Happy New Year -- Again
By Chris Graeme
After the hectic celebrations of two Russian New Years you might be glad to get back to normality.
On the other hand you might still be looking for a reason to celebrate but in a more genteel manner.
In that case, why not see the Chinese New Year in with the Grand Hotel Europe? All this week it is putting on a lavish menu of Chinese cuisine at its Chopsticks Restaurant.
I went along to find out what';s cooking and was pleasantly surprised to find an array of special gourmet food cooked up by the hotel';s Indian chef who is, surprisingly, somewhat of a culinary expert when it comes to Chinese food.
We were served an exotic menu of food including Cantonese, dishes from Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore with Dimsum for starters --; vegetable and meat pastries dipped in sauces, followed by a main course of stir-fried vegetables, fried rice, haka noodles, sliced beef and broccoli.
The idea to celebrate Chinese New Year, the first time the hotel has done so, was the brainchild of the hotel';s marketing manager Elaine Simmonds.
";It can be so depressing in winter after Christmas and New Year and so I thought we';d liven things up a bit. I worked in the Far East and Hong Kong and knew how much fun it could be,"; she explained.
Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, is a time when Chinese communities worldwide gather together for special banquets, often traveling great distances to be with their loved ones at this time.
There are many different traditions associated with Chinese New Year. In one people receive money in red packets from relatives and employers. Lucky money is usually given in the form of crisp new bank notes and is meant to signify that you will have money all year long.
We didn';t get money but we each received Belgian chocolate coins brought in at great trouble by lorry all the way from Sweden, as well as biscuits or ";Fortune Cookies"; containing prophecies for the year ahead.
For the Grand Hotel Europe';s celebrations, the hotel has brought in special gourmet food items, often difficult to obtain in Russia, such as fortune cookies, prawn crackers, Szechuan peppers, seaweed, star anis and water chestnuts.
It has prepared special A La Carte and Banquet menus for guests and diners, available this week until Sunday February 5, and the restaurant has been specially decorated in traditional style in red and gold which symbolizes good fortune.
We asked the Chinese Consul General in St Petersburg, Mr Liu Guang, what he thought of the idea and his spokesman gave the thumbs up. ";We think it';s quite interesting the hotel is celebrating this and it';s really quite new. We';ll try and come along.";