Winter is long. It's cold, heavy, dark and dreary. Even for winterphiles, like myself, it's too much. In the fall, when the temperatures finally fall and the evenings grow dark, the wilder side of Moscow rejoices in the chance to party all night and sleep all day. But winter grinds on, and on, until …

Suddenly, it's warm enough to go out without a coat and the evenings are light. For the brief flash that is spring, the city rejoices in life, recognizes that winter really is a hungry beast, and remembers a different world, where everything possible takes place outside.

Which is where Sbarro comes in. The Manezh, Alexandrovsky Sad, the Kremlin itself, the very heart and soul of Russia.

What better way to pass an afternoon than lounging outside? And what better place to do it? The grounds around the Kremlin are granted the privilege of going green first, giving the refreshing garden backdrop that draws so many people strolling around the center.

Sbarro sits at the side of the Manezh, a walkway that is almost a balcony. A place to linger, sit with a drink and a snack, or simply lean against the banister, beer in hand. It's as though the gardens are in fact the sea, and the walkway is the promenade.

To the side, above and behind lies Manezhnaya Ploshchad, the home of young Russia. Frequented day and night by young, carefree spirits with an inclination toward beer and an insistence on enjoying themselves. This is the real new Russia.

And now we are further than ever before into a restaurant review without hearing even a squeak about the food. There is some justification for this, though, because Sbarro is more about ambience and location than eating.

The chain specializes in an international interpretation of fast food, oriented toward Italian/American styles of pizza but still flexible. The Manezh branch is a nauseating example of Westernization: Plastic seats, plastic tables, plastic cutlery and plastic decoration showing landmarks of the places that influenced the styles of the food. Light the room with fluorescent bulbs and finish things off with a blast of cheesy music. It's hell. Hell on a cold day. So go in the summer. Steel yourself for the buffet-style queue and get your food and head straight outside for a taste of paradise.

Pizzas start at 29.50 rubles a slice and reach up to a massive 669 rubles. That's for a full pizza – and it's big and probably worth it. They've got a good base mixture and you can actually watch the chefs tossing enormous disks of dough about, a real sign of authenticity. And a fresh tomato sauce, which offsets all the other ingredients. Salads (39-109 rubles) run a close second on the menu. We had Greek with plenty of cheese, guaranteed to please this reviewer, but smaller pieces of tomato would have gone down well. And been easier to eat, with strong but none-the-less sorry plastic cutlery.

There's also soup (49 rubles) and a variety of hot dishes. Served from the buffet, and probably quite reasonable in quality, most are less than 150 rubles. Ice cream or cake for dessert.

Pizza is what you want though: It's the Sbarro staple, open or closed, and always tastes fresh. Wash it down with a variety of drinks, alcoholic or otherwise. This being Manezhnaya Ploshchad, beer is the norm. In a quaint plastic cup. Vodka is available for 54 rubles and there are some spirits and wines, as well as a broad range of soft drinks.

Sbarro is a paradoxical paradise, where fast food meets class. The paper plates and plastic cutlery belie the taste of the food, the quality of the environment and the wonderful sights that pass by, as you lounge a long afternoon into evening, chatting and drinking in a Mediterranean-style environment, a million miles away from that cold, dark, long winter.

SBARRO
1 Manezhnaya Pl.
Metro: Okhotny Ryad
Tel: 737-8390