Lavasheriya: Description

It is hard to go anywhere in St. Petersburg without seeing advertisements for shawarma (shaverma in the Russian variation), whether on outdoor street stalls or building storefronts. This is because, despite the growing diversity of the city's street food scene, shaverma remains the king of low-cost snacks. Shawarma is a dish made with shaved meat and pickled vegetables topped with a creamy sauce and stuffed into either a pita or a tortilla-like bread known as lavash. The proprietors of this new Lavash cafe located near Dostoevskaya metro station know that the foundation of any good shawarma is the lavash it's wrapped in. In the open kitchen of this 'to-go'-oriented shop, the chefs make 20 different varieties of pita and lavash each day. These flatbreads are then loaded with goodies like smoked fish, mushrooms julienne, and Thai-style chicken - a tasty, elegant departure from the greasy meat spits commonly found in St. Petersburg's more traditional shaverma joints.