Probka

The space on Zoologichesky Lane is furnished with deliberate warmth: calm tones, imposing wine cabinets lining the walls, and white plates painted by guests — Mick Jagger, Meryl Streep, Sir Norman Foster, Nikita Mikhalkov, Anna Netrebko. At the center of the room is an open kitchen custom-built by the Florentine factory Gullo; on the countertop next to the stoves sit the Sochi 2014 Olympic torch and a tennis racket belonging to Alexander Bublik. At the entrance are awards from various years, and on the walls hangs a work by Aidan Salakhova from the same series as the one at the restaurant's Moscow address.

Our guide's team finds the vitello tonnato here — thin-sliced veal with a creamy tuna sauce — even better than in Italy.

A separate space, "The Apartment," is set up as the owner's private rooms — family photographs on an antique grand piano, the grandfather's crystal vases, and paintings. Almost 365 days a year, closed events take place here: from SPIEF-week business talks and receptions for the Ambassador of Italy to private concerts and intimate weddings for regular guests.

The menu is built on dishes that haven't changed since day one. Vitello tonnato — thin slices of veal under a sauce of tuna, anchovies and house-made mayonnaise — is the perennial bestseller. Tagliolini with cuttlefish ink and red caviar is considered the most photogenic pasta on the menu. Tajarin with Piedmontese sausage from Bra is made from dough with 40 egg yolks per kilogram of flour — the thinnest house-made pasta paired with a rare regional sausage. Tortelli with burrata and black truffle have remained guest favorites for two and a half decades. Tiramisu closes out lunch or dinner — a generous portion scooped straight from a big bowl, the way it's done in Italian homes.

Wine has been part of the concept from the start: in 2001, the first address on Belinskogo Street, 5 was actually a wine bar — the very beginning of Mnatsakanov's story in the Saint Petersburg restaurant scene. The wine collection is recognized every year by Wine Spectator and FINE WINE ratings; two sommeliers, Dmitry Kizeev and Pyotr Tyagunin, oversee the list.

Our undercover guests rated it 8 out of 10 for dinner, for consistency of ingredients, precise execution of the classic Italian dishes, and service that leaves nothing to complain about.