Inner Relaunches Its Terrace.

For summer, the Inner team has updated its menu, turning it into a short story about spontaneity and mutual attraction. Alexey Alekseev and Roman Kachanov came up with a way to convey the feeling of a summer flirtation through food and drink — restrained, yet full of intrigue. The updated menu is made up of six dishes and four cocktails, and all of them feel like chance encounters that unexpectedly grow into strong feelings. This approach feels especially fitting in the restaurant's summer veranda, rebuilt this year into something close to a park, with contoured terrain, dense greenery, and an atmosphere that makes the city nearly disappear.

The new food on the menu works on the same principles as human relationships — surprise, contradiction, and a sense of the new. Grilled artichokes, for instance, are paired with a walnut salsa, while squid becomes part of an almost dacha-style salad with cucumber, tomato, and herbs, where sorrel dressing and salted curd cheese create a piquant depth. Beef neck braises for 12 hours yet keeps its shape and texture, surrounded on the plate by miniature carrots, pumpkin, and beets the color of a late sunset. The fish on the menu — pike-perch — gets a Mediterranean accent: paired with olives, basil, tomato, and fennel, it reads light and southern.

The desserts this season feel especially free from logic — and that's their main appeal. Chocolate fondant here isn't just the warm classic, but a story with a bold sequel: Jerusalem artichoke caramel and coconut ice cream that softens everything. The second dessert is almost like a summer cloud: mango mousse, homemade lemon-zest jam, lemon cream, crispy meringue, and parmesan ice cream. Such combinations seem impossible — but the flavor proves otherwise.

The drinks Roman Kachanov created move from fantasy toward the classics. The "Peter Pan" cocktail, with gin, sorrel, and elderflower, seems made for those who still believe in fairy tales. "My Precious," by contrast, envelops you in spice, rum, Martini Fiero, and cinnamon, hiding them under passion fruit. The classic of summer sounds in "Singapore Sling" — cherry, pineapple, liqueurs, and a light tartness. And finally, "Constance" — an almost strawberry liqueur on tequila and Martini, with a light bitterness from Amaro Santoni — works like a nightcap compliment to an evening spent under the open sky.