with a bunch of bleach-blond Russian women wearing incredibly short skirts. Finally the elevator broke, leaving all to traipse down the back metal staircase to get out.
UPDATE: PR assures us that the food was from Romanov's kitchen and that the scene was "not all Russian blondes."
· Eater's Journal: Romanov Restaurant and Lounge [~ELA~]
