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A Hidden Restaurant Inside an NYC Russian Bathhouse

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Inside the East Village bathhouse that’s been sweating New Yorkers since before the Empire State Building existed, there’s a kitchen most visitors never expect to find.

Munchies’ “Word of Mouth” series pulled back the curtain in January 2020 on the Russian & Turkish Baths at 268 East 10th Street, a Manhattan institution running continuously since 1892. Co-owners Dasha and her husband Chris, third-generation operators of the banya, walked cameras through the shvitz rooms, the ice-cold plunge pool, and the platza treatment before landing on the real surprise: a full-service restaurant tucked inside the steam, run by Chef Leon.

• The bathhouse has operated at the same East Village address since 1892, making it older than the Empire State Building.
• Stone-furnace steam rooms run upwards of 200°F while the plunge pool sits at a bracing 46°F.
• Chef Leon’s kitchen serves robed bathers Siberian pelmeni, borscht with sour cream, beef stroganoff, blini, and a full Russian breakfast, alongside fresh-squeezed juices, Russian beer, and hot tea.

A Banya Older Than the Skyline Around It

The Russian & Turkish Baths opened in 1892 and has stayed in continuous operation ever since, outlasting the 1931 arrival of the Empire State Building by nearly four decades. Dasha and Chris, the third generation to run the place, walk new visitors through a ritual that hasn’t changed much in a century: alternate blasts of stone-furnace heat and cold-water shock, meant to push blood flow and flush the body the old-fashioned way.

The signature treatment is platza — an attendant dips an oak-leaf broom, the venik, into warm soapy water and scrubs it vigorously across a bather’s back before dousing them with a bucket of cold water. Dead Sea mud treatments round out the menu of traditional therapies, the kind of hands-on bodywork that’s kept regulars coming back for generations rather than a single trend cycle.

The Restaurant Hiding Behind the Steam

What separates this banya from most is the kitchen sitting inside it. Bathers in robes and swimsuits, freshly cooked from the shvitz and shocked by the plunge pool, wander over to Chef Leon’s counter for a full Eastern European spread rather than a vending machine snack. The menu leans hearty and traditional: Siberian pelmeni, deep ruby-red borscht finished with sour cream, beef stroganoff, and blini stacked and ready to go.

There’s also a full Russian breakfast on offer, plus fresh-squeezed juices, Russian beer, and hot tea to wash it down — the kind of refueling meal built specifically for people who just spent an hour switching between 200-degree heat and 46-degree water.

A 200°F steam room, a 46°F plunge pool, and a plate of beef stroganoff waiting on the other side — that’s the trade-off regulars at this East Village banya have been making since 1892.

A Family-Run Operation With Deep Roots

Dasha and Chris aren’t hired managers — they’re part-owners carrying on a business that’s passed through three generations of the same family structure. That continuity shows up in the details Munchies captured: staff who know the platza technique by feel, a kitchen that’s kept the same core Russian comfort-food lineup rather than chasing trends, and a clientele that treats the baths as a weekly ritual rather than a tourist stop.

For anyone building a mental map of New York’s hidden food spots, this one sits alongside other under-the-radar corners of the city’s dining scene — the kind of place you only hear about through word of mouth, which is exactly the point of the series that found it.