The city bar will always be relevant. Unlike privileged establishments designed only for an elite audience, the bar—the place is democratic! They come to them in joy and sorrow, with or without reason, on holidays and just weekdays. Anyway, this is what happens in Moscow bars. Dmitry Sokolov known for projects such as Help Bar, All-Time Bar, Aloha bar, Lawson's Bar... The last creation of Dmitry was the universal Main Bar, located in the very center of the capital (Tverskaya st., 22).

Atmosphere

The bar is a large space without rigid partitions and borders, nevertheless, it is competently zoned into several lounge areas, with an original color scheme and an excellent concept. On the one hand, we are dealing with the repeatedly tested algorithm of the "Sokolovsky" bar with a long bar and a spacious dance hall.

On the other hand, there are restaurant areas for negotiations and business meetings, with a small basement hall where connoisseurs gather wine drinks ranging from classic champagne Pol roger and ending with democratic Argentine Vistaflores Malbec-Sangiovese... Exploring a series of spacious halls with neat wooden tables, roomy leather chairs and aromas soaring everywhere, you notice how all kinds of people gather in the bar: a company of business men drinking a hookah, girls with elegant glasses dancing at the bar, couples comfortably settling down in a quiet restaurant area ... Seems, Dmitry Sokolov I was able to combine the concept of simple beauty with convenience, and also with hospitality. Since its opening, the bar has not only attracted the attention of "talented alcoholics", as the owner of "drink" bars calls the regulars, but also added to their number the capital's gourmets who came for gastronomic cuisine Main Bar.

Chief and team

Chef - Igor Kotov- responsible for innovations in the kitchen Main Bar, where the gastronomic theme expanded to the scale of a bar. Menu European cuisine it turned out to be very compact, varied and, which is especially unexpected, really tasty.

site asked the chief Igor Kotov and learned the main features of the kitchen Main Bar:

- We are promoting souse vide - low-temperature cooking, we cook meat and fish in a vacuum, the products with this method are very tender. At the same time, the qualities important for the product are preserved, the native taste, aroma, all useful vitamins and microelements remain. Since food is prepared in own juice, without the use of oil and does not undergo oxidation, the meat literally melts in your mouth! The main feature of our kitchen is its volumes, we have a separate confectionary shop, own bakery, smokehouse and even a sausage shop. Since we have a universal bar, we have made the dishes quite varied, designed for people with different ideas and preferences.

I advise you to try the leg of lamb, which is marinated with spices, with the addition of garlic and olive oil, then wrapped in unleavened dough(acting as a shell, preventing the juice from pouring out) and baked in a wood-burning oven. We also often use our blanks, for example, to "Moscow borscht" (310 RUB) we serve a snack, bread with smoked bacon that we smoke ourselves. The borscht itself is cooked from consommé - strong beef broth, with ravioli stuffed with porcini mushrooms and beef, seasonal mushrooms and new potatoes. We buy fish from good farms, after which we fry it well and with high quality. In general, our cuisine implies serious and thoughtful serving, I hope our guests will appreciate it.

Over cocktails in Main Bar a whole stellar team of bartenders is working, taking some prize-winning places in all-Russian and world competitions lately. Not boasting of well-deserved awards, the guys prepare their works for the Moscow public around the clock. Cocktails made by original recipes, create a real sensation! The history of cocktails can be found in the proposed bar list. For example, there you can find out that the first cocktail recipe "Fish House Punch", came from the state of Pennsylvania, where in the bar of the same name the club members Marquis de lafayette and George Washington they were preparing punch, this happened back in those distant times, when in America "cocktail" as a word did not yet exist. Just imagine what an educational journey you can take with such a map, where each cocktail has its own story!

The bar often experiments with ingredients, such as truffle honey based on the mushrooms of the same name or buckwheat honey on coniferous buds, or mimosa syrup made from several bouquets of mimosa bought from grandmothers in the spring. The best impressions are made by the Russian ingredients: lingonberry homemade liquor, red basil, which is sold only in Russia. Authentic items such as rhubarb, sea buckthorn, rowan (which will appear in the autumn map) are used. In general, this is the very case when you can't figure it out without alcohol.

Quotes from the menu

It is worth starting a gastronomic acquaintance with the famous "Pea Soup" (RUB 290), which is not at all like pea soup! This dish, not noticeable at first glance, was, frankly, a revelation for me. A green pea mixture that tastes more like a rich cream soup, served with quail eggs and mushrooms.

It is also worth mentioning Rabbit fillet with lasagna(RUB 690). The chef prepares fillets wrapped in bacon and serves them with a peculiar, but very useful cereal - quinoa. The dish is complemented by mouth-watering rabbit lasagne and a mix of pumpkin puree.

Significantly expands the range of dessert dishes "Watermelon with melon", cooked in a vacuum, this method preserves the crystal structure of pieces of berries, the dessert is carefully flavored with ginger syrup. Complement with ginger ice cream, fixed on your plate with crumbs gingerbread.

