Eastern Promises

"It was so challenging, you can’t even imagine,” says Boris Kirshteyn, remembering opening day of Liberty Plaza Spirits European Market & Liquors, the store he co-owns with business partner Yan Zade, on a busy strip of Route 20 in Hancock, Massachusetts. “We never had business investments before. We didn’t know how Russian food and drink would be accepted or how well customers would like the location. Yan can cook, I can eat, and we both know good vodka. We just felt it was time for Russian culture to be exposed in a more interesting way.”

Meanwhile, down south in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Maria’s European Delights, another homey store that caters to the tastes of Eastern Europe, was just beginning to hit its stride. Sandwiched between an insurance company and a window-treatments retailer in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it plaza on Route 7, the shop opened to little fanfare in December 2007. But within eight months, the word was out: owners Krzysztof and Maria Sekowski’s impressive selection of Polish-focused deli meats, packaged and prepared foods, and mouthwatering sweets made Maria’s a must-visit destination for both Eastern European émigrés and resident foodies looking for the next hot culinary trend.

Both shops are unlikely ventures for native Eastern Europeans who’d never worked in retail. Following the fall of the Soviet Union and the subsequent political and civil unrest, Kirshteyn and his family left Azerbaijan in1989 and with the help of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, arrived stateside the following year. They settled in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where Kirshteyn put his computer programming experience to work for companies such as KB Toys.

Zade, whose eldest brother was a school chum of Kirshteyn’s, followed in 1992, also due in part to sponsorship from the Jewish Federation. While most of his family settled in Manhattan, Zade, a military-academy graduate, stayed in Pittsfield. “It wasn’t easy to set roots at first,” he recalls. “I didn’t speak much of the language, and I didn’t have many job skills.” Still, he took as many odd jobs as he could find, including handyman work at the Berkshire Mall, housekeeping at Jiminy Peak, and construction and painting.

The Sekowskis were both born and raised in Poland. And both landed in Manhattan (Krzys in 1965, and Maria in 1979), looking for career opportunities; they met in a restaurant where she sang and he waited tables. The couple relocated to the Berkshires almost thirty years ago, with Maria working as an administrative assistant and Krzys taking a position as an engineer for Rising Paper in Housatonic, Massachusetts. When the company folded in the summer of 2007, the Sekowskis decided to go into business for themselves. Maria, warm and maternal, puts it succinctly: “We love to eat. And there’s no other store like this around here.” Maria’s opened as a basic deli with a small selection of sausage, ham, and cheese.

Like Krzys Sekowski, Kirshteyn found himself out of work on the heels of the much-publicized layoffs at KB. He and Zade had been talking about starting their own business, and the timing seemed ideal. “The idea, at first, was to have a store for the Russian community,” says Zade. Liberty Plaza Spirits opened in September 2008, with a limited supply of European wines and liquors.

In the beginning, business was, well … slow. Kirshteyn admits that his and Zade’s initial selections weren’t the most popular, and the learning curve was steep. But, as the Eastern European community discovered Liberty, the owners found themselves fielding requests for “a taste of home” for their core customers. Eventually, word spread that a brand-new specialty store—one with prices often three to four dollars less per item than the average Berkshire gourmet shop—had arrived, with hard-to-find goods such as red caviar, smoked mackerel, double-cream farmer cheese, Russian beer, Georgian wines, Kazakh vodka, and kvas, a root beer–like drink made from fermented bread that is popular in several Eastern European countries.

American customers soon followed and are becoming so passionate about this little gem that they’re recommending it to friends and friends of friends. “We see new faces coming into the store almost daily,” reports the outgoing, jocular Kirshteyn. “People are starting to realize that we are unique. We have Russian vodka and champagne, Armenian brandy, Greek taramasalata (caviar spread), Russian and Polish pickled vegetables, Russian pelmeni (meat- and vegetable-filled pockets, similar to ravioli or pierogi), Israeli halvah, Ukrainian teas, Polish sweets. The combination of foods and liquor in one place, you can’t find anywhere else.”

For the Sekowskis, the concept of an Eastern European specialty shop was hardly a tough sell; because of the large Polish population in Housatonic and Great Barrington, there was little guessing about inventory or need to educate customers. The deli quickly blossomed into a small, meticulously organized store that carries an impressively large collection of meats, fish, dried and packaged soups, pickled vegetables, prepared foods, breads, fruit preserves and juices, and sweets that stretch almost the length of the one-room shop.

