The Career Path of Vitaly Istomin

A native of St. Petersburg, Vitaly Istomin never dreamed of being a cook, let alone one of the best in the country. He studied at an ordinary school, spent his summers at his grandmother's in Odessa — a philology teacher who instilled in her grandson a love of reading. His mother and grandmother cooked very well, and Vitaly liked helping them, and most of all, eating the tasty results afterward. But after finishing school he decided to enroll at a teachers' college, which he duly completed. He never worked in that field, though, and kept searching for himself.

Fate stepped in, as it often does, by chance: Vitaly dropped by a friend's restaurant and liked it. He decided to try his hand in the kitchen. First it was restaurant "Sakura," then pub "Korchma," then restaurant "Captain Nemo." It turned out the young man didn't just have a knack for it — he enjoyed it. Ambitions took shape, but experience was clearly lacking. So, having saved up some money, Vitaly decided to find a worthy internship. He sent letters to several London restaurants (all Michelin-starred). The Square (two Michelin stars) wrote back, and after a short interview, famous chef Phil Howard took the young Petersburger on for a year-long internship. That was young Istomin's first success and a powerful launch into his rapid culinary career.

Back from London, Istomin worked for a while at restaurants in the Northern Capital, but in 2015 decided to move to Moscow, where he took the chef position at gastrobistro "Tekhnikum," and later, in 2019, at restaurant "Sakhalin."

In 2021, Vitaly Istomin, already well known in professional circles, decided together with his fellow Petersburger and longtime friend Artem Losev to leave Boris Zarkov's White Rabbit Family restaurant group and pursue their own projects. Experienced restaurateur Anton Pinsky offered his help to the two celebrated young chefs. Just six months later, the first joint restaurant, "AVA," opened in Moscow and immediately made it into Russia's top ten according to the federal Where to Eat award. The name is thought to be an abbreviation of the restaurateurs, and by then friends, Anton Pinsky, Vitaly Istomin, and Artem Losev.

From that moment, the friends' business took off sharply. One after another, at six-month intervals, came: restaurant Patriki, where the chef duo presented a signature menu leaning Mediterranean, from Naples to Nice; then French bistro AVA and Italian restaurant Loona, which took up residence in an old mansion on Tverskoy Boulevard. A little later came pan-Asian Narnia — a mysterious, unfathomable world of culinary adventure — then Phantom, serving only meat dishes, Greek "Athina," and finally a second Loona, this time in the heart of Dubai (Downtown district).

Istomin made his professional leap from ordinary chef to star maestro in a record-short eight years. His signature style is retrofuturism, embodying the author's original, unconventional outlook on many things, cuisine included. Maestro Istomin favors simple ingredients and cooks quite familiar dishes. Yet none of them feel familiar in his interpretation, since the author never repeats himself, is constantly searching for new flavors and combinations, experiments, and each time invariably finds something new, original, and witty.

Istomin, Losev, and Pinsky are frequent guests at other restaurants and culinary events. And it's not just for fun: the restaurateurs see these outings as journeys aimed at developing their own taste, finding ideas, and getting to know new culinary trends.

Besides his main work, Vitaly Istomin actively promotes the cult of tasty, healthy food. He's published a culinary trilogy: "Never-Boring Breakfasts," "Never-Boring Desserts," "Never-Boring Food," and is the author and host of one of the country's largest culinary blogs, and appears as a guest on TV shows. Together with Losev, he hosts his own TV show, "Good Luck, Chef!" In 2022, Istomin-Losev received the title "Tandem of the Year" at the "Best in the Industry 2022" competition, and the following year, "Chefs of the Year" at Where to Eat 2023.