Selfie

Selfie is one of the few Moscow restaurants where the geography of the menu matters as much as the technique of execution. Chef Anatoly Kazakov builds each season around specific places of origin: Murmansk halibut, Kursk pork, Bryansk veal, Tver asparagus, Crimean truffle. The kitchen's principle isn't showy complexity but precision: the ingredient should stay recognizable while revealing itself in a new way. The open kitchen, designed by Italian designer Andrea Viacava, greets guests right at the entrance, setting the pace for the whole evening.

Our guide's team calls Selfie a rare case where a local ingredient becomes the hero of a tasting menu.

There's no usual distance between kitchen and guest in the room: the cooks work in full view, and the plating itself reads as an extension of the shared space. This isn't an effect for effect's sake. If anything, it underscores the character of Kazakov's cooking, where simplicity and elegance sit side by side. Even complex combinations here don't compete with each other but gather around a single main flavor. As a result, dinner at Selfie feels less like a set of courses and more like a continuous conversation about the season, the origin of the ingredients, and the possibilities of contemporary Russian cuisine.

The Harvest tasting menu is the starting point for anyone who wants to understand Kazakov's style in full. Ten courses are built around the changing seasons and a farm-driven logic: peaches are served with cured duck, zucchini flowers with crab and fried crayfish, cod appears alongside physalis and porcini. The final note is fig and blackcurrant. This kind of menu doesn't chase novelty for its own sake — every combination is explained through the ingredient and its seasonal moment rather than through showy presentation. That's exactly Selfie's strength: the chef's signature gesture always rests on a clear flavor foundation.

The restaurant is part of the White Rabbit Family alliance, and in 2019 it made the extended list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants, ranking 65th among the world's best establishments. In 2021, Selfie and Anatoly Kazakov received a Michelin star, the year the guide first included Russia in its coverage. The accolades haven't changed the kitchen's tone: Kazakov continues to work with a careful respect for tradition, without turning it into decoration. Our undercover guests rated it 7 out of 10 for dinner — the high level of execution and thoughtful work with Russian ingredients here come together with a format that asks for time and engagement from the guest.