Long before tech elites made summer homes in Tahoe a cliché, the Russians had perfected the art of the second residence with dachas, part of the inspiration behind SoMa's AyDea Café.
The only establishment in the U.S. offering food from the Republic of Tatarstan outside of Russia, chef and co-owner Chris Dumesnil describes his restaurant's offering as “home cooking with technique” and full of “dacha flavors."
A dacha is a small, non-primary residence away from city centers, the by-product of land allotments from local governments for citizens to cultivate gardens and grow their own food. At AyDea, that translates to fresh, unaltered, and of-the-land ingredients. Dumesnil prioritizes raw dairy products, grass-fed beef, and premium produce to serve up traditional Tatar pastries, soups, and hearty lunches.
The decor of AyDea feels on theme too, with fresh flowers in every vase and white wainscoting on every wall—and, of course, plenty of food to welcome you.
AyDea Café owners Liliya Battalova and Chris Dumesnil.(Courtesy of AyDea)
What to Eat + Drink
Tatar folks come for qistibi, uchpuckmak, and peremech; Dumesnil encourages newcomers to try the same.
Qistibi looks deceptively like a large taco, a flatbread casing for a luxuriously buttered filling of creamy mashed potatoes. Uchpuchmak is another Tatar staple, a triangular meat pie stuffed with beef, potato, and onion that’s been cooked prior to filling to allow the flavors to blend and build. Peremech is a more donut-like version, with beef or mushroom patties wrapped in dough and then lightly fried.
Dough is a big deal here. Lunch and pastry options span nine different types of dough, all made from scratch. A standout is the lineup of “zang” pastries, an evolution of traditional regaliki (you may have had rugelach) dough that is laminated with grass-fed butter to produce a denser, richer, and crispier pastry than its French counterparts. The name Zang itself comes from August Zang, the first baker on record to make croissants.
No visit is complete without a scoop of chak chak, a pile of slightly macaroni-shaped fried dough bits lightly coated in honey that skews sweet breakfast or light dessert. Dumesnil also says “everyone loves the cutlet,” a set of beef patties with mashed potatoes, homemade sauerkraut, and mushroom gravy.
Should you want to experience something truly unique, try some okroshka, “the gazpacho of the post-Soviet Union.” Its broth—poured over radishes, cucumbers, and potatoes—comes in the form of either kefir or kvas, a soda-like beverage made with rye bread, yeast, sugar, and water. Dumesnil thinks the novelty of kefir broth is especially interesting for those unfamiliar with the dish.
Complement any dish with a Tatar staple: tea made with a laundry list of fresh herbs and chamomile. Or wake up your senses with a glass of sea buckthorn juice, pressed from the plant’s extra-tangy berries and offered with or without sugar.
(Courtesy of AyDea)
What's Next for AyDea
Dumesnil opened the restaurant with his wife Liliya Battalova, who was born and raised in Tatarstan, in January. They wanted to help connect their two daughters, Ayla and Déa (who gave the cafe its name), to Liliya’s family and culture. Even to those unfamiliar with Tatar and its food, the flavors, Dumesnil says, will feel familiar.
“There’s a hominess,” he says, to their dishes. He intends to preserve this even as the restaurant expands its offerings, with dinner service expected in mid-August.
As his daughters grow up in what he calls “an open border world,” the cafe offers a way to ground them and make them feel like they belong. No matter where you’re from, at AyDea you’re likely to feel that way too.
// AyDea Cafe, 799 Bryant St. (SoMa), aydeasf.com
(Courtesy of AyDea)
