Kazan becomes ‘epicentre of the country’s restaurant life’ for one evening

The top 10 includes seven Moscow restaurants

The independent restaurant award WHERETOEAT RUSSIA 2025 was presented in Kazan. The ceremony was organized with the support of Rais of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and the State Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan for Tourism.

The best restaurant in the country was recognized as BOBO from Saint Petersburg (it also won the special nomination Media Choice), but in the top 10 according to WHERETOEAT RUSSIA 2025, besides it, there is only one more restaurant from Saint Petersburg and one from Krasnoyarsk. The rest are representatives of the Moscow restaurant landscape. The top 10 looks like this:

1. BOBO (Bourgeois Bohemians), Saint Petersburg;
2. Olluco, Moscow;
3. AVA, Moscow;
4. Savva, Moscow;
5. Frantsuza Bistrot, St. Petersburg;
6. Sage, Moscow;
7. Maya, Moscow;
8. Tunguska, Krasnoyarsk;
9. Big Wine Freaks, Moscow;
10. Padron, Moscow.

Only five Kazan establishments are in the top 100: Chirem is in 48th place, Priyut Kholostyaka is in 79th, Umai is in 84th place, Kazan Cheeseria shares 90-91 with Moscow AYU, and Branch is in 94th place. However, for the second time in a row, the experts of the award recognized the Kazan bar More as the best bar in Russia, and Alexandra Alekseyeva from Terra et Silva became the waiter of the year. The project V Desyatku was included in the short list of the special nomination Restaurant with the Best Beer List.

In 2025, Nicanor Vieyra who heads the kitchen of the Moscow restaurant Olluco was named Chef of the Year. Dmitry Blinov (Duo Band, Saint Petersburg) was awarded the honorary title of Restaurateur of the Year, while Maria Syukrina (Oltremare, Moscow) received the Sommelier of the Year award. The prize For Contribution to the Development of the Country's Restaurant Industry was awarded to Alexey Gorensky, Director of the Institute of Gastronomy of the Siberian Federal University and co-founder of Bellini Gastronomic Ecosystem (Krasnoyarsk). Stas Paul (Duo Band, St Petersburg) was named the best pastry chef in Russia by experts. Pop Up Bar on Neva by Veter (St Petersburg) received an award in the special nomination Cooper's Choice.

“The restaurateurs in our country have never seen such an event”

The entire restaurant elite of the country gathered for one evening in the new building of the Kamala Theatre — 1,900 invitations were sent out, and the huge foyer was filled with guests. For the first time in all the years of its existence, the federal stage of the award was given to a city other than Moscow and St. Petersburg: Kazan became the first.

Creator and general producer of the award, Irina Tiusonina, explained:

“Kazan was chosen because we really believe that this is a very promising region in terms of gastronomy. And the beautiful new Kamala Theatre delighted everyone. The restaurateurs in our country have never seen such an event. Many say thank you to me, come up and thank me — for many, this is their first time in Kazan.”

Chairman of the State Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan for Tourism Sergey Ivanov added:

“This is a great honour for us, it is very honourable. Today, the epicentre of the entire restaurant life of the country is right here! We also had a small selfish goal: for Russian restaurateurs to look at Kazan as a site where they could open their own business. There is great investment potential in this. They will see the city, see the potential, see how many people are on the streets, and we hope that they will come here with their projects.”

The guests really praised the site in every way: here, in the new building of the Kamala Theatre, evening dresses looked most appropriate, the festive mood was emphasized and the global scale of the event was felt.

Kazan restaurateur, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Tatarstan Mikhail Sharipov is confident that the fact that the main event of the award is held in Kazan is a common merit. Everything “came together”: the friendly community, the city's infrastructure, and, of course, the site. In his opinion, without all this, Kazan would hardly have been chosen as the host of the award in 2025.

“The award is our partners, our friends. They were among the first to start making cool events for chefs, for managers, for restaurateurs. They took on our industry and do it at the top level. This is very pleasant. The award has been going on for more than ten years, and its level is growing every year. We are proud of this friendship!” said Mikhail.

Fuad Mirkhataliyev, sous-chef of the famous chef Mirko Dzago (restaurant Aist, Moscow), in a conversation with Realnoe Vremya compared the new building of the Kamala Theatre with the Sydney Opera House.

Vladislav Korpusov, brand chef of the Moscow restaurant Pole, said that it was definitely worth coming to Kazan for such an event and such a place, and the new chef of Kazan's Marusovka, the famous St. Petersburg chef Igor Kazakov shared with our correspondent:

“It's great when Kazan hosts so many cool, famous chefs and restaurateurs. And especially in such a place. I have already discussed with all my colleagues how stylishly the details are emphasized on this platform and how well they combined modernity with ethnicity! Very cool!”

Trends of 2025: Russian and Korean cuisines, comfort food and a beautiful picture

Representatives of the restaurant industry shared their vision of modern trends in the restaurant industry behind the scenes.

Thus, Fuad Mirkhataliev (Aist, Moscow) noted that recently establishments have begun to appear en masse, in which both the interior and the dishes — everything serves to create a beautiful picture, it is important for guests to take spectacular photos and post them on social networks. In addition, he noted a strong trend for Korean cuisine:

“Korean street food is seriously promoted, but here it often goes into the format of restaurant serving. In Korea, this food is simpler, you can find it mainly on the street, but here it is interpreted differently. It covers a very large audience: schoolchildren and students are delighted with it. Such establishments earn well — the demand is crazy, there are queues to them. And in general, the trend towards global Pan-Asia remains. In addition, of course, Italian cuisine is an eternal trend that will not go away. Everyone loves pasta and ravioli. And personally, I think that all cuisines are delicious, but there are always favourites!”

