Gorynych — Whose Restaurant Is It and Who's the Chef

Moscow restaurant "Gorynych" on Trubnaya Square opened in 2018 on the upper level of the Central Market. A huge space (over 300 square meters) with high ceilings under a vaulted dome and enormous windows suited perfectly the idea of restaurateurs Boris Zarkov, Ilya Tyutenkov, and Vladimir Mukhin. "Gorynych" is a restaurant with an open kitchen, its own bakery, and a focus on meat, cooked over fire in every way imaginable.

Interior

Natalia Belonogova handled the interior design — a designer who favors brutalist concrete structures and industrial construction. That was exactly the kind of artist needed to bring the visual concept to life. Zmey Gorynych is an unfriendly, fire-breathing figure from Slavic mythology, and that's what the decorations drew on. The space was finished with a great many heavy concrete structures and elaborate partitions in the same material.

All this brutalism embodies Gorynych's lair. Yet it's decorated in a Russian style, with most elements evoking a traditional terem: tall arched windows, wall murals inspired by Bilibin's illustrations for Russian fairy tales, heavy wooden furniture, and brightly patterned cushions on soft sofas with patterns reminiscent of Russian sarafans. 

The lighting is dim, as befits the lair of a beast that can light everything up itself. By day, light comes in through fairly large windows; in the evening, dim chandeliers and lamps come on, and the atmosphere thickens. Wood, stone, fire, and smoke create the feel of a hidden world. At that point, the open kitchen space becomes more noticeable. For one thing, it's brightly lit on its own — work never stops there, culinary rites are being performed — and for another, it houses a giant oven where the pizzas are baked. When the oven opens (which happens hundreds of times a night), flashes of fire light up the room, evoking the fire-breathing beast that's the restaurant's symbol.

Concept

"Gorynych" bakes and grills in every way available. That's the whole concept of the restaurant. Here they bake pizza and bread, grill steaks and cutlets. Chef Artem Losev runs the kitchen at restaurant "Gorynych." His task was to put together a simple, easy-to-understand menu with an emphasis on meat and fire-cooked dishes. 

To learn pizza-making, the chefs went to Naples, to the legendary Pepe in Grani, to famed pizzaiolo Franco Pepe, who doesn't normally take students. But Boris Zarkov, owner of restaurant "Gorynych," somehow talked the maestro into it and arranged an internship for his chefs, and in the process saw the oven Pepe bakes his masterpieces in — one that, in appearance, resembled a dragon's head. That settled two matters at once: acquiring the necessary experience and the necessary equipment.

They learned to work the grill and smoker in Texas, and got the necessary equipment there too. Now the Moscow restaurant cooks four kinds of steak with different toppings and crust styles, and grills ribs and seafood no worse than leading American steakhouses.

Another fire-fueled unit for baking craft bread was bought in Germany, but they decided to train in Russia. Vladimir Mukhin had long wanted to open a bakery and make organic, yeast-free bread. That takes not just the right oven but the right ingredients. Suitable grain and organics were found in the Tula region, and the starter culture near Vologda, at the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery.

"Gorynych" became the first restaurant with its own bakery, staffed by a whole team of bakers. Now, six kinds of bread are baked here: white wheat, sunflower-seed, Borodinsky, rye, a gluten-free quinoa-and-chia loaf, and one with dried fruit. The entire process, from milling the grain to the finished loaves, happens in full view of the guests.

Menu

It's fairly substantial and varied. Vegan dishes are represented in every section. For breakfast, "Gorynych" serves syrniki, pancakes, blini, sandwiches, eggs cooked various ways, toast, porridge, croissants, tea, coffee, smoothies, and fresh juices.

For starters, they make beef and smoked eel tartares, carpaccio, oysters, baked eggplant with Greek cheese. For the hot course, you can order borscht, okroshka, pizza, steaks, ribs or grilled seafood, baked meat or fish, vegetable salads; for dessert — honey cake, sour-cream cake, cheesecake, grilled peach with ice cream. 

Evgeny Shashin put together the bar menu. It includes fresh juices, smoothies, alcoholic and non-alcoholic signature and classic cocktails, fruit drinks, infusions (dried apricot with sea buckthorn, or strawberry-infused tequila, for instance). Fans of stronger drinks will find the usual rum, gin, vodka, cognac, and whisky.

Sommelier Marusya Milovidova put together the wine list. There are plenty of bottles from France and Italy, along with fashionable orange wines from Georgia and Spain. Wineries from Portugal, Germany, and Austria are represented too, along with a few bottles from Chile and New Zealand.

The project by restaurateurs Zarkov, Tyutenkov, and Mukhin turned out to be a success. A year after opening, restaurant "Gorynych" received the "Golden Palm Branch" — an award given for the best restaurant business concept.