Roundtable Discussion Held in the City Food Gastronomic Space of the City Mall Shopping Center

The discussion featured the participation of Nana Gvichia – Deputy Chairperson of the St. Petersburg Committee for Tourism Development, Olga Rendino – Acting General Director of the St. Petersburg Convention Bureau at the St. Petersburg Committee for Tourism Development, Artem Gudchenko – co-owner of Eclipse restaurant, Sergey Fokin – chef at Eclipse restaurant, Nadezhda Tretyakova – founder and managing director of Nordic restaurant, and Anton Abrezov – chef and co-owner of Commons restaurant.

The roundtable discussion was organized by the Pen&Spoon club with such members as Dmitry Grozny – Editor-in-Chief of MarketMedia, Anna Kovarskaya – journalist for Food Service and Allcafe, and Margarita Belyaeva – Product Director at Restoclub. The meeting on haute gastronomy took place in the City Food hall (St. Petersburg), where 35 popular restaurant concepts operate in an area spanning a total of 5,000 sq. m.

Meeting of the Pen&Spoon club on the Michelin Guide’s arrival in Russia

Dmitry Grozny: Russian restaurateurs have always viewed Michelin just like the Soviet people once viewed communism. As something bright, beautiful – and unattainable. However, Russia has recently experienced some tectonic shifts – the future has arrived. The Michelin Guide has come to Moscow, so it might come to St. Petersburg. Do we need Michelin?

Artem Gudchenko: When my wife and I first got the idea to open the restaurant, as entrepreneurs, we understood that any business must exist in the dimension of financial indicators, as well as in the dimension of ambitions and professional goals. We announced that we would open a restaurant that would make Michelin come to Russia. At the time, we knew very little about Michelin, but had some experience visiting Michelin restaurants around the world. Only later did we realize that many people had been poking fun at us and laughing at our audaciousness.

Michelin is a professional international organization that functions according to commercial principles. Michelin came to Moscow not only because the city boasts some restaurants deserving of its attention – but also because it grasped the local market’s economic potential, while the Moscow Government, for its part, saw that the potential financial effect of the guide’s arrival would be considerable.

Anna Kovarskaya: I’ve heard that it cost Moscow €6–8 mln for the guide to come to the city.

Artem Gudchenko: It’s a one-time payment required to organize the expert council, infrastructure and marketing. As far as I understand, the rating’s further existence is supported by sponsors.

Margarita Belyaeva: And who are these sponsors?

Artem Gudchenko: Prominent brands we’re all familiar with. When Michelin comes to a region, it has a certain forecast and understands the economic effect that should be expected. The guide’s managers are experienced – they have an understanding of how many additional tourists will come. For Moscow, an investment of 6 or even 8 mln euros is one of the most lucrative.

Hundreds of millions of dollars will flood into Moscow. An additional 500,000 tourists will visit the city, with each of them leaving $5,000.

Michelin is like an Olympic gold medal for any restaurateur.

Dmitry Grozny: But we were getting along just fine without Michelin!

Artem Gudchenko: Well, let’s say there’s an athlete in North Korea who trains hard. He wins medals inside the country. But no one can appreciate his skills on the international level – he can’t compare himself with his peers from other countries to assess his abilities. Many restaurateurs work not just for the money but for development of the entire industry, and the Michelin rating will drive its development. It’s not just for chefs – it’s also for young waiters who then get the incentive to become managers or bartenders. Career prospects open up, and a Michelin star gives the whole team a head-start in life. A resume featuring experience at a Michelin-star restaurant opens lots of doors for industry workers. Add English to it, and you’ll be able to go wherever you want.

Artem Gudchenko – co-owner of Eclipse restaurant

Dmitry Grozny: Nadezhda, please tell us why Nordic restaurant needs the Micheline Guide?

