The First Guide to Restaurants with Russian Wine

Having Russian wine on the wine list is a requirement for a restaurant to make it into the guide. The guide's curators are convinced that for a modern restaurant in  Russia,  this is good form, since local wine is part of gastronomic culture worldwide. The guide's curators — Yulia Zvereva, Andrey Panchenko, Vitaly Kuchura, Mikhail Shenshtein —  are experienced foodies with extensive experience in the restaurant market: Mikhail ran the "Afisha-Restorany" service for a long time, Yulia has spent 10 years writing about and rating restaurants in various guides and awards, and also headed PR and marketing at "Rappoport's Restaurants," Andrey has not only traveled half the world and visited numerous restaurants totaling more than 60 Michelin stars, but also completed a culinary course at Novikov School, and Vitaly has more than 300 Champagne labels alone under his belt, plus opening his own restaurant Soma. 

The guide's mission is to create a convenient, practical list of good restaurants for guests and to break down the stereotype that Russian wine is expensive and doesn't taste good. That hasn't been true for a long time now. Restaurants are rated by anonymous experts on kitchen quality, service, atmosphere, and —  for the first time in Russia — the presence of Russian wine: not just the diversity and distinctiveness of the wines, but also how easy it is for a guest to get acquainted with Russian wine, for instance, whether it's available by the glass. The guide's experts include food journalists, chefs, gastro-enthusiasts, and  experienced foodie travelers. The wine lists were evaluated by experts with professional wine education and industry experience. 
6 restaurants in Moscow received the highest rating — three hearts: "Beluga," Grand Cru, Ikra,  Olluco, Sage, and Savva. 12 restaurants got two hearts, including such heavyweights as Semifreddo,  White Rabbit, Onest, Selfie, but also less obvious projects — "Severyane," Björn, "Vino i drugie lekarstva." 32 restaurants received one heart, ranging from grandees like "Uzbekistan"  to small spots like Share Bistro, as well as unique, distinctive projects like Kappou Hiroki Arakawa — there's plenty to choose from. Another 51 restaurants are recommended by the guide.  In total, "The First Guide" covers 101 restaurants. The restaurant belonging to one of the curators, Soma, is naturally excluded from the guide. The guide includes restaurants that opened no later than December 2023. 

Beyond the ratings, and arguably just as important, is practical tag-based navigation,  meant to answer the question: why go to this restaurant. Right now, the list of 101  restaurants can be sorted by specialty (what's a must-try at the restaurant),  availability of breakfast, unique features (for instance, an in-house specialty food shop or an entertainment program like parties or belly dancing), as well as familiar cuisine and location. And, of course, you can separately see restaurants with the best selection of Russian wine on the wine list. 

The First Guide” is available at the link firstguide.ru, as well as on Telegram —t.me/firstrestaurantguide.