Nowadays, customers of all nationalities—from a tiny Russian grandmother to a born-and-bred upstate-New York housewife—stop at Liberty on any given day. As if to underscore the point, a tall American in a Budweiser T-shirt and close-cropped gray hair bursts through the door of the small, cozy store, which is decked out in strings of holiday lights. “Boris! How are ya?” he booms, before amiably introducing a visiting friend. The two seek Kirshteyn’s advice on vodka and grab a pair of Russian chocolate bars on the way out.

Customers also stop in to get their fix of foods like pickled herring, smoked Russian salamis, Bulgarian feta, buttermilk-based kefir, unusual preserves like quince and walnut, fiery Russian mustard, buckwheat (most often used to make kasha, an oatmeal-like cereal mixed with milk and fruit), Georgian spices, sweet and savory blintzes, black rye bread, and Russian and Polish candies and cookies. In a nod to Eastern Europe’s long tradition of canning fruits and vegetables for sustenance during those prolonged Berkshire-like winters, the store carries a wide array of pickled and marinated vegetables—tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, and even wild garlic shoots.

At Maria’s, the amiable Krzys (who spends a generous amount of time educating visitors or joking with Polish customers in their native tongue) is understandably pleased to show off his deli offerings. The store features—count ’em—six types of kielbasa (from cyganska, a zesty Gypsy-style sausage, to mysliwska, a firm, smoked and dried pork-and-beef sausage flavored with juniper berries); four cheeses, such as Old Salzburg Austrian and Rokiškis, a famous Lithuanian brand, as well as several soft farmer cheeses (puszysty—a double cream—flavored with horseradish is especially delicious); and no fewer than twenty miscellaneous meats, from country tongue to duck loaf, Hungarian salami, head cheese, and a bestselling German braunschweiger (liverwurst).

The best part: Krzys and Maria are happy to discuss the minutest detail of each product, and slice off a nibble or two to taste. “We let them try everything,” Maria explains of her customers. “We take the time with people. You don’t get this kind of service in the Price Chopper. People like to be waited on, and they like to be talked to and tell their stories.” Some spend hours in the shop, sampling new foods and chatting about the Berkshires or their home country. Maria smiles slyly and adds, “At the end, I always give them a little piece of candy and say, ‘There’s your dessert.’”   

Like Liberty Plaza Spirits, Maria’s European Delights stocks a variety of traditional pickled items, such as cucumber salad, cabbage stew, green tomato salad, and several kinds of sauerkraut. It offers imported, dried mushrooms that work well in a number of its soup mixes (among them red and white borscht, potato, and wiejska, a kielbasa-based traditional country soup), and stocks several types of pâtés. From the refrigerator section, a week’s worth of dinners can be whipped up from potato dumplings, cheese-and-fruit blintzes, eight varieties of vegetarian and meat pierogi, and smoked salmon and whiting fillets.

The kitchen-disinclined can bypass these for traditional Polish prepared foods, such as golabki (cabbage stuffed with seasoned beef, rice, and onion in a tomato sauce), bigos (a hearty, tomato-based stew of cabbage, sauerkraut, carrot, onion, pepper, and kielbasa), and Olivier salad (boiled potatoes, eggs, and carrots with peas, apples, and dill pickles in a dressing of spiced mayonnaise and sour cream, named after a celebrated Moscow restaurateur). The “menu” changes, so it’s worth checking back regularly.

Maria’s also excels in its selection of snacks and desserts. Not only will foodies find the likes of plum, gooseberry, and rose-petal jam, but they can also indulge in pierniczki, Polish gingerbread petits fours layered with plum or other filling; sponge cake filled with orange or raspberry preserves; biscuits topped with flavored marshmallow and then dipped in chocolate; and even vodka-filled chocolates. For the freshest, most authentic taste, opt for one of the baked goods, such as babka, a sweet yeast cake filled with fruit, and cheese babka, a similar ring-shaped bread filled with luscious farmer cheese.

While Zade is thrilled by the local interest in Liberty’s foods and hopes to eventually expand the store with a deli or café, for him, the vodka—all thirty-plus types—takes center stage. “That’s my specialty, and I want people to know about the different products. If you’re looking for vodka and you can’t find it elsewhere, I probably have it,” he asserts.

The ruggedly handsome Zade’s air of dignified reserve gives way to a proud smile as he leads a tour of the shelves. He points out boutique brands such as Jewel of Russia, which is made from a three-hundred-year-old recipe and comes with a hand-painted, limited-edition front panel (signed by the artist) and matryoshka-style topper; Nemiroff, a popular Ukrainian wheat-based vodka with several standard-issue flavors (cranberry, citron) as well as an unlikely honey-and-hot-pepper combination; ubrówka, a Polish vodka flavored with bison grass; and the rare Snow Queen, distilled in Kazakhstan from organic wheat and springwater and filtered multiple times through the charcoal of birch trees, which Zade calls one of the best vodkas he’s ever tasted.