Nadezhda Tretyakova: It’s a great incentive for the chef. Chefs the world over dream of attaining a Michelin star, and since the moment our restaurant opened, we’ve asked ourselves: why aren’t there any Michelin restaurants in Russia? It used to be a hot topic of discussion – but then the pandemic hit. And now, suddenly, Michelin has arrived. This is very important for our goal-oriented team. To get a Michelin star you need to satisfy a whole set of conditions, which is expensive and not always economically viable.

According to statistics, however, one Michelin star makes it possible to increase prices by 15%, two stars – by 55%, and three stars – by 80%.

For example, I like Moscow’s Selfie restaurant – I think it deserves two stars.

Nadezhda Tretyakova – owner of Nordic restaurant

Dmitry Grozny: Sergey, I vividly remember you serving Michelin-star-shaped brioche at the opening of Eclipse restaurant a year ago. Why do you need the “red guide”?

Sergey Fokin: For self-validation. All chefs dream about it, but for Moscow – the dream has come true. We’re waiting for the same thing in St. Petersburg. I’m certain that this milestone will be a driver for the improvement of professional skills and English proficiency across the industry. For many chefs, it will be an incentive to step up their game.

Dmitry Grozny: Nana, why does St. Petersburg need a restaurant guide?

Nana Gvichia: For Russia, Michelin is all about image. The gastronomic arts have been reaching new heights in St. Petersburg in recent years: this is where the trend of chefs opening their own signature restaurants – of becoming the public face of their own restaurants – first got started. So, guests come to try the dishes of a particular chef. Our local gastronomy has reached a level where it’s appropriate for the guide to come to the city.

In recent years, tourism the world over has become not only cultural and educational, but also gastronomical. Visitors come to attend restaurant festivals and important gastronomic events – sometimes, they even come to enjoy a dinner prepared by a particular chef. It’s like with opera singers followed around the world by their admirers. Moscow is the capital of Russia, but foreigners primarily know the country’s cultural capital – St. Petersburg. It’s a tourist destination that simply can’t be missed.

The area is closely identified with its local products, and if a chef can turn them into haute gastronomy with maximum flavor, they’ll win admirers. In 2014, the city officially established St. Petersburg cuisine – including traditional recipes reclaimed from the 17th–18th centuries. Last year, we submitted an application to the international association of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for a Gastronomy nomination. We hope we get it. Last year, a Chefs Convention was supposed to have taken place in St. Petersburg under the auspices of the National Chefs Association, but the event was rescheduled for 2026 because of the pandemic. Many people think that a special gastronomical culture worthy of respect and attention has been established in St. Petersburg. That’s why the Michelin rating is so important: on the one hand – for the image of our locality, and on the other – for our local restaurateurs and chefs.

Nana Gvichia – Deputy Chairperson of the St. Petersburg Committee for Tourism Development

Margarita Belyaeva: The general public thinks that we already have Michelin restaurants in Moscow and St. Petersburg. We monitor inquiries, and even 5 years ago, searches for “Michelin restaurants” were very popular in St. Petersburg and Moscow. People were very surprised to learn that the cities didn’t have any.

Nana Gvichia: Over the last 5 years, many people have used Tripadvisor as a reference point. But it also includes places that no one visits.

Dmitry Grozny: Opinions regarding Tripadvisor’s objectivity differ. To see the disconnect for yourself – look no further than the Moscow and St. Petersburg restaurant ratings (Sabor de la Vida in Moscow and Balkan in St. Petersburg – Ed.). So, it’s best to leave Tripadvisor aside.

Nana Gvichia: Yet, it remains a powerful resource for many tourists. So, we need to understand the marketing policy that the Michelin rating plans to implement in Russia.

Artem Gudchenko: I’ve studied the mechanism for monetizing the Michelin rating. Those who have visited a Michelin restaurant at least once no longer use Tripadvisor or other resources. They go straight to the rating app, which is very user-friendly. Aside from establishments with Michelin stars, it features restaurants with a range of different attributes, resulting in a convenient platform for information searches.

