The wine list at Vernissage includes four Georgian reds, and a white, Tsinandali ($9/glass; $35/bottle), that I had sampled at the lamented Samovar. Tsinandali has a mineral flavor and a fresh aroma that cuts through the fish dishes and cream sauces nicely. The list says “imported beer,” but I would hold out for Russian Baltika, one of the most popular beers in Europe. The cranberry vodka ($4) is homemade. Water was refilled almost often enough for the somewhat salty food.

There are desserts, and I would on general experience recommend the blintzes, even when they are called blini, blinchiki, or crêpes. But our group was not up for more music, however enthusiastically rendered.

At Vernissage, everyone knows at least one person at another table — another thing American youth wouldn’t like. (Who wants to get hammered and have cousin Maxim tell everyone in the family?) The night we visited, there was a 30-person multi-family birthday party for a patriarch (“Happy Birthday Yevgeny” sung in English), a handsome young couple, a table of young parents with children, and a middle-aged couple.

If that doesn’t sound like your scene, you can check out the handsome new Café St. Petersburg. (Yes, it’s down a dark alley, but it’s a clean, well-lit place once you’re there, with a nice outdoor patio.) Victor’s Café has a somewhat gloomier crowd but great blintzes. And Stoli, which has the funniest menu descriptions in Boston, had rather good food when I reviewed it a little more than a year ago. Or, caravan to Revere, or even Foxboro (for Odessa, which I loved it when it was in Dedham).