New Pan-Asian Restaurant — Dragon

A new pan-Asian restaurant by Alexander Oganezov, Dragon, has opened in the "Capital Towers" multifunctional complex in Moscow-City. The project was designed by Gosha Aigunyan, known for his love of minimalism, coziness, and warm tones. 

By design, the interior also came out aesthetic and minimalist, in warm, natural tones. A room with high ceilings, glass walls, not overloaded with detail, predominantly flowing lines, and natural materials used in the finishing — those are the main components of Dragon's look. The furniture is likewise refined, but massive elements have been added to the interior, contributing today's fashionable urban edge. 

The kitchen is designed in the current "open table" format. Menu development fell to the restaurant group's brand chef, Ruslan Polyakov, while the actual cooking is handled by Sergey Ligay. The kitchen's work follows the shu-ha-ri principle. This is a classic Japanese learning principle with three stages: shu — precisely copying the teacher; ha — analyzing what you've learned, breaking the rules you've absorbed, forming your own; ri — freeing yourself from all known rules, gaining an understanding of the natural course of things, rising above everything known. In this way, the dishes embody a classic foundation reinterpreted anew, in an experimental style. 

As is proper for Asian cuisine, the menu gives a special place to seafood. Bluefin tuna akami, ama ebi shrimp, scallops, eel, salmon, and other delicacies are used to prepare and serve guests sashimi, sushi-nigiri, gunkan, and hand rolls alongside classic rolls. The RAW bar menu offers not just gifts of the sea but of the land too — scallop and truffle crudo for 1200 r., tuna tartare for 2100, as well as wagyu carpaccio for 3500 and beef tartare. The soups are traditional for Asia, but done in a signature style. Tom yum, for instance, is rounded out by the chef with sea bass, atypical for this soup. Among the hot dishes, worth calling out are fried octopus with sweet potato purée for 1600, and salmon with kimchi purée for 1700. 

Vitaly Skripchinsky runs Dragon's bar. He mixes popular and rare Asian spirits with specific Japanese ingredients and our own seasonal produce. The menu has 9 signature drinks, including ones based on gin, plum wine, and a pear-and-prune cordial. Or the Yakudza cocktail, based on gin, tonic, and a rhubarb-and-orange cordial. Any of the signature mixes costs 900 rubles.