36 Morskaia, which street might be Morskaia called the Piccadilly of St. Petersburg, and these rooms comprise two billiard-rooms, reading and writing rooms, a dining-room, and a card-room. The Ambassador and all the staff of the British Embassy are members, and practically all the clubbable Britons in St. Petersburg belong to the club. Englishmen belonging to good clubs at home, and introduced by members of the club, can become honorary members for a week, or temporary members at 5 roubles a month. Foreigners (Americans excluded) are not eligible as ordinary members, but they can be ad- mitted as temporary or honorary members. This rule has been passed to prevent the New English Club being Russianised as has happened to the English Club. As there is a, to a young club, prohibitive tax of ^200 on restaurants, the catering of the club is done by Pivato’s Restaurant, which occupies the two floors beneath the club’s rooms. The Commercial Club on the English Quay has Mr. Macpherson as its President. It is commercial a luxurious club, and is cosmopolitan, Club, English many of the British merchants being cii?h bvortso^ members of it. The English Club, on vaiaNaderej- the Dvortsovaia Naderejnaia, has no naia British members. It is the club of the Russian aristocracy and of officers in crack regiments. It was originally founded by a few Englishmen, but the club now is in no way English. The Yacht Club on the Great Morskaia is the 388 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe best known of the St. Petersburg clubs. It is a club Yacht Club, of the aristocracy. The present Prime Great Morskaia Minister of Russia is the only member who does not boast a title. The club takes action in politics, and has been known to expel a member who supported a party not in sympathy with the views of the nobility. There is another yacht club on the Islands. The Club of the Nobility and the New Club are other clubs of St. Petersburg. AFTER DINNER My week in St. Petersburg in the autumn was not the best time for seeing either the summer or the winter entertainments, for I was there just between the opening of the theatres and the closing of the gardens. The various gardens with their restaurants and variety shows are the places where the Russians amuse themselves in summer, and in the private supper- rooms, which are to be found in most gardens, the gilded youth of Russia sup till all hours, and often call in the aid of some of the troupes which have appeared on the stage. In the winter all that is brilliant in Russia is to be seen on the nights when ballets are danced at the Imperial Opera-house. The ballets and the principal dancers are talked about and written about more than any other subject of interest in Russia. Where at an Anglo-Saxon dinner-party politics or music would be discussed, at a Russian dinner-party the ballet is talked of. And as in St. Petersburg, so it is in Moscow, and to a lesser extent in Warsaw. Moscow Moscow is one of the headquarters of real Russian cookery. St. Petersburg in this respect has been Russia 389

AI-modernized reading of the original text

36 Morskaia, which street might be Morskaia called the Piccadilly of St. Petersburg, and these rooms comprise two billiard-rooms, reading and writing rooms, a dining-room, and a card-room. The Ambassador and all the staff of the British Embassy are members, and practically all the clubbable Britons in St. Petersburg belong to the club. Englishmen belonging to good clubs at home, and introduced by members of the club, can become honorary members for a week, or temporary members at 5 roubles a month. Foreigners (Americans excluded) are not eligible as ordinary members, but they can be admitted as temporary or honorary members. This rule has been passed to prevent the New English Club being Russianised as has happened to the English Club. As there is a, to a young club, prohibitive tax of ^200 on restaurants, the catering of the club is done by Pivato’s Restaurant, which occupies the two floors beneath the club’s rooms. The Commercial Club on the English Quay has Mr. Macpherson as its President. It is a luxurious club, and is cosmopolitan, many of the British merchants being members of it. The English Club, on the Dvortsovaia Naderejnaia, has no British members. It is the club of the Russian aristocracy and of officers in crack regiments. It was originally founded by a few Englishmen, but the club now is in no way English. The Yacht Club on the Great Morskaia is the 388 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe best known of the St. Petersburg clubs. It is a club Yacht Club, of the aristocracy. The present Prime Great Morskaia Minister of Russia is the only member who does not boast a title. The club takes action in politics, and has been known to expel a member who supported a party not in sympathy with the views of the nobility. There is another yacht club on the Islands. The Club of the Nobility and the New Club are other clubs of St. Petersburg. My week in St. Petersburg in the autumn was not the best time for seeing either the summer or the winter entertainments, for I was there just between the opening of the theatres and the closing of the gardens. The various gardens with their restaurants and variety shows are the places where the Russians amuse themselves in summer, and in the private supperrooms, which are to be found in most gardens, the gilded youth of Russia sup till all hours, and often call in the aid of some of the troupes which have appeared on the stage. In the winter all that is brilliant in Russia is to be seen on the nights when ballets are danced at the Imperial Opera-house. The ballets and the principal dancers are talked about and written about more than any other subject of interest in Russia. Where at an Anglo-Saxon dinner-party politics or music would be discussed, at a Russian dinner-party the ballet is talked of. And as in St. Petersburg, so it is in Moscow, and to a lesser extent in Warsaw. Moscow Moscow is one of the headquarters of real Russian cookery. St. Petersburg in this respect has been Russia 389

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