Vino lovers can also stock up at Liberty with wines from the usual suspects like France, Italy, Australia, Chile, Spain, and Napa Valley, as well as five types from the Republic of Georgia, widely considered by archaeologists to be the oldest wine-producing region of the world, dating back seven thousand years. Georgian wines are aged in huge clay vessels (rather than wooden barrels) that are buried underground for several years, so most have a semisweet character that is unfamiliar to many American palates. Selections at Liberty include Tvishi, a semisweet white that pairs easily with lighter foods; Khvanchkara, a popular, semisweet red; and Mukuzani, a classic, dry red reputed to have been a favorite of notorious dictator Joseph Stalin. Because the Soviet Union used to purchase the entire stock of Georgian wines, they’ve been available in the United States for only about five years, and have yet to reach worldwide acclaim—making them ideal for dinner parties and unique hostess gifts.

Armenian brandy—made in a similar fashion to French cognac (a copyrighted term, like champagne) and a dead-ringer in taste—is another standout. Smooth and flavorful, Armenian brandies are considered equal in quality to better-known brands such as Courvoisier or Hennessy, but cost roughly half as much. “These are the kinds of things that we love to show our customers,” Zade explains. “They trust our opinions, so we teach them about a product they’ve never tried before, and then they keep coming back.”

The Sekowskis have amassed a similar following at Maria’s, thanks to their high-quality selections and customized service. “There’s always room for improvement,” Maria observes. “It all depends on the people and what they like. We try to give them the best of everything.” Mission accomplished. [MAR/APR 2010]

Robin Catalano is a contributing editor to Berkshire Living.

HOME COOKING

To create an authentic Russian or Polish meal at home, try these dishes, made with items purchased from Liberty Plaza Spirits and Maria’s European Delights.

Russian

First course: Begin with hot borscht (Russians favor the beet-based variety) made fresh or from a dry soup mix; if using a mix, add cabbage, carrots, potatoes, onions, mushrooms, or beans for a heartier soup. Top with a dollop of sour cream before serving.

Main course: Russians don’t typically bother with appetizers, but enjoy variety in their main courses and sides. Pork roast, served with roasted potatoes, is a common entrée. For a vegetarian meal, try pelmeni (dumplings similar to Polish pierogi, but with a thinner dough; the mushroom-and-potato version is especially tasty) that have been boiled until tender, then added to a sauce of butter and sautéed onions.

Side dishes: Pickled tomatoes, mushrooms, or zucchini create interest—and satisfy daily veggie requirements. Made with vinegar, these products are quite tangy; rye bread is the perfect accompaniment. According to Yan Zade, “Bread is eaten for pretty much every meal. A dark rye is best.”

To drink: Vodka, of course. Boris Kirshteyn recommends placing your favorite brand in the freezer for several hours, until it develops a syrupy consistency. The sipping culture so popular in the United States is almost nonexistent in Russia; vodka is drunk, typically as shots, with meals.
Dessert: Halvah, a honey-sweetened nut butter pressed into crumbly cakes, originated in India, but made its way across West India, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean hundreds of years ago. Russians prefer a sunflower version and often serve it with tea.

Polish

First course: Hot borscht is also a common starter in Poland, preferably white borscht, made from a base of fermented grains (usually rye) mixed with the broth of boiled white kielbasa; this is a popular dish for Polish Easter. Borowiki mushrooms add a pleasantly nutty taste.

Main course: Pierogi, prepared similar to pelmeni, above—boiled, then lightly fried in butter and sautéed onion, and sometimes topped with sour cream—is a classic dish. For a meat-and-potatoes entrée, slice up some kielbasa. Try Kabanosy, a hard-to-find, smoked type made from top-quality lean pork and seasoned with garlic, pepper, caraway, and allspice; warm it in a skillet and serve with oven-roasted potatoes.

To drink: Like Russians, Poles enjoy ice-cold vodka (in a chilled glass), but are also big consumers of coffee and tea (the latter served either plain or mixed with fruit juice, such as black currant, as a sweetener).

Dessert: Cakes, cakes, cakes! You can’t go wrong with pierniczki, gingerbread filled with apple, plum, or strawberry preserves and dipped in chocolate.

THE GOODS

Liberty Plaza Spirits European Market & Liquors
177 Lebanon Mountain Rd./Route 20
Hancock, Mass.
413.443.6900

Maria’s European Delights
67 State Rd./Route 7
Great Barrington, Mass.
413.528.3456