Kaspia state of mind

It’s been almost 100 years since Arcady Fixon, a refugee from the Russian Revolution, opened the doors of Caviar Kaspia on Place de la Madeleine in Paris, and began beguiling his fellow exiles and the crème of Paris society with the exotic flavors of his homeland: shiny black caviar, served with blinis or potatoes, and ice-cold vodka.

After being passed down through family hands, Caviar Kaspia is now owned by the charismatic entrepreneur Ramon Mac-Crohon, who has ensured that the place has lost nothing of its prerevolutionary charm: Nicolas II’s seal sits alongside antique porcelain in a display cabinet, and Nicolas Swertschkoff’s Troika, depicting a Russian horse-drawn sledge moving through snow, still hangs in the dining room. In the late twenties, this was where the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna dined with Coco Chanel; in the sixties, it was the regular hangout of Yves Saint Laurent and his his muse Betty Catroux, cementing its legacy as the unofficial HQ of the fashion crowd (Karl Lagerfeld is said to have always ordered the cold king crab salad, and 150 grams of Beluga caviar with blinis and crème fraîche).

I have spent some of my most memorable evenings behind Kaspia’s fabled doors. When, years ago, I fell madly in love with an English model during Paris Fashion Week, it was to Place de la Madeleine that I went. From there, the night played out like a dream, culminating in the Oscar Wilde suite at L’Hôtel. On another occasion, at Mac-Crohon’s invitation, my friend and I found ourselves in the restaurant’s private room drinking tequila with Lenny Kravitz and his band.

Five years later, Caviar Kaspia celebrates its second anniversary of opening in New York’s iconic Mark Hotel. Here, designer Jacques Grange (responsible for revamping The Mark) has recreated the warm, intimate setting of the Parisian dining room — azure tablecloths, emerald-green mohair banquettes, wood-paneled walls — and added elements that evoke old New York, like the sculptural Belgian Black marble bar. “New York brings its own bold energy, and we’ve blended it with Kaspia’s signature Parisian chic,” says Mac-Crohon. “Same elegance, same indulgence — just with a bit more edge.”

New York has a long history with caviar. In the late nineteenth century, beluga caviar was given away for free in the city’s bars — such was the abundance of sturgeon in the waters of the Hudson. But by 1910, growing demand had led to overfishing and driven sturgeon populations to the brink of extinction, both here and abroad (at one point, US consumers were buying up 60 percent of the world’s beluga caviar exports). In the 1990s, regulations were introduced, and in 2005 the US finally banned the import of beluga sturgeon products.

This gave rise to the business of farmed caviar. While this has made the delicacy more available and of course sustainable, it has not necessarily more it more “democratic.” According to Mac-Crohon: “There are still different levels of caviar. What is happening is that caviar now has become en vogue. Before, caviar was for very special occasions, only for Christmas, New Year’s Eve or a birthday.”

It is still the perfect accompaniment to a celebration though. I recently turned thirty in the private room at Kaspia at the Mark, surrounded by two dozen of my dearest friends and family. Speeches were made, stories were told, and of course vast quantities of vodka and caviar were consumed — the classic baked potato topped with caviar proving a massive hit. I couldn’t have asked for a better way way to see off a heady decade and summon in the new.

The “Art of Caviar” menu at the Mark offers eight different types of farm-raised caviar harvested in the United States, Bulgaria and Italy. It also offers blinis with smoked salmon and bottarga, eggs with caviar and a creamy caviar-topped Taglioni (there is even a plant-based option for the discerning vegetarian, a caviar made from liquified and spherized truffle). For those wishing to entertain at home, tins or tubs of caviar can be purchased at the boutique.

Over the years, Caviar Kaspia has announced exciting collaborations with brand partners — Virgil Abloh, Giambattista Valli, Carine Roitfeld, Bomber Skis. Its latest is sure to pique the interest of New Yorkers: a collaboration with Baz Bagel, offering Baz’s signature poppy and sesame seed bagels topped with cream cheese and fifteen grams of Baeri caviar — a luxurious, highly decadent twist on a classic New York staple.

My friend Todd Moscowitz tells me that he has recently made a habit of treating himself to a Kaspia lunch after seeing his doctor, whose office is several blocks away. The temptation proves “irresistible.” And it’s not just the caviar, the irreverent combination of a simple potato and sturgeon eggs, it’s the whole Kaspia experience, filled with old-world charm and elegant touches — the carafes of ice-cold vodka, the warm brioche and homemade pickles, the bowl of cigarettes waiting by the door. As Mac-Crohon says, “Kaspia has always been more than just caviar — it’s a state of mind.” Sometimes, that’s just what the doctor ordered.

Caviar Kaspia at the Mark is open for lunch and dinner. Reservations are required.