Chère Maman

Tatyana Melnikova has long worked on a "one quarter, different cuisines" principle: her earlier venues on Trubnaya cover Italy, Georgia and Great Britain. French bistro Chère Maman became the fourth address in that collection. The interior is deliberately worn, with details that read as "old Paris" — designer Alexandra Gatenyan was behind it. The space is exactly as cramped as the French original demands, but there was still room found inside for its own bakery.

Our restaurant guide's team finds the bistro deliberately worn but refined — with an atmosphere that needs no explaining.

The kitchen is run by chef Evgeny Tsvetkov. The menu is built around things considered untouchable in French tradition: onion soup, escargot, entrecôte with herb butter. The dishes don't aim to reinterpret the classics — they reproduce them with respect. French-style pike-perch and a delicate chicken pâté are dishes that come alive next to warm bread from the house oven.

Breakfast at Chère Maman is its own story. In the mornings the place smells of fresh pastries: croissants and baguettes appear in the display case before the city has fully woken up. Alongside them: hot items straight from the oven, egg dishes that manage to be hearty and light at once, and sparkling wine, poured for every guest at breakfast — because that's simply how it's done. The bar, run by Dmitry Katorgin, offers a French and a peach Negroni, a house-made currant liqueur, Bordeaux and crémant.

Anyone who makes it to the end of the meal faces a choice between crème brûlée and a chocolate tartlet with sea salt — and judging by how quickly both sell out equally, it's genuinely hard to go wrong here.

In summer, a terrace operates in the courtyard, quiet and set back from the bustle of Trubnaya, with the right rhythm: no rush, finish the Chablis, order another. A few outdoor tables sit in front, a good spot to stand with a coffee and a dog, who's also welcome. The French bakery on Trubnaya also does takeaway — locals used to stopping by on their way somewhere grab tartines and pastries here.

Chère Maman is a French bistro on Tsvetnoy Boulevard that doesn't try to be loud. Melnikova consistently sticks to her formula: simple cafés, straightforward food, an affordable check. With French cuisine, that demands precision, and Evgeny Tsvetkov delivers it.