Luxury Meets Simplicity and Communication

Before the crisis, there were a few big restaurant owners who opened most of the restaurants in Moscow which would be aimed at mostly the rich. The main purpose to visit those places would be to show off - actual dining and hanging-out was at the bottom of the list. The apogee of this trend is the new restaurant claiming itself to be “a place for those who have money that will never end...” This restaurant boasts eclectic interior design – placed in a very old villa with Gothic arches combined with ultra modern furniture and a  white bar in the middle of it.

Now there are a few companies owned by the younger generation and this year they opened a handful of more democratic places with good and simple food for normal prices; which was not the case even 1 year ago. There is an emerging interest in different simpler format of restaurants.

There is also something new for Russian restaurant visitors - they start to visit restaurants to meet with friends and to “party” rather than to try new flavors and develop their sense of taste.

This proves that Russia is moving from the “village”- Asian type of culture to the urban - European culture.

For centuries Russia was managed in the centralized fashion. Hence the richness of Moscow and the stagnation of the regions. The Russian understanding of beauty has always been rooted in its Orthodox roots - Byzantine-gold and flashy design.

Look at the interior of the recently opened Russian-cuisine restaurant - Barbarians:

Now we are moving towards the European, “urban” culture, where it was a common habit for centuries to spend most of your life in the public - living in a medieval city with narrow streets. That is why Europeans can spend hours sitting in a cafe just talking over one cup of coffee.

Russians are only beginning to understand how one can come to a restaurant not to show off and celebrate their achievements by spending hundreds of dollars on a bottle of wine, but to casually converse and just hang-out.

Compare Barbarians with a recently opened Ginza Project restaurant with moderate prices which is frequented by the golden youth:

Plus, more and more restaurants are offering dishes with simple ingredients but done in a sophisticated way.

The same is supported by the night life in Moscow. Julia, 24 years old, used to spend a lot of time in Dyagilev, First, The Most and other famous high-end night clubs in Moscow: “I would say that there is a trend towards democratization of night clubs. Drinks and food in clubs become less expensive, say, more user friendly. Before that they were ridiculously over-priced. People tend to be more interested in organizing home parties for friends rather than going to clubs. They would invite a DJ and order food delivery from their favorite restaurant and still have high-quality fun.”

Insight: Pure show-off entertainment attracts less and less. People are looking for that cozy feeling that you don’t get in usual night clubs.