Chef Artem Losev

Artem Losev is a well-known Moscow chef, restaurateur, and TV host. The future maestro was born and raised in St. Petersburg, finished vocational college and university, and began building his career. Artem's first job was at restaurant "Chekhov" in his hometown of St. Petersburg, which served dishes whose recipes were borrowed from the great writer's works. Very quickly, though, the young chef started getting invited to landmark, world-class events: catering the economic forum in Davos, a meeting of top government officials from APEC countries, the Sochi Olympics, and the Russian Ball in Venice.

The maestro has a special relationship with Italy — it's one of his favorite places. He flies to the Apennines several times a year, favoring Tuscany and Sicily over all other regions. There he relaxes, recharges, and finds new professional ideas, all at once. Among his other favorite places, Artem singles out Denmark and the US. Whenever he's in Copenhagen, he always visits restaurants Barr, Musling Bistro, as well as the legendary Scandinavian-cuisine restaurant Noma 2. In Los Angeles, the maestro visits restaurant Gjelina and bistro Gjusta. That said, he has favorite spots in Moscow too — restaurants "Probka" on Tsvetnoy Boulevard or "Pinch" near Patriarch's Ponds.

Every chef, sooner or later, thinks about opening their own bar or restaurant. For Artem Losev, that moment came in 2015, when he was invited to create the menu for Boris Zarkov's new restaurant Kutuzovskiy 5. Three years later, Losev took charge of restaurants Mashrooms, specializing in mushroom cuisine, and "Gorynych," which won prestigious awards two years running — Best Restaurant 2018 according to GQ and the Palm Branch Award 2019.

Starting in 2021, a new stage begins in the maestro's life — a collaboration with Vitaly Istomin and Anton Pinsky and the realization of his first own project, AVA (today already a full-fledged restaurant holding). Next came French bistro Patriki and Italian restaurant Loona, which made it into Moscow's top three restaurants and won the Where to Eat 2023 award. Besides Moscow, Loona has also opened in Dubai.

In total, under the AVA project, the team of restaurateurs has opened seven fine-dining spots. Every project embodies a new idea. Phantom became the flagship of the newest fashionable culinary trend, specializing in meat dishes. Narnia introduces guests to upscale Asian cuisine, "Athina" to Greek.

An excellent education, rich experience, a refined sense of taste, and technological innovation let maestro Losev create dishes that are astonishing in their flavor and simplicity, and stay memorable for a long time. Thanks to modern technology, the chef can break down the ingredients he cooks with, and drinks, down to nearly the atomic level, and at that level determine what's delicious and what isn't. That's exactly how new flavors are created, or interesting combinations found between everyday ingredients. Incidentally, guests today have also become far more knowledgeable about gastronomy, so they often ask to have certain ingredients added to a dish or drink to make it more exclusive. This is only simple at first glance. Only a very experienced chef can cook dishes tailored to a guest's individual preferences, giving them a one-of-a-kind quality without throwing off the overall flavor balance.

Today, the star chef's career is riding a wave at its peak. Artem Losev runs the kitchens of cult Moscow restaurants "Gorynych" and Mashrooms. He still finds time to run social media, where he shares culinary tips, experience, and drinking traditions with his followers. Incidentally, the maestro himself barely drinks, but on rare occasions prefers rich, tannic red wines.

Since 2018, the star chef has co-hosted the culinary TV show "Bolshoy Zavtrak" ("The Big Breakfast") on channel TNT together with popular TV host Marina Kravets. He also travels a lot, attending both large-scale and closed-door culinary events, treating them as an integral part of the work of any chef who wants to develop their own culture and fight for new visitors to their restaurants. He plays football with a team of like-minded friends. Being a native of St. Petersburg, he naturally always roots for "Zenit."