Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Ice-cold vodka infused with cranberries arrives in a crystal carafe. We order more even before the bread, herring and potatoes appear at our table.

It’s easy to get carried away at Mari Vanna, a new Russian restaurant in Manhattan’s Flatiron district that offers 78 brands of vodka with names such as Putinka, Kremlin and Imperia. In addition, more than 20 homemade types -- imbued with pineapple, watermelon, prunes or beets -- glisten in rotund glass containers at the bar.

Eastern European women show up in droves, wearing tight- fitting clothes and Chanel pumps. Speakers blast ABBA and Boney M; Soviet-era movies play on a flat-screen TV.

It is now 10 p.m. on a Thursday and it is standing-room only. My companion and I have been seated at an elevated table near the bar for the past three hours, sampling silky herring with tiny baked potatoes ($12), richly flavored beef borscht ($12), and a Georgian chicken recipe in a creamy walnut sauce ($12) -- plus not a few shots of beet vodka ($9) served in ornate crystal glasses.

“Would you mind if this lady shares a table with you?” a waiter asks us, pointing into the crowd. “She is very quiet.”

Unexpected propositions -- to host a stranger at your table (politely declined) or sample the latest infused vodka (enthusiastically accepted) -- are some of the touches that turn a visit to Mari Vanna into a cultural adventure.

No Oligarchs

Russian transplants to New York like myself will recognize the presence of Russian chaos and delight in ubiquitous home dishes such as buckwheat kasha (porridge) and Olivier salad (diced potatoes, pickles and sausage dressed with mayonnaise), without which no Russian feast is ever complete.

The restaurant is run by Ginza Project, which operates dozens of eateries in Russia, including the original Mari Vanna in St. Petersburg and its Moscow branch. It operates two restaurants in New York.

“We don’t have any oligarchs or corporate sponsors,” says Tatiana Brunetti, one of the company’s four partners, in an interview at Mari Vanna in New York. She says Ginza invests the revenue from its existing restaurants into new projects.

“It’s a standard expansion model,” she says.

Mari Vanna is named for Maria Ivanovna, a fictional babushka who spends her life at the stove, cooking for her children and grandchildren, neighbors and friends.

Artsy and Rustic

“We want our guests to feel like they are back in childhood when their grandmothers baked pirozhki for them,” said Brunetti, a petite blonde who was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and moved to New York nine years ago. “It’s just like home.”

In reality, Mari Vanna is a calculated mix of artsy and rustic, highbrow and low, pre- and post-Soviet. The newspaper- lined walls recall shabby communal apartments; crystal chandeliers evoke French-influenced decor at the turn of the 20th century. In the bar area, shelves are lined with books. A big, brass samovar doubles as a faucet for a bathroom sink.

This stylized setting coupled with the modification of traditional high-calorie recipes for health-conscious urbanites is what sets Mari Vanna apart from other Russian restaurants in New York.

The waiters are disarmingly friendly, but the service is uneven. Some dishes are rushed; others take forever to arrive. Though food is not expensive, with liquor, the bill can average $125 per person.

On the menu, the best options are the simplest.

Sosiski (Russian version of hot dogs) with mashed potatoes and green peas ($15) made me nostalgic for the Soviet cafeterias of my childhood.

Royal Makeover

Blinis with 30 grams of red caviar will set you back $25; the black sturgeon caviar alternative is $195.

Buckwheat, one of the least glamorous yet most popular ingredients in Russian home cooking, receives a royal makeover as a side dish to the creamy beef Stroganoff ($27).

Served with stewed mushrooms and a touch of truffle oil, it arrives in a sizzling ceramic bowl hidden beneath a puffy skirt of a red-cheeked Russian doll.

After six hours of eating, drinking and ogling, we are the last people at Mari Vanna. Instead of kicking us out, two hosts and a chef invite us to join them for an impromptu tasting of more pickled vegetables and homemade vodka brews. We accept, of course. Who can say no to Russian hospitality?

Mari Vanna is at 41 E. 20th St. Information: +1-212-777- 1955; http://www.marivanna.ru.

(Katya Kazakina is a reporter for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the reporter of this story: Katya Kazakina in New York at kkazakina@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 28, 2009 00:01 EDT