El Pimpi

The name chosen for Alba Group's new project is a provocation with an Iberian accent. In Spanish slang, El Pimpi means "go-between" — someone who offers what you won't find anywhere else. The restaurant at Bolshaya Nikitskaya, 12, promises exactly that: a meat-driven story with Spanish temperament, live music, and cocktails each with its own name and backstory.

Our restaurant guide's team finds El Pimpi a place people come to not just for the food but for the drink — in the evening it has its own quite particular atmosphere, one that's far from everyone's taste.

The interior was designed by the Moscow bureau Artworks, run by Andrei Tsygankov and Natalia Em. The walls are covered in narrative murals — not decorative but story-driven: images that reveal themselves gradually, from the entrance to the bar counter. The mural by the bar is close in spirit to a collision of Dalí and Miró: surreal shapes, sharp outlines, unexpected color pairings. The bold furniture and mismatched paintings create the sense of a space assembled over a long time and with intent — like the study of someone who loves watching guests freeze in front of the next exhibit.

The kitchen is run by brand chef Enver Dzhemilev, who has already built menus for several Alba Group projects — Pafos, Yug 22, Lou Lou. Before launching El Pimpi, he traveled through the regions of Spain, and that route shows in the menu. The journey opens with tapas: croquettes with jamón, bread with jamón butter, and the El Pimpi tapas. Among the appetizers is beef tartare served inside a bull's head — a theatrical gesture, but one rooted in cultural tradition. Charred ribeye slices with fries is a dish with nothing extra to say, direct and precise. A green salad with Spanish artichokes and Manchego sheep's cheese offers a light pause before heavier stories. Ramiro peppers stuffed with tuna tataki are an original take on a classic, with an unexpected twist.

The centerpiece among the mains is the lamb shoulder to share: a full day in an herb marinade, then the oven until golden — Mr. El Pimpi's personal recipe. Oxtail is braised in Malbec, empanadas are filled with rib meat, and a soup made from beef rib gets its own line on the menu. Paella with black chanterelles and jalapeño is the flagship dish, which can be paired with ribeye or picanha, ordered for one or for the table. For those who prefer fish, there's sea bass with lemon sauce. Dinner is rounded out with torrijas — fried brioche with two kinds of ice cream and dulce de leche sauce — or a Basque cheesecake with sherry.

The bar list is built like a series of short stories: Mr. El Pimpi, built on Beluga Botanical vodka, Bandolero, Fiesta, Señora. The wine collection spans all of Spain, from dense Rioja to light Garnacha. In the evenings, a live program joins the table: flamenco and musicians. It's a bold, and at the same time divisive, project — some come here for the food, others for the atmosphere, and those two crowds don't always overlap. Spanish cuisine in Moscow rarely gets this loud — El Pimpi doesn't pretend otherwise: it simply does what it knows how to do, with Spanish shamelessness.