Guidon

Guidon's kitchen is led by Anatoly Kazakov — the chef behind Selfie, which ranked in the top 65 of The World's 50 Best and holds a Michelin star. Here he works with fish and seafood in a Russian-French manner: no excess decoration on the plate, with an emphasis on ingredient quality and precise combinations. The menu is built around seasonal deliveries — what was at the market in the morning is on the table by evening. The wine list runs to more than 350 labels, curated with an eye toward pairings for seafood dishes.

Our guide's team rates dinner at Guidon 7 out of 10. A restaurant that's dressy in the best sense of the word — the kind of place you want to visit for a special occasion, not just an ordinary lunch.

The entire space is built as an immersion into the underwater kingdom from Pushkin's fairy tale. Designer Natalia Belonogova and Boris Zarkov drew on the aesthetics of the Symbolists — Gustav Klimt and Alphonse Mucha — carrying their ornamental style into a 160-seat dining room. Crystal chandeliers shaped like sea creatures, jellyfish lamps made of pearlescent glass, gold scales on the walls, and a projection of a water surface on the ceiling create the effect of dining on the seabed. The tables are inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and ice displays with seafood greet guests at the entrance.

The desserts continue the fairy-tale thread: golden nuts filled with pistachio have become a signature item, and seasonal sweets change along with the main menu. The cocktail list plays on Pushkin's motifs — worth a special mention is the mix named after Tsar Saltan.

Guidon is a case where the restaurant becomes as much a part of the experience as the food. It's a place for celebrations, for dates, for an evening with a foreign guest you want to show Russian gastronomy at its most formal. The summer terrace adds a lighter touch to the format — the same level of kitchen, but outdoors, right in the center of Moscow. A restaurant that doesn't try to be everyday — and it's valued precisely for that honest sense of occasion.