Do Muscovites have the desire and desire to celebrate this year?
Photo: Evgenia GUSEVA
Moscow restaurants are full of posters inviting you to celebrate 2024 on your tables. Do Muscovites have the desire and desire to celebrate this year?
– Yes, there is desire. New Year’s Eve is resolved quite quickly. Our Meat & Fish restaurant ran out of seats in November. December has a very strict calendar: company tables, corporate events. Since December 15, reservations have been so numerous that it is even surprising,” Sergei Mironov, catering ombudsman in Moscow, told KP.RU.
The interlocutor says that the number of diners in restaurants is a kind of indicator of the mood in society.
— When people are depressed, expecting something bad or remember that there was a pandemic, then people don’t go to restaurants. Even though there is money, it doesn’t come! Now people are in a good mood. I associate emotion with this,” Mironov shared.
At the same time, prices have risen this year. We asked for a comparison with the quiet year of 2019. The Ombudsman calculated: “As the dollar grew, so did prices.” Then the “dollar” was 62 to 65 rubles. Now I don’t want to go below 90 rubles. That is, the difference is around 50%.
— The dependence on imports in our business remains high. And it doesn’t matter if you buy equipment, products from friendly countries or not. Russian products are also becoming more expensive,” said Sergei Mironov.
This year, in restaurants in residential areas of Moscow, a place at the New Year’s table on the night of January 1 costs from 8.5 thousand rubles. For this money they offer salad, main course, appetizers, dessert and sometimes a glass of drink. But they can put you at a table with another company. Furthermore, for this amount the portions are sometimes modest, which seems to indicate that additional orders are placed.
Restaurants within the Garden Ring, which do not claim to be fashionable, already cost 12, 15, 20 thousand rubles. In both cases, only Santa Claus and a DJ are part of the program. At best, he’ll play a cover band. Don’t forget about the service fee: they are often asked to pay an additional 10-15% of the final check (often in cash or by transfer). With these funds, the restaurant gives bonuses to staff for going out at night.
However, the capital traditionally offers entertainment for any budget. If you have money, you will get shows, television artists and brioche with black caviar. At the same time, ombudsman and restaurateur Sergei Mironov noted that the demand for New Year’s parties with the star among Muscovites is decreasing.
In the pompous “Turandot” on Tvresky Boulevard, they “exploit” one of the main weaknesses of Muscovites – the ballet “The Nutcracker”. The company will perform selected songs from the production to music by Tchaikovsky. Sergey Lazarev and Valeria will sing. The pleasure costs 80-199 thousand rubles, depending on the room. Guests are advised to adhere to the dress code: suits or tuxedos for men and cocktail dresses for women. The menu consists of seven dishes.
Tatyana Bulanova performs in the Pushkin cafe next door. Three courses, dessert, snacks and a glass of champagne will cost 45-60 thousand rubles. Furthermore, in the “cheap” locations the stage is not visible.
At the White Rabbit restaurant, which received a Michelin star, Alexander Ivanov from Rondo sings. A place in a bar will cost 30 thousand rubles, in a hall – 75-80 thousand rubles.
A fellow guide also with a Michelin star “Sakhalin” named Sergei Mazaev and “Moral Code”. Depending on the location of the table, the entrance costs 45-105 thousand rubles. They are served entirely with seafood: crab phalanges, sturgeon, caviar of all colors.
Katya Lel, who is experiencing another wave of popularity thanks to Tik-Tok, sings at the Sixty restaurant in the city of Moscow on New Year’s Eve. Her “classmates” from the group “Star Factory” “Chelsea” are also there. Appetizers on the table, a hot dish, dessert and drinks – 35-45 thousand rubles.
Not all establishments attract with stars. Some turn to the modern trend of immersive shows: those in which the theatrical performance is not performed on stage, but alongside the spectator, who can also participate. A similar interactive experience is organized, for example, by the Ruski restaurant in the “Irony of Fate” style. Guests receive brooms and shower caps and a “bouquet” of cockroaches in a newspaper. And the actors represent moments from the film. Tickets for tables start from 20 thousand rubles.
A similar action occurs in the Greek restaurant “Paphos”. They promise to fill the halls with ancient Greek goddesses (for some reason, not a word about gods). And as a show, according to Greek tradition, guests are invited to trample a dozen plates. They do not say whether it is necessary to dress in sheets or make do with ordinary clothes. Taking a walk costs 45-80 thousand rubles.
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