Nana Gvichia: The Michelin Guide has its own status. The guide gives the locality a chance to attract guests and helps it become something of a destination – particularly for tourists.

Margarita Belyaeva: Will the guide’s arrival make the restaurant business more attractive for investors?

Margarita Belyaeva – Product Director at Restoclub

Artem Gudchenko: Being largely focused on financial results, the restaurant business will never end up in the segment Michelin is interested in. There aren’t any statistics, but the expert assessment is that most restaurants in the rating aren’t particularly profitable – rather, they’re driven by the enthusiasm of their owners and chefs, who, in Europe, are often one and the same person. From the business-model standpoint, it’s a low-margin thing to work with fresh and expensive products, to spend so much on service, the design of new dishes and search for new tastes, to invest in marketing. Moreover, chefs must know the modern agenda – that’s why they visit international forums and events. All this costs quite a bit, and restaurants often don’t have Formula 1-style sponsors. Participating in competitions like Bocuse d'Or requires long-term work and hundreds of thousands of euros.

Anna Kovarskaya: But restaurant chef-owners use the elevated status of Michelin stars for that very same marketing – they make money as TV hosts or book authors or through advertising contracts.

Artem Gudchenko: The costs are still too high.

Nadezhda Tretyakova: When I was at the Hide restaurant in London, I asked Evgeny Chichvarkin when he was planning to recoup his investments. He said that with a payroll of 65% and the best manager in London – it wouldn’t happen anytime soon.

Dmitry Grozny: What’s the current status on getting the Michelin Guide to St. Petersburg?

Nana Gvichia: We’re at the start of negotiations. There’s an important specificity: Michelin never negotiates with business – it negotiates with territories.

We have support, and the decision regarding the need for Michelin in St. Petersburg has already been made.

However, it depends on the financial aspect and the burdens entailed by a particular decision.

Dmitry Grozny: How much time did the negotiating process take in Moscow?

Nana Gvichia: A year to a year-and-a-half.

Margarita Belyaeva: Is the decision made at the level of the federal or regional budget?

Olga Rendino: Essentially, it’s the responsibility of the regions.

Dmitry Grozny: Where are the negotiations taking place? In St. Petersburg or in Paris?

Nana Gvichia: The pandemic has changed our lives so much that the negotiations are being held in various formats. The Michelin rating has certain rules regarding confidentiality, and we’re respecting them.

Dmitry Grozny: And who paid for the guide to come to Moscow? The budget or sponsors?

Nana Gvichia: The Moscow Committee for Tourism Development.

Dmitry Grozny: Is it possible to bargain with Michelin? And by how much can contributions vary depending on the city?

Anna Kovarskaya: I’ve heard that the amount can definitely vary depending on the country.

Nana Gvichia: It’s possible, but the population of St. Petersburg is comparable with that of a major city in any other European country – it’s a matter of the number of restaurants and the ambitions of the restaurateurs, chefs and experts wanting to serve as a local attraction.

Artem Gudchenko: Let’s take the amazing Italian city of Modena. How many Michelin restaurants does it have? Four. What other attractions does Modena have? The Ferrari Museum. That’s it. The number of people who travel there specifically to visit these restaurants exponentially exceeds the number wanting to visit the museum. Modena’s three-star Оsteria Francescana restaurant has long been a mecca of gastronomical tourism. Tables there are booked several months in advance.

Olga Rendino: I was at that restaurant. My eldest son is a chef (Nikita Rendino, the chef at Lucky Izakaya Bar – Ed.), so our family is interested in restaurants. I really liked it there. It was quite an event. It wasn’t just cuisine – it was art.

Olga Rendino – Acting General Director of the St. Petersburg Convention Bureau at the St. Committee for Tourism Development

Anna Kovarskaya: I have a question on behalf of those who don’t go to restaurants very often. Is it appropriate for Michelin to come to Moscow now, when the country is only just starting to recover from the pandemic? The municipal budget has been hemorrhaging money, so how should the general public respond to that? Obviously, preparations for the event began long ago, so it’s just a coincidence. But no one has cancelled the crisis – prices are climbing, people have started earning less money, and some have even lost their jobs altogether.

