Kyiv is a city where provincial pop culture and high-quality original projects are combined in fanciful ways. Topical concepts are often implemented independently and inexpensively, but there are also surprisingly pleasant exceptions to the general trend. Kyiv restaurateurs, declaring their self-sufficiency, in fact dream of creating a professional guild
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| Popular culture and fancy culinary projects meet in the nation´s capital PHÎÒÎ:SHUTTERSTOCK |
Expand the circle
Valeriy Polyakov, an energetic Kyiv-based publisher and, of late, a restaurant promoter, has initiated the creation of the Restaurateurs Club in Kyiv. The organization is supposed to become the first union of entrepreneurs engaged in the restaurant business and all sympathizers. Such a platform of communication will make it possible “to introduce new restaurant trends in the format of social events”. The first meeting of the club held in the middle of this summer on a riverboat drew an unprecedented quorum, which confirmed the interest and willingness of professional restaurateurs to cooperate in this booming sphere. The first meeting of the club was dedicated to the nuances of the restaurant business in Kyiv and Odesa, the difference between them and the distinctive features of mentalities. Saveliy Libkin, owner of Kompot, Dacha and Myaso i Vino Steakhouse in Odesa, was a special guest at the event.
The next meeting will be arranged in September. Denys Belenko, a designer and creator of many successful restaurants (Under Wonder restaurant is his latest project in Kyiv), will share his professional experience. Serhiy Husovskiy (creator of Pantagruel, Napule, Biancoro and O’Cafe) will be the special guest at the next meeting to discuss the subject of export.
Pan-Asian wave reaches Kyiv
Asian cuisine popularized in London is also one of the most popular global trends in the restaurant business these days, let alone mentioning Moscow where pan-Asian cuisine is a true hit. Pan-Asian cuisine Moscow-style is typically characterized by improvisation limited to two to three geographical and culinary zones.
The menus include popular dishes like Peking Duck, variations of Tom Yam and Dim Sam and, of course, a special place is given to rolls and sushi. In other words, Japanese and Chinese cuisines with a touch dishes from Singapore and Thailand are actively promoted.
Be that as it may, the dishes offered in these establishments are not entirely authentic as they are adapted to European tastes and are often simply invented. The most outstanding representatives of the pan-Asian trend in Moscow are Arkadiy Novikov’s Nedalniy Vostok, a gastronomic restaurant with an average bill of US $150, and the latest and celebrated project Mr. Lee, with a half of its menu dedicated to Chinese cuisine and the other half comprised of Malaysian, Thai and Singaporean cuisines. Denys Komarenko, head chef at the Arena restaurant in Kyiv, is planning to introduce pan-Asian trends in the nearest future.
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Dinner-shows for pretty penny
Popular European (first and foremost, German) “gastronomic shows” or “gastronomic theaters” satisfy the whims of well-to-do citizens: “bread and circuses”. Several hundreds of people gather at tables around a stage to taste meals and watch performances of circus actors, musicians, singers and ballet dancers over a period of a few hours in special show premises and rooms. Every performance has its plot and special culinary subject that is essentially an original journey into the history of certain dishes, gastronomic trends and cuisines. 5-6 courses of meals prepared by the most titled European chefs and splendid scores by top-class artists will cost EUR 100 – 140 per head, which is comparable to an evening in an expensive restaurant or the price of a ticket to an elite concert. The Kobzov Circus has tried to bring to life the concept of a dinner-show in Kyiv, but the cheap plastic tables and low-cost buffet spread killed the whole idea.
New York motifs
The Ciao restaurant will open on Pylyp Orlyk St. in Kyiv at the end of August. This place is the project of Olena Shaba, former commercial director of the Carte Blanche chain. The restaurant will supposedly correspond to the level of Concorde, Ikra and Surpriz. The organizers claim Jean-Georges Vongerichten, owner of 18 restaurants all over the world (7 of them in New York), was their ideological inspirer. Vongerichten’s most famous restaurant Jean Georges is located in West Manhattan in the five-star Trump International Hotel & Tower skyscraper and is listed in the Michelin Red Guide. The style of Vongerichten’s cuisine is defined as “New York fusion” (not to be confused with tourist fusion) as the menus include French, American and Indo-Chinese dishes.
Roman Cherko, ex-chef at Decadence, will try to implement the ideas of one of only five Three Michelin-Starred chefs, while Elle magazine will provide media support of the project.
They plan to surprise us with fanciful combinations of regional Ukrainian foodstuffs and rare pan-Asian spices, intricacies of cooking and clever and elegant presentation and serving, in short all the enticing features that lovers of fine and exquisite dining expect to see in a restaurant.
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