Loona Tverskoy

The oven arrived here before anything else. It was brought from Castile — from a workshop where each piece is traditionally given its own name. This one was named Loona. It moved into a historic building on Tverskoy Boulevard before Istomin, Losev and Denisov had even worked out what kind of restaurant should be built around it. In the end, it was the oven that set the tone — for both the menu and the space.

Our guide's team calls this an unconventional take on Italian cuisine — for those tired of predictable choices.

The interior was designed by Irina Glik and the Geometria bureau — and the two floors behave like two entirely different places. The first greets you with dense greenery: tables sit in the shade of plants as if they'd genuinely been carried out into a courtyard for a summer lunch. Nearly the whole wall gives way to glass, and all that light reflects in a mirrored ceiling — guests see the room and its upside-down double overhead at the same time. The second floor is a different story: molding, tall columns, the feel of a grand hall, softened by warm wood surfaces and muted, diffused light. Between the floors is a staircase laid out so that from a distance it looks like a glowing strip — a deliberate nod to the name of the place. Worth a special mention is the table on the second-floor balcony: built for two and set slightly apart from the main room.

Istomin and Losev's kitchen works with recognizable Italian formats, but without sticking to the canon. The pizza here exists without dough: the base is roasted cauliflower with almond flour and parmesan, the edges turn golden, and the structure holds. Tiramisu is served differently than expected: there's a layer of poppy seed hidden inside, revealed only when you cut into it. Breakfast is its own story: zucchini fritters with avocado and salmon mousse, a ricotta cheesecake the size of a dessert plate.

Our undercover guests rated it 8 out of 10 for dinner, for precision of flavor and for the kitchen holding its level even on the simplest items. For breakfast — 7 out of 10: the weekend line is real, but the kitchen keeps up.