Soviet Chefs Get a Taste of L.A.---- How Do You Say ‘Taco’ in Russian?

Three of the Soviet Union’s finest chefs, during a first-of-its-kind cultural exchange, walked into one of Century City’s most exclusive restaurants Friday and sat down to eat tacos.

“What you see is very familiar to us,” Raimund Hofmeister, host and executive chef of the Century Plaza Hotel, told luncheon guests. “But our friends from Russia have never seen one.”

Los Angeles was the last stop in a 10-city American tour of new sights, culinary and otherwise, for the chefs and Soviet business officials. Tour organizers believe they’ve not only dished up some culinary glasnost, but also have fired up the kettle for what one businessman called “the last bastion” the burgeoning American food industry has yet to conquer.

By the time the chefs depart for Moscow today, they will have, among other things, dined at the White House and New York’s Russian Tea Room, stuffed themselves with pizza and beer and sampled the finest Cajun delights.

“We’ve been impressed with both the welcome we’ve received and the food,” said Natalia Tokareva, 25, who like fellow chefs Michael Vydysh, 44, and Andrei Malygin, 32, spoke through interpreters.

Between local dining excursions, the chefs from Moscow’s Hotel Soyuz saw highlights of the Southland’s food industry scene, including the wholesale produce market and a seafood warehouse in downtown Los Angeles.

“They were amazed at all the different kinds of fish,” said Lynn Ferraro, general manager of Reel Seafood Co. “Apparently, they don’t consume much seafood in Russia.”

Leaders of the American Culinary Federation, an association of 18,000 chefs, hope to change that. Federation official Bert Cutino said the hotel and restaurant industry, with $213 billion of annual commerce, is working hard to open the communist market.

“The largest-volume Kentucky Fried Chicken operation in the world” is in Beijing, Cutino said. And McDonald’s, he noted, has already struck a deal to raise the golden arches in the land of the hammer and sickle.

The Soviet chefs got a preview of what their countrymen had to look forward to when they entered a McDonald’s in New York’s Times Square. “They wanted to sample the simplicity of American fast food,” said Cajun chef and trip organizer John Folse. “They enjoyed the change of pace.”

Folse said dining at a restaurant in Russia usually takes at least four hours. “They make it an occasion because they only eat out about six times a year,” said Folse, owner of Lafitte’s Landing in Donaldsonville, La.

The genesis of the American tour came during what Folse calls the “food summit” last April. The Soviets eventually hired Folse to run a Cajun restaurant in Moscow for two weeks, to coincide with President Reagan’s trip. While the superpowers eliminated medium-range nuclear weapons, Folse served 500 people a day--mostly journalists, diplomats and Communist Party leaders. He said giving Russian chefs an on-site introduction to American food was a natural next step.

Basic American Food

This search for the American eating experience Friday brought the Soviets to the Century Plaza Hotel’s La Chaumiere, where they were served plates of ready-for-assembly tacos: corn tortillas and spoon-sized piles of lettuce, cheese and chopped tomatoes.

“Is this popular?” asked Soviet interpreter Galina Bierjukova, looking at her taco, stuffed with a choice of venison chili or bay scallops. “Do people eat this a lot?”

For the visitors, the extraordinary taco was one morsel in a singular journey.

“We have very much in common, the Russian and American people,” Tokareva said. “This will help to preserve the friendly relations between our countries.”