When Restaurant Sakhalin Opened and Who Owns It

In 2018, when restaurant "Sakhalin" opened on the top floor of the "Azimut" hotel, Muscovites had already developed a social demand for a restaurant with an unusual, festive setting and a distinctive atmosphere, somewhere nice for family celebrations or ringing in the New Year. The capital had no shortage of restaurants, but small, often stuffy spaces and fairly uniform Scandi-style interiors had clearly grown tiresome for Muscovites. The Russian soul called for space and breathtaking spectacle.

Originally, the hotel had no space planned for a rooftop restaurant. Two floors were added specifically for the project by restaurateur Boris Zarkov, brand chef Vladimir Mukhin, and chef Alexey Kogay. That's how the flamboyant, two-deck restaurant "Sakhalin" was born, in the center of Moscow, with a 360° panorama and an open summer terrace.

Interior

The highlight of "Sakhalin" is the view over Moscow. The views are mesmerizing in any season: in summer, you can admire Moscow's Stalin-era buildings right from the open veranda. And in summer you also get to watch indescribably beautiful evening sunsets. It's especially beautiful in winter, when snow is falling outside and you're sitting 88 meters up, taking in the scene while enjoying the warmth and the taste of your favorite food. That's why Muscovites love ringing in the New Year here. Throughout Christmastime, a genuinely festive New Year bustle reigns inside, while Moscow shimmers below with holiday lights.

Irina Glik and her studio "Geometria" handled the interior. The design was done in an elegant, chic style, but in a restrained color palette. The goal was to create an atmosphere of comfort, one from which you'd want to watch the city from a bird's-eye view without getting distracted by loud interior details. Irina Glik managed to translate the island's rugged beauty into the restaurant's interior elegance. The central wall became a symbol of Mount Lopatin on the island — its highest point — while the marble raw bar with its ice displays, built in cascading tiers, embodies the famous terraced Korsakov plateau.

By day, natural light pours in through the panoramic windows; in the evening, designer chandeliers with soft, dim light come on in the room, with brighter shaded lamps over each table, turning them into little culinary islands of their own. Semicircular soft sofas and comfortable armchairs are arranged around the tables.

Concept

A whole team of celebrated chefs put together the menu at restaurant "Sakhalin": Vladimir Mukhin, Vitaly Istomin, and Alexey Kogay. Alongside the menu, an entirely new direction was developed, called mediterrasian cuisine — that is, a cuisine joining Mediterranean and Asian culinary traditions. Alexey Kogay handles the Asian side, Vitaly Istomin the Mediterranean.

The finest examples of seafood delicacies from the Far East and other centers of the world fishing industry were selected for the dishes. Cooking draws on the widest range of techniques, including French, Japanese, and, of course, their own signature ones. Kogay and Istomin are constantly searching for new flavors and cooking technologies, experimenting, and never stop surprising guests with their discoveries.

For their experiments, the chefs bring in exotic ingredients — surf clam, ark shell clam, large scallops, Sakhalin shellfish, for instance. That's necessary to keep from stagnating and to keep broadening culinary horizons. Though, as the chefs themselves admit, no more than 20% of guests in Moscow show interest in that kind of exclusivity.

Menu

Most Muscovites come here to spend time in a beautiful setting and eat favorite dishes made by leading Russian chefs. An extensive menu has been built for them. The first part, the raw bar, includes caviar, oysters, shrimp, carpaccio, sashimi, crudo, and ceviche, as well as exotic items (sea urchin, surf clam). The Asian component is Japanese-style tartares: salmon with mango, red caviar, and ponzu mayo sauce, river eel with cucumber and unagi sauce, tuna belly with plum and teriyaki sauce. For guests who aren't fond of raw seafood, tataki is prepared — the same seafood, but seared in a special way: the fish pieces are flash-seared with fire or a torch. A crust forms on the outside while the flesh inside stays raw.

The "Fish Japan" section offers guests a variety of sushi and rolls, eight of them signature versions, including a vegan one. For guests who love rolls but don't want to eat raw fish, dishes are prepared the same way as tataki: the fish component is torch-seared, sealing the raw piece inside a crisp crust. That's how they prepare butterfish with truffle aioli (a Kogay creation), salmon in teriyaki sauce, and foie gras with unagi.

Alexey Kogay orders tuna only from Japan. What's more, the supplier sends him photos of every carcass along with its weight, and only after Alexey has approved each photo does the supplier ship the fish. The reason: if the weight is off, the tuna will be either too fatty and sinewy, or not meaty enough. That kind of raw material produces dishes of poor quality, which star chefs can't afford. It was exactly this approach that earned restaurant "Sakhalin" a Michelin star in 2021.

In the "Hot" section, guests will find several kinds of soup, including a vegan mushroom soup, pastas, risottos, various grilled fish, and fish cutlets, with vegetables offered as sides. For dessert: ice cream, sorbets, tiramisu, raspberry Pavlova.

The bar menu is built from vermouths, bitters, tequila, gin, rum, whisky, vodka, liqueurs, and infusions, as well as cocktails, fresh juices, tea, and coffee. The wine list is likewise extensive, running to hundreds of bottles. Wines are supplied from practically every wine-producing country in the world.

Mediterrasian cuisine turned out to be a demanding direction. More than a year passed after restaurant "Sakhalin" opened before chefs Kogay and Istomin refined the menu, nailed down the right flavor for every dish, and set up the supply chains for the ingredients they needed. Now, having won their first Michelin star, they can set about winning the next one.