A Total Russian Experience

Samovar Cafe in Nikolaevsk, Alaska

We had heard of the Samovar Café during our last visit to Homer.  Touted as having the best food on the Kenai, the café is located in the Russian village of Nikolaevsk, some nine miles from Anchor Point.  It also boasts a B&B and RV park.  As we approached Anchor Point, we decided to take the turn and drive to the village.  Although the OPEN sign was lit, we found nobody around and wondered why “reservations were strongly recommended.”

Hesitant to make the phone call, we decided to find a campsite first.  With the weekend upon us and the weather forecast perfect, we knew that the area would be busy with Alaskans enjoying the summer.  We found a great and somewhat secluded site in Halibut Campground, right across from the water.  David decided to make the call to the café to see what it was about.  A lady with a heavy Russian accent answered and told him that we could come for dinner at 4:30.

We spruced up… well, for us it was sprucing… and headed to the Samovar, arriving about ten minutes early.  Within a minute or two, an elderly lady came barreling up in a white minivan.  It was Nina Fefelov, the restaurant’s proprietor. 

As she unlocked the door and ushered us into the small but chocker-block-full gift shop, she asked whether we had come for just a regular dinner or the “total Russian experience.”  We hadn’t a clue what she was talking about.  

She slowly tried to explain the difference with her heavy accent.  Regular dinner meant eating off paper plates in the garden room.  No music, no questions.  The total Russian experience had music, photos, questions, would be served on  genuine, handmade Russian plates, with Russian tea, and more.  Our interest was definitely peaked.

The catch was that in order to have the total Russian experience, we must buy $60 worth of gifts from the gift shop.  This money would go to feed Russian children.  Her suggestion was that we buy the hand-painted and lacquered wooden spoons we would use during the meal.  While $30 each for the two spoons seemed more than extravagant… although for a good cause… and we were feeling more than a bit pressured, David and I looked at one another and simultaneously said yes to the total Russian experience… we were ready for yet another adventure.  Boy, did we get one!

Nina immediately donned her pink crown and showed us the menu.  Of course, David zeroed in on the sausage and sauerkraut.  “No,” she said.  “Only this.”  She pointed to the borscht soup, pel’meni (sort of a dumpling/ravioli), and our choice of a large or small helping of crème puffs for dessert (we chose small).  With the evening’s meal decided for us, she proceeded behind a curtain and returned with some vintage Russian clothing. 

She sent me to the truck to fetch my camera.  On my return, she asked David if he wanted to wear the pink or blue shirt.  He chose blue.  Nina said, “No, you look better in pink.”  At this point we realized that Nina was in charge of the total Russian experience, and we were simply along for the ride.

So we took photos.  The Russian hat was several sizes too small for David’s head, but Nina told him just to push it down.  The skirt is tied in front of my blue jeans (i.e., one size fits all).  Then she ushered us to the bar stools and snapped a few more photos of us.

She handed us a notebook to read with information about the town, its people, and herself.  She punched on a CD with Russian music.  When songs that she obviously had grown tired of came on, she would hustle back to the CD player and fast forward to the next song.  I asked her how long she had been open.  Nina replied, “No questions while I cook!”  We later read a sign amongst the clutter that said the exact same thing.

We were served a bread stuffed with potatoes first, and of course on hand-painted wooden, lacquered plates.  Nina cautioned us not to eat it all but to save some for the borscht.  When she served the soup, I was allowed to take a photo of her.  When she served the dumpling dish, David began to cut one with a fork.  She told him, “No.  No cut.  The juice will come out.  Eat whole.” 

We felt a bit rushed through the meal, realizing later that she had another set of folks arriving in a half hour.  (The reason reservations are so necessary is because Nina is a one-woman show and not feeling well these days.)  When the other couple called to say they would be late due to traffic, Nina began to relax a bit.  Dessert included store-bought crème puffs topped with canned whipped cream, Hershey’s chocolate syrup, topped with a cherry (from a jar that she asked David to open).  I was again allowed to take her photo.

Nina Fefelov

After the meal, Nina said, “Now I answer questions for five minutes.”  She began with an obviously often-told history about the town and its people.  Her father-in-law had founded the town and was a member of the Old Believers, who fled Russian because of religious differences, finding haven first in China.  Once China became communist, the group moved to Brazil, then Oregon, and then finally to Alaska in 1970 to escape the temptations of the city. 

Upon later reading about the Old Believers, we discovered that this Russian Orthodox group had fled the Schism in 1666 because of state-issued religious reform.  Nina told us about one lady who had been martyred because she used two fingers rather than three to make the sign of the cross.  If you’re interested in reading more about the Nikolaevsk community, click here: 17th Century Russian Community in Alaska

Although our five minutes were up, Nina continued to answer our questions.  She lamented that the town was faltering.  Once the school had 161 children.  Now it only had 57.  Fishing was down, and it was becoming more and more difficult to live their subsistent life style.  The young ones were leaving.  Construction on the new, larger church had been abandoned two years ago because of lack of funding.  Nina herself had rheumatoid arthritis.  Her husband was disabled.  She only opened the restaurant two days a week now because it had become too much for her.  She no longer advertises for the restaurant, depending on word of mouth instead.  When we left, she insisted that we visit Trip Advisor first to rate our experience as good, then to visit YouTube to see the movies about her.

Nina apparently had been the town’s entrepreneur.  Once an electrical engineer in Russia, she had moved to Nikolaevsk, searching for a quieter life that would allow her to live close to the earth and focus on her faith.  After arriving in Nikolaevsk, she met and later married Dennis, the founder’s son.  He was a widower with three sons of his own… all who grew up and left Nikolaevsk.  Once Nina taught Russian to all of the school’s children.  Now Russian is no longer a necessary part of the school’s curriculum.  She had opened the restaurant, adding a B&B, and a gravel pit with a dozen or so RV camp spots.  She had not a single customer for either while we were there.

We said goodbye to Miss Nina, happy for the opportunity to meet such a fine lady.  As we drove out of town, we stopped by the churchyard to take a few photos and said a prayer for Miss Nina and the people of Nikolaevsk.

Nikolaevsk Russian Orthodox Church

Nikolaevsk Russian Orthodox Church's Onion Dome

David and I are still chuckling about our total Russian experience.  Yet, we also leave Nikolaevsk with a bit of sadness, realizing that the town and its inhabitants are losing their preferred way of life.  We have decided to hang our very expensive Russian spoons from our Christmas tree.  Surely they will bring back memories of Miss Nina and smiles about our total Russian experience for many years to come!