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Photographs: Virigina Rollison

For a weekend break in a dacha on the Caspian Sea (well, almost…), consider dropping into Mari Vanna, the first American outpost of a Russian chain, located in the Flatiron District. Drink one of the many house-infused vodkas and scoop salmon roe from the cavity of a little Russian doll. What the food lacks in consistency, the place makes up for in sheer entertainment value. Enjoy the slide show, and check out our three-star review here.

Veal with sweetbreads at SD26 (Photograph: Virginia Rollison)

San Domenico’s Tony May has passed the family torch to his daughter Marisa at the new SD26, writes Jay Cheshes, who awards the restaurant four stars. It’s “enormous, modern and frenetic—the opposite of its stuffy forerunner.” [TONY]

Three-star Russian chain Mari Vanna “trades in both pre- and post-Soviet kitsch,” but “you pay for the spectacle as much as for the food.” [TONY]

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