Nana Gvichia: This is an issue that can arise at any time. There are always people who say that such financial costs are inappropriate and ill-timed. Each investment should be seen as long-term – as economics capable of replenishing the federal budget.

Artem Gudchenko: I’d rather call these investments super short-term. The sum of 8 mln Euro will be recouped in just a year!

Nana Gvichia: Perhaps, it won’t be recouped in a year. However, the pandemic has changed opinions of tourism as an economic sector – it has shown that tourism can powerfully contribute to the economy. For some countries, tourism is their only source of revenue. Perhaps, it’s precisely now when such investments should be made, because after the pandemic, competition for the territories will be extremely high. Nowadays, the safety of the territory means a lot to people – it’s a guarantee that the expectations of tourists will be delivered. If these conditions are offered by the territory, people will come and spend money.

Anna Kovarskaya: I agree that the decline will be followed by a ramp-up for the economy’s further development. But I think there will be many restaurateurs in Moscow and St. Petersburg who faced multiple challenges last year, when restaurants were closed and the state provided very little help to the industry. Many people are confused by the fact that the budget is voluntarily sacrificing such vast amounts for the sake of some guide.

Anna Kovarskaya – journalist for Food Service and Allcafe

Nana Gvichia: If we gathered together all the restaurateurs of Paris, there would also be those displeased with the guide’s arrival. Michelin means a certain level of competition. It’s the same segment as five-star hotels. Two- and three-star hotels will never be able to compete with them.

Anna Kovarskaya: There are different segments of hotels and restaurants – but there’s only one municipal budget.

Nana Gvichia: We’re not saying that the city has such capacities yet.

Artem Gudchenko: It’s like whether celebratory fireworks are worth spending money on. It’s like building a toll road. These are investments with a 100% return. Over the last 10 years, St. Petersburg has made a rapid jump in terms of attracting tourists. In 2019, the city was visited by 10.5 mln tourists. We have left Moscow behind! So many apartment hotels have been built in the city that it’s creating potential. The electronic visa and a tax free service have emerged – the city has accelerated its pace. If it hadn’t been for the pandemic, the city would have already achieved the mark of 15–20 mln tourists per year. However, 100 mln tourists come to London every year, and St. Petersburg has great potential.

How much money does a person need to come here for a week with a family and stay in a three- or four-star hotel? Obviously, not $1,000. And the money spent at small- and medium-sized business establishments will shape the economy of the city and the country. From this standpoint, it’s much easier to justify the authorities’ investments in a city with such endless tourism potential as St. Petersburg.

Dmitry Grozny: Nadezhda, what have you done at Nordic in terms of your Michelin prospects?

Nadezhda Tretyakova: We’ve long been creating a tasting menu to reflect the philosophy of our restaurant, since this format is the foundation to getting a star. Our chef, Alexey Alexeev, is constantly refining his signature style and unique flourish. It takes several months and a lot of effort from the entire team to create a tasting menu. Over the past year, we’ve spent 1 mln rubles on dinnerware alone. A new menu requires new dinnerware...

Dmitry Grozny: Sergey, what are you doing at Eclipse to get a potential star?

Sergey Fokin: The most important thing is that we’re developing a culture of product consumption – we’re constantly searching for new foods. That said, we’re not ignoring the traditional staples either. For example, parsnip and artichoke were popular in the times of our grandmothers, and today, we’re reviving these products that virtually lie under our feet brimming with gastronomical value, so we’re telling the professional community and our guests about them.

Dmitry Grozny: Once, in the Eclipse pantry, I saw a jar with ants steeped in birch vinegar. Have you tried to collect ants for Michelin?