Kazan restaurateur Artur Galaychuk connects business trends with the current economic conditions. In his opinion, in the coming years, chefs will offer the public time-tested concepts:

“I think the trend now is very simple: now is a time when money is very expensive, it is very expensive to experiment. Therefore, in the next few years, until the key rate drops and money becomes cheaper, restaurateurs will make proven concepts. All this will be what we are used to (maybe in different ‘wrappers,’ but generally the same). Of the striking examples, I can recall the concept of Numi in Kazan, which opened, essentially, based on Uzbek cuisine, but in a different format. And the guys did it very well.”

Vladislav Korpusov (Pole, Moscow) believes that the upcoming trends are pies, home-cooked food and raw fish (ceviche, tartares) and, in general, fresh, natural products. And Igor Kazakov, well known to our readers, believes in the return of familiar dishes that we were treated to in childhood:

“I think that the trend for the next three years is Russian cuisine. Patriotism is gaining momentum in Russia, and it seems to me that pie shops, cutlet shops and other similar stories will appear. I want, in addition to the business, to have a story — why this is done, for what purpose. I can judge by myself: in my childhood there were no hot dogs, in any unclear situation we ate a Kiev cutlet. I think all this will come back. It seems to me that this is not even so much a trend — it can become a kind of narrative, a legend. And from this, a cool, high-quality product should come out. And it is especially cool when they take a national historical dish and rethink it for mass, quick consumption, making it an affordable product. Of course, you can eat burgers and hot dogs, but all this is already so hackneyed!”

The soul is drawn to something native. No matter how you look at it, it is delicious. And there is more soul and meaning in it. Kazan restaurateur Nurislam Sharifulin notes a certain difference between the restaurant landscape of Kazan and the capitals: a stable trend towards the development of Tatar national cuisine.

“We have very rich national culinary traditions that people are starting to actively develop and monetize. And this is just great, I want more and more such establishments to appear!” he says.

The Kazan trend towards authentic cuisine and pride in national traditions was also noted in a conversation with Realnoe Vremya by the Nizhny Novgorod brand chef and ideologist of the restaurant 19 Alexander Nikolayev. But he himself is in some kind of confrontation with global trends: he prefers not to follow them, but to set them.

“I came to the conclusion that the influence of trends throws back and does not allow the chef to move forward. I have an author's cuisine. I cook what I consider necessary. There are people who create trends, and there are those who follow them, so if the chef stops following them, he will definitely come to his own author's view.”

Alexander himself is developing an interesting idea: his restaurant is called 19 because in creating the menu, the brand chef starts from a 19th-century cookbook that fell into his hands. 150 years ago, our ancestors ate differently from us, and therefore our interlocutor says that if you cook exactly according to these recipes, it will not be tasty for a modern person. Too fatty, too sour, too dry. But taking them as a basis and refining them, creating a unique author's project is quite possible.

“We'll see what the industry will actually show in the fall”

Sergey Ivanov, in a conversation with journalists, optimistically praised the Kazan restaurant industry: he noted the development of the Tatar national concept in various formats, and successful work with millions of tourists. But he still expects federal investors to come — he is sure that there is a niche for them, and in Tatarstan, in his opinion, there are entire “unoccupied” formats.

The industry is indeed moving forward, more and more new establishments are opening. But there are also factors that hinder the development of the industry. Realnoe Vremya asked Artur Galaychuk about this, and he listed what hinders restaurateurs from developing, at least in Tatarstan. Firstly, the price of renting and buying out premises has sharply increased in Kazan. Secondly, zero unemployment. And even Galaychuk, whose team is famous for its almost zero “turnover,” finds it difficult to develop: in order to grow, you need to find new employees, and this is still a problem. Thirdly, the sharp rise in food prices has complicated the lives of restaurateurs, and at the same time has collapsed the purchasing power of the population. Fourthly, the payroll has grown very much, and for many restaurateurs this is a sensitive factor.

“But in general, nothing has changed over the past few years: these problems have not gone away since 2022, we have to constantly adapt to them. In Kazan, there is a dependence on tourist flow: tourists provide us with 30-40 percent of our profit. In addition, there is always a seasonal, summer increase in activity, including due to summer terraces. I think that this tourist season will be fine again, but all the problems I have voiced will remain with us — there is no magic wand that could help solve them quickly. Year after year, all the restaurants will grow, and in the fall, the media will again write that restaurateurs earned a lot of money during the summer season. But they will forget to calculate how much they paid for food and rent and how many of them will close at the end of the season. So in the fall, we will see what the industry will actually show,” Artur Galaychuk reasoned.

However, Kazan restaurateurs have a huge number of plans: everyone is ready for the season.

And the Association of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers is already in the final stretch of preparations for the International Tournament of Young Chefs, which will again be held as part of the forum Russia — Islamic World: KazanForum.

“We are certainly proud of this project,” says Mikhail Sharipov. “Preparations are already at the finish line, the geography this season is even wider: Saudi Arabia has joined us, we are expecting a very authoritative chef from Bahrain. Already 15 countries have confirmed their participation. I hope there will be cool networking. Many young people from our side will participate, because this is one of our goals — for as many young people as possible to come and have the opportunity to communicate with chefs who have already earned an international reputation. This experience, exchange — all this, I hope, will support the community and give rise to new social and professional connections in it!”