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L'Accente's staff tried its best to impress the experienced Kyiv gourmets and its efforts were rewarded. Courtesy photo When I heard that The Ukrainian Connoisseur Club (TUCC) was about to hold its next meeting at L’Accente – a pompous restaurant that opened on Lesi Ukrainki Boulevard last spring – I wasn’t surprised at all.

Clearly it was just a matter of time. After giving the eatery almost half a year to grow and develop, the owners have finally decided it was time to invite the Kyiv culinary experts to assess their work.

The concept of the eatery speaks for itself. Once you take a look inside, it becomes obvious that L’Accente is all about following fashion both in interior design and food. The place is modeled to attract the local well-to-do clientele, who make sure to remain in vogue even when choosing a restaurant to dine at. In that respect, L’Accente seems to be a likely choice.

The first floor with a bar and a few tables is best fit for relaxing while waiting for your companion. To keep you from getting bored if your friend is late there is an aquarium filled with fish and lobsters that also serves as a window through which you can observe what is happening in the kitchen – including the preparation of the meal you order.

A flight of stairs leads up to the second floor, furnished with couches upholstered by Versace (the brand itself personifies the idea of chic in Kyiv), reproductions of Leonardo Da Vinci’s frescos, their contours drawn with luminous golden paint, colorful stained-glass windows and a musical corner with an arch standing in the middle, designed for regular classical music concerts. Add to that abstract paintings in massive gilded frames, statues of naked women and heavy black curtains and you get an ultimate bourgeoisie hideout.

As for the menu, it’s dedicated to the now trendy Mediterranean cuisine, mostly Italian and Spanish, with a special focus on seafood and cheese. The list of dishes was put together by young chef Ihor Vovk, who experimented with some of the famous Mediterranean dishes to give them an original personalized touch. Naturally he selected the very best of his creations to amaze the experienced palates of TUCC members.

The dinner started off with spiny lobster with Ricotta cheese and spinach with aubergines and tomatoes, dressed with a mysterious “Pilatti” sauce. Shaped as some modern-art sculpture on a plate, the dish was a perfectly balanced combination of seafood and cheese – everyone agreed on that, sipping on refreshing Chilean Emiliana Chardonnay.

The second course was royal mussels with bell peppers and porcini mushrooms baked in shells with Trifolatti sauce and served on a layer of sea salt. Surprisingly, porcini mushrooms – having a strong flavor of their own – went well with a seafood dish, and French Alain Geoffroy Chablis 2006 enhanced the delicate combination.

The third dish – lobster bisque with Gilardo oysters and black cod – was served in two stages. First came plates topped with seafood, followed by a thick seafood soup – bisque – ladled into the plate by the waiter while the guests inhaled the appetizing lobster aroma, eager to taste the dish. The wine selected to go with it was white Cotes Du Rhone Saint Esprit 2007.

As if to prepare the palate for the coming dessert served next was the chef’s special dish – a brochette of goat cheese baked in rice paper, with a wooden clip keeping the paper together. The cheese was served piping hot and tasted perfect with grapes marinated in port wine. The brochette was complemented with the only red wine of the evening – Cotes Du Rhone Saint Esprit 2007.

While tiramisu is probably the most common dessert in Kyiv these days offered in cheap cafes as well as high-end restaurants, L’Accente’s chef attempted to prove he could still impress his guests with it. And he was right. The familiar ingredients blended in an unexpected way, creating a wonderful sensation.

As a result, the restaurant was awarded 3 stars and was included into the proud list of TUCC restaurants.




L’Accente (5 Lesi Ukrainki Blvd, 200-5001). Open 11 a.m. till midnight

English menu: Yes

English-speaking staff: Yes

Average meal: Hr 400