And, of course, relax with a glass of cocktail, here you have an almost limitless choice! If you want to try something unexpected, opt for a cocktail "Green Field", the component of which is gin, elderberry syrup, protein, lemon juice made with homemade beaters based on cardamom and pineapple. This drink reveals the taste of green basil in the best way possible!

Service

The correct approach from all sides to the concept of the institution makes it universal, so the staff of the institution works with all their might, although without much pedantry. The waiters are always ready to recommend interesting new items on the menu, and the bartenders will offer you to familiarize yourself with the cocktail list. If you are a supporter "Whiskey cola", "Gin and Tonic" or "Cuba libre", here you will be offered a choice of whiskey, gin or another alcohol base of all stripes, at the same time, they will mix the cocktail right in front of your eyes, which indicates the quality of the alcohol and the honesty on the part of the bar. Coming out of Main Bar, do not forget to take with you a couple of boxes of handmade chocolates (250 rubles for 5 pieces), made of white, milk and dark chocolate, believe me, these taste sensations will remain in your memory for a long time!

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TV presenter, journalist and culinary specialist Elena Chekalova has started working in a professional kitchen since this summer, first at the Leveldva gastronomic club, which is above the "" restaurant, and then at the "Rybka" restaurant. In both establishments, Chekalova acted as a brand chef, and her own chef Igor Kotov helped her. And in the fall, together with him, as well as the restaurateur Alexander Orlov (the Tanuki and Benvenuto chains, the Rybka restaurant and about 80 other establishments in Moscow, as well as in Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates) and his partner Denis Gusev, Chekalova opened restaurant "Let's go".

Elena is responsible here for the menu and the concept, which, according to her, the name symbolizes: in the restaurant she prepares dishes from her travels with her husband Leonid Parfyonov in her own interpretation. In addition to the full-fledged menu, Let's Go, there is also a decent bar - the chef-bartender Maxim Ivaschenko, who previously worked at Door 19 and Mendeleev bar, from where he brought part of the team, is engaged in it.

The way “Let's go” will look like was invented by an experienced restaurant interior designer Natalya Belonogova (“Ugolyok”, Haggis, Zotman Pizza Pie) with Dasha Durneva; the task was to create an atmosphere close in spirit not that home cooking, not the station, the place symbolizing the meeting for Chekalova. It really looks like a domesticated station: brick, concrete and wood of cold shades dilute the bright stained-glass windows and furniture covered with fabric. The room itself is small and used to the maximum: at the entrance - a bar. When new visitors come in, those sitting in his counter are strongly blowing in the back. Further, very close to each other, there are tables for two, four, one for a large company and an open kitchen, which occupies almost a third of the hall. It is cramped, noisy, but offensive and comfortable, including due to the fact that Chekalova herself is constantly in the hall - she walks, monitors, communicates with guests and tells in all details about the ingredients and the preparation of dishes that are served in cast-iron dishes and on oak boards "".

The menu is already rather big, but Chekalova, most likely, will expand it - over the years of domestic culinary feats and trips around the world, she has accumulated a lot of ideas. The first page of the menu is now occupied by snacks: for example, Japanese dorado carpaccio and daikon with marinade; Lebanese quinoa salad with seeds and parsley; roast beef and Spanish salsa verde with almonds; Vietnamese tartare with pear and sesame - similar to the one in Delicatessen, only with pickled pear and meat. There are three bruschetta: with egg roll, eel, avocado oil and onion sauce; with baked tartare, caramelized onions with beet chips and poached quail - may be too spicy due to mustard; bruschetta with forshmak, apple curry, burnt cucumber and lightly salted herring - very tender, they say it is brought from Sevastopol. There are about ten main courses, some of them are periodically included in the stop list. We managed to try a rabbit leg with potatoes, pears and citrus sauce and draw the following conclusion - during her training in professional kitchens, Elena has made significant progress in understanding the differences between home and restaurant food. By the way, this rabbit, like a turkey and quail eggs, - from the Chekalova farm, the rest - from Russian suppliers from different regions; cucumbers and tomatoes will not be on the menu in winter. However, they do not work with the LavkaLavka cooperative, they are looking for everything themselves.

Lyons-style crispy rabbit leg on potato biscuit with pear and citrus sauce (690 rubles)
Chinese ratatouille with honey-orange sauce (390 rubles)
Vologda gray cabbage soup from the outer leaves of cabbage, fermented on black bread, with beef and porcini mushrooms (450 rubles)

Vietnamese tartare with pear and sesame seeds (550 rubles)
Sweet and sour beef in potato boat(480 rubles)

"Our Kiev cake" with nuts, almonds and light custard(290 rubles)

The main dish of the restaurant is the legendary gray cabbage soup, which Elena has been feeding her guests for many years and which she talks about at every opportunity. We now understand why - because it is incredibly tasty, this soup is a real drug, a celebration of umami taste. It is prepared according to the recipe of Leonid Parfyonov's grandmother from the outer leaves of cabbage, fermented on black bread, and in three broths: cabbage, mushroom and cooked from beef brisket.

