The N restaurant--Putin and the Beatles are a fine mix!

We searched for an apparently defunct vegetarian restaurant in the Old Town of Riga, and ended up in a really cool basement eatery called the "N Restaurant." It had some good veggie options on the menu, so after descending through a banquet hall down some winding stairs to the darkwood-walled place, we sat down and had the place to ourselves for an hour. It was wild, with pics of every Russian leader up to today on the walls, and a roomful of portraits of the Beatlesin the dancehall next door So there we were, no one else but us and our waitress, in an imposing basement full of portraits, a bar, crystal glasses and linen tablecloths, while our table was laden with dish after dish of amazing (vegetarian) Russian fare! It was a bit eerie being there all alone, food seemingly appearing from nowhere, in a place so secluded.
Once we were done, we went up the stairs we had used to go down, and were met by 3 people dressed in tuxedos and evening gowns, playing on a cello and piano and being videotaped. One of the women was an opera singer, as we saw her picture on a poster for an upcoming concert, and she had the most amazing voice. I was entranced by the richness of her soprano! What a meal experience that was!