Sergey Fokin: We don’t do anything for the sake of Michelin. It’s about setting a goal and moving towards it. Michelin is the capstone. We’ll be in the guide, undoubtedly. It’s a huge challenge, for sure. It will improve the level of cuisine and service across the entire city. When Michelin comes to the city, it will mean the serious assessment of each chef’s work. Many of us will start working harder, because creative people like to be admired and appreciated in accordance with their achievements. Michelin is an accomplishment to aspire to.

Sergey Fokin – chef at Eclipse restaurant

Olga Rendino: It’s an unprecedented benchmark for Russia that will now be in Moscow and will perhaps appear in St. Petersburg.

Nana Gvichia: If the Michelin Guide comes to the city, we will get the opportunity to introduce some educational changes in the field of tourism and hospitality. A year-and-a-half ago, we discussed the possibility of establishing a university-based Hospitality Academy within the framework of the General Assembly. Last year, teachers and business representatives completed the curriculum of a training program for the World Tourism Organization. The program includes a Gastronomy section, which has already proven to make a sizeable economic contribution in all countries. In France or Switzerland, where the level of hospitality is high, gastronomy generates significant revenue. The main thing is that with the arrival of Michelin, the attitude towards the institution of hospitality will change along with the approach towards education. The guide has come to Moscow, partially because many talented chefs have loudly made their presence known and become recognized outside the country. And some of these chefs have mastered gastronomy not in Russia, but abroad.

Dmitry Grozny: Artem, how much have you invested in your chef?

Dmitry Grozny – Editor-in-Chief of MarketMedia

Artem Gudchenko: Our restaurant was under construction for a long time. During that period, we rented an outside kitchen and designed everything there, then we spent a year to work out the menu for the restaurant, but without any guests – we refined our knowledge, experimented with fermentation and dehydration. We were looking for our own style. I guess we could have sent Sergey to Cordon Blue, but they only give basic knowledge there, so you still can’t figure out your personal style. Today, Sergey has his own special style that can’t be mistaken for anyone else’s. We’ve set ourselves a task – to work with seasonal products, so four times a year, we release a new menu, which requires a lot of money and a big team. We had planned international internships, but then the pandemic hit, so we’ll have to come back to that issue later. Fine dining isn’t possible without internships abroad.

There are many restaurant ratings in the world nowadays, but only two guides are in the avantgarde in Russia: Michelin and The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. If you were to ask chefs where they’d like to make it the most, I think they’d choose the Fifty Best, because there are quite a few Michelin restaurants, but only 50 best among the Fifty Best. Well, not exactly 50 – maybe 100, but still, far fewer. There are many more Michelin restaurants.

Anna Kovarskaya: I know many people who consider the Michelin Guide some kind of old school washed-up thing. And one of the reasons is digitalization.

Artem Gudchenko: Michelin is directly connected with haute cuisine that can be compared with haute couture. A couple of years after a fashion show in Milan or Paris, we can find the same colors and shapes all across the world – up to and including China. It’s the same with haute cuisine – it surreptitiously penetrates all the segments of food service, because new tastes are generated. Such ratings as Michelin and The World's 50 Best Restaurants reflect the fork in the road of haute cuisine. The Fifty Best is haute cuisine without white chef jackets and high hats. It’s when you can get on a boat with a chef, catch a fish, smoke-dry and eat together on a chunk of freshly-baked bread. So, this is a story about the unique taste and unparalleled gastronomic impressions that are associated with the better part of restaurants in the Fifty Best Guide. The Michelin Guide is old school with gilded mirrors – personnel in white gloves and other classical touches. Everything is based on the improvement of cooking techniques and the use of products of extra quality here, but it doesn’t really matter where the product comes from. A chef in Copenhagen will take French foie gras, Russian black caviar or a Japanese lobster just because these products are the best of the best. The Fifty Best rating has included Russian restaurants – ones in St. Petersburg in particular – for several years already, which is cool. But we also expect that Michelin will come to St. Petersburg to give some space for the development of restaurant formats.