As for the bar, according to the chief bartender Maksim Ivashchenko, there was no task to create a large cocktail bar here, because the place is “more about food”. There are about ten cocktails in the card, some of which change every day. Cocktails go well with food, but if you want something that is not on the menu, most likely, if available the right ingredients They will do it for you, but only if it's not rum and cola, the guys here work very decently.

"The very freshness" - green salad with beets, hazelnuts and raspberry dressing
390 rubles

Korean salad
from unbeaten cucumbers with sesame seeds and cilantro
250 rubles

Vietnamese tartare
with pear and sesame
550 rubles

Duck gravlax carpaccio
Scandinavian with cherry chutney
550 rubles

Bruschetta with baked tartare
with caramelized onions, beet chips and poached quail
590 rubles

Biblical lentil stew
with hyssop, cumin and lamb flatbread
350 rubles

Farm-style Georgian chicken fried in green nut sauce
730 rubles

Lyons-style crispy rabbit leg
on potato biscuit with pear and citrus sauce
690 rubles

Pike burgers with cod liver and caviar river fish on potato pancakes
450 rubles

Lebanese Quinoa Salad with Seeds
and parsley
370 rubles

Roast beef and Spanish salsa verde
with almonds
590 rubles

Carpaccio duet in Japanese
dorado and daikon with marinade
570 rubles

Ratatouille in chinese
with honey-orange sauce
390 rubles

Vologda gray cabbage soup
from the outer leaves of cabbage, fermented on black bread, with beef and porcini mushrooms
450 rubles

Scottish rabbit bombs with green puree and tempura from vegetables
550 rubles

Venison burger (wild boar) with spicy sauce from kimchi on Korean cabbage pancakes
690 rubles

Moroccan-style carrots in citrus sauce with avocado, dried apricots, hazelnuts
390 rubles

Vegetables baked and marinated in Italian, with tender anchovy sprat, pesto sauce and lettuce with basil dressing
490 rubles

Quail eggs merette
burgundy in wine
470 rubles

Bruschetta with egg roll and eel,
and also with avocado oil and onion sauce
630 rubles

Bruschetta with forshmak and apple curry,
and also with burnt cucumber and lightly salted herring
360 rubles

Thai pumpkin cream soup
with shrimps and barley popcorn
450 rubles

"Duck Story" - roast breast, falafel with confit and eggplant marinated with honey-yogurt sauce
720 rubles

Orange-glazed lollipop duck
with Chinese hoisin sauce
1 900 rubles

Photos: Mark Boyarsky

Throughout October, the chefs of the most famous Moscow restaurants prepared Tasting Menu for guests - gastronomic business cards of restaurants for a fixed price of 1900 rubles.

The results of the festival were announced the night before.

Grand Prix for the best tasting set of the Moscow Gastronomic Festival

The Grand Prix winners for the best tasting set of the Moscow Gastronomic Festival in 2017, according to the expert jury, are:
- / chef Andrey Zhdanov, Brand chef Adrian Ketglas
- / chef Giuseppe Davi
- / chef Andrea Impero
- / chef Alexander Zherebitsky, Brand chef William Lamberti
- "" / chef Ilya Cherkashin
- / chef Kobayashi Katsuhiko
- "" / chef Igor Kornev

- "" / chef Mikhail Gerashchenko / received a special bottle of Gray Goose Ducasse, created and also signed by the great French chef Alain Ducasse

— « dean"/ Chef Igor Kotov / this restaurant has collected the largest number positive reviews from guests of the Moscow gastronomic festival and it is doubly pleasant that the Grand Prix of the Festival to the restaurant "Geraldine" is supported by the choice of the people.

Football passions are not simmering here: completely different issues are on the agenda. For example, the new summer menu, which was launched the other day.

Geraldine is a joint brainchild of the famous journalist Vladimir Pozner and the successful restaurateur Alexander Rappoport. The style of the establishment is cosmopolitan and uninhabited. Everything about everything - true, with a clear French pronunciation. In tribute to the traditions of the Posner family, they cook here different dishes French cuisine... Some you will hardly find anywhere else in Moscow.

The image is complemented by a thoughtful interior, memorable and very pleasing to the eye - thanks to the wonderful shade of green marble, which was chosen for decoration. True, in the summer the highlight of the program is the veranda on the street. It is difficult to find a better place for a meeting, an early breakfast or a romantic dinner in this area.

In the summer menu, the chef Igor Kotov focused on cold soups, but we hope to be continued - for example, in the dessert menu.

• duck breast salad with Boston lettuce, miso sauce and chili;
• French onion puree "Vichisoise" with crab meat, fresh cucumber and greens;
• almond soup with crumbs from gray bread, wheat flakes, pistachios and watercress;
• creamy green pea soup with edamame beans and goat cheese mousse;
• fried flounder with green asparagus and spicy sauce from red onions, garlic, olives and sun-dried tomatoes.

When ordering any of the new dishes, there is a special offer: the Le Grand Fizz cocktail on French vodka with the addition of lime juice and elderberry syrup is free.