Given the crowds of the well-to-do spilling out of the upmarket restaurant Aist, it would seem that rumors of its fading mojo are exaggerated. And by all accounts, nearby Akademia is also still drawing in the crowds. For those who find that there is no space left in either of these trendy spots, the good news is that a new establishment has opened in the neighborhood, providing further dining opportunities. Located directly across from Aist and Akademia, the new upmarket eatery rather modestly calls itself simply Cafe.

The restaurant is quite spacious, featuring large windows that provide lots of light. The color scheme is predominately beige and cream and the design is fairly formal, in a relaxed kind of way. Overall, it's thoroughly inoffensive and unremarkable.

The menu lists all the fashionable dishes of the moment. Salads include a fresh vegetable salad (320 rubles), Greek (320 rubles), buffalo mozzarella with Baku tomato (480 rubles) and a tiger prawn salad with pepper jelly (420 rubles). Soups start at 180 rubles for chicken noodle, while meat mains start from 350 rubles for turkey patties with mashed potatoes and bernaise sauce, or rabbit patties with lecho. The most expensive meat main is the rib eye steak at 1,190 rubles. Seafood dishes begin from 430 rubles for salmon fillet baked in a form with spinach and potato mousse, and the most expensive is the dorado with broccoli and cherry tomato for 750 rubles.

Lighter options include a selection of sandwiches such as a simple grilled vegetable sandwich (190 rubles), a roast beef with salad and aioli sauce in pita bread (320 rubles) and mozzarella with tomato and pesto served in lavash (320 rubles). Draft beer starts from 250 rubles for a half liter of either light or dark Budweiser.

Cafe: 13 Malaya Bronnaya Ul.,

202-3483/4010, 8 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat. & Sun. 10 a.m.-11 p.m., M. Pushkinskaya.