Anton Abrezov: What’s my attitude towards the potential arrival of the Michelin Guide in St. Petersburg? Generally, it’s a positive thing. It will strongly motivate many chefs to become better and more professional. I would be very glad if Michelin inspectors were to come to Commons, so that in a month we could be awarded a star. But our team gives 100% every day anyway. It would be great to get a star, but I wouldn’t want to get so caught up in the dream that I change something just for the sake of it.

And would the guide’s arrival be well-timed? Sometimes, the Michelin Guide only starts giving away “stars” after a few years – like in Poland, for example. The difference in class is less evident to the guests of Michelin restaurants than it is to the interns who work in the kitchen. Russian restaurateurs sometimes say: “Well, I was at your Noma, but it wasn’t anything special – we have something better.” Tastes differ. But when you find yourself in a kitchen for a few weeks to see that cosmic level of organization, cleanness and delivery from everyone who crosses the threshold – from the chef to the dishwasher – you realize what it means to have a Michelin star, since very few establishments can boast something like that in our country. Besides, Michelin was created for tourists – not for the vanity of chefs. However, our government isn’t working to increase the industry’s attractiveness for tourists – quite the opposite.

Do we need Michelin right now, or would it be better just to deal with snow removal?

Artem Gudchenko: I think Anton is stretching the truth a little. No chef is indifferent to how their work is judged.

Anna Kovarskaya: There are chefs who have consciously refused to take stars. Perhaps for PR all the same.

Artem Gudchenko: It’s like refusing to take the Nobel Prize. It’s a declaration for the sake of a higher purpose. But let’s come back to the restaurateurs and chefs who do care. What could the restaurant community do to make the guide come to St. Petersburg? It would lend powerful impetus to the city’s entire economy and the food-service industry in general. As soon as the first “stars” shine, many chefs start getting up 2 hours earlier and going to bed 3 hours later. They will feel professional jealousy and ambition, creating positive forward movement.

Nana Gvichia: Restaurateurs and chefs can elevate the level of hospitality at their restaurants even more – it’s about professionalism and personnel training and compliance with global standards.

Artem Gudchenko: If the stars are shining, it means that there’s someone who needs it. The signing of a contract with Michelin is a function of city management, which is geared towards public demand. For example, restaurant chains like Teremok, Tokyo City and Eurasia have consolidated into Restograd – an organization with stated goals related to the optimization of taxation, utility rates and payroll taxes. Developing the restaurant culture and shaping the image of St. Petersburg as a gastronomical capital of Russia is only the last goal on their list.

Gastronomic restaurants don’t have a lot of capital or high earnings. And chefs who are often restaurateurs as well don’t tend to consolidate. Our community, if it’s appropriate to describe it that way, seems scattered and unconsolidated. But I think there’s a demand for the guide in the industry. For our part, we’re ready for any activities that could show the industry’s engagement – for any of the steps required to make city management formalize the request for the guide’s arrival in St. Petersburg.

Nana Gvichia: In St. Petersburg, we all like and respect each other – we sit around the same table, but often express different opinions. Consolidation of the restaurant business for the development of the gastronomic image of St. Petersburg would be an important factor. The opinion of business is always important for government. And the emergence of the guide in the city is no exception – it’s a matter of competition for the restaurant business. We should understand how the city will benefit from Michelin. For that, we need to know the demands of the Guide’s management and start negotiations. And if we see that their requirements are sensible, we’ll continue negotiations. If we see that it’s a huge burden for the territory and businesses are not being consolidated, most likely, another decision will be made. Michelin’s coming to Moscow has shown the lack of consolidation in St. Petersburg’s restaurant business. For example, there’s the World Travel Awards – a very important award for the tourist industry. At the time, the city itself made a decision regarding the arrival of that rating. The hotel business acted as an initiator – the hoteliers themselves contacted the Committee for Tourism and said that the city needed the award.