New LOTUS Bistro on Fontanka.

A new restaurant, LOTUS bistro, has opened in the Olsufyev House on Fontanka. This is a project from the "Alexey Alekseev Restaurants" group, continuing the Asian line started at this same address ten years ago by the wine bar Wong Kar Wine. Designer Maria Fedorova and studio UpToYou Design worked on LOTUS bistro's décor. The interior turned out restrained yet warm: black marble, carved furniture, shades of red and gold, foliage-print wallpaper, and a snow-white lotus above the bar create an atmosphere of Asian coziness with a nod to chinoiserie aesthetics and the spirit of colonial Shanghai. Elements of the Japanese philosophy of ikigai also appear in the interior — characters carved into stones marking the path to life's meaning.

LOTUS bistro's space has two rooms, divided by a wide bar counter made of black marble with a white pattern. It's become more than a functional element — it's a visual centerpiece, with bartenders working here as if on stage. The restaurant's central idea is to convey the atmosphere of Asia not just through flavor but through the setting, attention to detail, tactile sensations, and objects worth studying closely. Every plate, for instance, has a different pattern, and the napkin holders look carved from stone.

The LOTUS bistro menu was created by chef Andrey Skornyakov. It's compact, but the geography spans nearly the whole region: Japan, Thailand, Singapore, China, Vietnam, and Malaysia. It combines recognizable dishes with original twists: beef tartare with shiitake and nori, steak with Asian hollandaise and sweet potato, langoustines in kataifi rather than tempura. The roll options are reimagined too — with eel and orange tartare, with mango purée and salmon, with passion fruit. There's Japanese sashimi, Thai tom yum, Singaporean roti, Malaysian laksa, Chinese-style duck, and Vietnamese spring rolls. Every dish weaves in an Asian accent carefully, without overloading the flavor.

The bar menu is designed as a fan, with each blade representing a separate cocktail. Every one has a memorable name and a precise description. "Shogun," for instance, is a dry short drink with a melon aperitif, jasmine tea, and absinthe. "Jeong-seok's Kiss" is a berry long drink with gin, strawberry liqueur, and soda. There are cocktails meant as an aperitif before dinner, like "My Neighbor the Yakuza," with passion fruit, cardamom, and raspberry vodka. And there are ones that set the mood for the whole evening — "Kimono and Cashmere," "Tiger Sleeps Till Noon," "In Seoul's Twilight."

Rounding out the impression is the dessert menu from Ksenia Solovyova, the restaurant group's pastry chef. It's based on the French school but with Asian accents. The Mont Blanc, for instance, is made on a rice sponge with matcha and yuzu, while the vanilla pudding is made from rice milk with shiso liqueur. Ganache is served with soy caramel and a powder of oyster mushrooms and shiitake, decorated with a lotus-flower design. The desserts, like everything else, look like something you'll want to study down to the last spoonful.

LOTUS bistro is more than just a new restaurant in St. Petersburg. It's a space that combines culinary curiosity, a relaxing atmosphere, and visual aesthetics. People come here not only for dinner or lunch, but to have a cocktail by the water, meet before an evening stroll, or stay past midnight, when the city sinks into night. LOTUS becomes a place that smoothly pulls you into a different mood — as if a different part of the world truly begins behind the door on Fontanka.