New Year's Eve gastronomic tour to the North Caucasus

We have breakfast at the hotel.

We are going to explore the picturesque corners of North Ossetia.

We will go to the harsh and fascinating Karmadon gorge, and then to the mysterious Dargava necropolis — the "city of the dead" to touch the secrets of the past.

Let's climb the "swing over the abyss" and enjoy the breathtaking panorama.

Then we will visit the Alan highland monastery in the picturesque valley of the Sun, which from a distance resembles the medieval castles of Europe, and walk along the "ladder of absolution".

Lunch is waiting for us at the restaurant, which is located in a picturesque location with a beautiful view of the mountain peaks of Fiagdon.

We will be served a light and silky cream soup made from lentils and Ossetian pie Ualibakh with homemade cheese.

Then trout from the spring waters of the North Caucasus with pomegranate sauce and grilled vegetables will be cooked for us on the grill.

After lunch, drive to the towers of the brothers Kurt and Tag, the ancestral home of the local rulers, standing on a cliff overlooking three gorges at once.

We will also take a look at Kadargavan Canyon.

Let's go back to the city and go to a cheese-making workshop!

Each of us will master all the stages of cheese making and make real Ossetian cheese.

Everyone will cook the cheese themselves and take it with them along with a recipe that can be repeated at home.

In the evening, we will have dinner in a cozy ethno-restaurant with elements of traditional Ossetian lifestyle.

Today, our main dish will be colorful meter-high kebabs served with a glass of dry red wine.

The appetizer includes a variety of meze: eggplant rolls, hummus, mountain salad and nasjun with pumpkin.

At dinner, we will also taste a traditional Ossetian alcoholic drink — araka.

The taste and smell of arak is similar to Scotch whiskey, and some varieties of the latter are generally difficult to distinguish from refined double-distilled arak.

The dinner will end with a delicate pumpkin baked with mascarpone.

In the evening we return to our hotel and relax.

Today we will have breakfast at the hotel and go to Konstantin Dzitoev's family winery!

Konstantin Dzitoev's brut and red wines are included in the list of the "Best wines of Russia".

The winery produces 65,000 bottles of still wine and 3,000 bottles of sparkling wine per year.

The production of sparkling wine is advised by the oenologist of the Champagne Institute of Oenology, Aurora Gedi.

Two artists work at the winery, they decorate each bottle by hand.

We will visit the workshop, wine cellars and taste 7 samples of still and sparkling wines accompanied by snacks!

After the winery, we drive to Ingushetia, to the ancient complex of Egikal battle towers.

For many Russians, Ingushetia is an absolutely unknown republic.

But those who get to Ingushetia cannot remain indifferent at the sight of the majestic mountains and the medieval Ingush towers perfectly inscribed in them.

Egikal is an ancient battle tower that has survived to the present day, and people lived in the settlement until the middle of the 20th century.

After the walk, we will stop for lunch at a mountain restaurant.

We will be served dishes of traditional Vainakh cuisine!

We will try chapilg (flatbread with cottage cheese), shorpa (soup) and juicy manti.

After lunch in the mountains we drive on, the Chechen Republic is waiting for us!

The journey will take a little over two hours, and we will have time to relax and admire the beautiful views.

We are coming to one of the most beautiful cities in the Caucasus — Grozny!

We will be staying in the largest five-star hotel in the North Caucasus, located in the center of Grozny, in the most beautiful part of the city.

After checking into the hotel and having a short rest, we will walk around the city center with a local guide.

We will see the main mosque, the Memorial Complex of Glory and the building of the national Museum.

Of course, we will go up to the observation deck of one of the skyscrapers of Grozny City to see the city from a bird's-eye view.

After that, we will have dinner at one of the best restaurants in Grozny.

This is an institution with an oriental atmosphere, European gloss and preservation of Caucasian traditions.

We are tasting the main dish of the evening and of the entire Chechen Republic — zhizhig galnash: coarsely chopped boiled meat with dumplings of wheat or corn flour, served with garlic sauce.

For dessert, we will be served hingalsh, the famous sweet pancakes with butter and pumpkin.

We have dinner and return to our hotel.

Today we are enjoying breakfast at our hotel and going to get acquainted with the main sights of the Chechen Republic!

We will see grandiose mosques, get acquainted with other cities of the Chechen Republic, delve into the history of Chechnya and learn about the traditions of local residents.

First, we will visit the city of Shali, the third most populous city in the republic.

The largest mosque in Europe, the Pride of Muslims, is located here, which impresses with its beauty both inside and out.

The mosque is so large that it can accommodate 30,000 people, and the surrounding area can accommodate up to 70,000 visitors.

For lunch, we will be waiting in a magnificent restaurant located in the Akhmat Kadyrov Renaissance Park, where you can enjoy not only delicious cuisine, but also beautiful views of nature.

We will be served dishes of Caucasian cuisine: fragrant potato soup and rustic meat saj.

We will finish the lunch with our favorite hingalsh.

We have lunch slowly and continue on our way — we will get acquainted with Argun, the fourth most populous city in the republic.

The hallmark of this place is the Mother's Heart Mosque, the first in Russia, made in an ultra-modern high-tech style.

We will also take a look inside the mosque to admire the magnificent crescent-shaped chandelier, 30 meters in diameter and weighing almost 5 tons.

Then we return to Grozny, where we will have some free time before dinner.

You can stroll along the charming pedestrian streets, visit interesting souvenir shops or relax in your room.

You can also relax at the hotel's SPA (this is included in the room rate).

In the evening, we will gather for a final dinner in the panoramic restaurant on the 32nd floor, which offers stunning views of Grozny at night.

For an appetizer, we will be served bruschetta with spicy meat, baked tomatoes and tender strachatella cheese, as well as a Caucasian pie with meat and juicy vegetables.

The main course of the evening is a stewed lamb shank with velvety sweet potato puree and an exquisite demiglas sauce.

We will finish the dinner with a signature interpretation of the Anna Pavlova dessert with fresh berries.

After dinner, we return to the hotel to relax.

After breakfast at the hotel, we will go to the main market of Grozny — Berkat.

This is a real oriental bazaar in the very center of the city.

Then we will escort you to Grozny airport.