10 July 2013
Interview with our chef Dmitry Razumov
- What are the trends prevailing at Moscow restaurants?
- In cooking, in my opinion, as in any other type of activity, there are priorities that are always en vogue. The overriding trend at Moscow restaurants is a truly quality product, and that's what "MEAT" is offering its guests. The molecular gastronomy craze ended, the popularity of Italy and the sauce component of French dishes are waning. However, the fashion for quality tasty food will never go away. Trends may change, but the honest taste of a product will always be interesting.
- How would you define your culinary style?
- I approach my work creatively. If we talk about my creed, it is definitely a quality product and respect for it. With regard to the author's touch - in my work, there can be no ready-made recipes. This craft is invariably creative. As an artist embodies images on canvas using oil paints, so does a chef, using his skill and first-class raw materials, create works of a very special kind of art - cooking. And my style can be described as "familiar taste with new accents." Each familiar dish will have some kind of author's highlight: if its vinegret, it may include mushrooms, a Greek salad might have feta cheese, and mushroom soup can have pearl barley. And this entertaining gastronomic game is appreciated by our guests, they value it.
- What does "MEAT" offer its guests?
- "MEAT" is the only restaurant in town with such a vast collection: we offer a full range of steaks, including gastronomic wonders rarely found in Moscow. We have about eight kinds of ribeye alone on the menu, and over 30 different meat entries from different regions of the world in total. We provide our guests not only the opportunity to compare grass-fed meat with grain-fed, but also to feel the differences in taste of the more lean herbal beef from Ireland, France, Italy, or marbled beef from America, Canada, Australia. Each of these dishes has its own unique bouquet that a guest can appreciate, thanks to the variety of the menu. The more often people visit our restaurant, the better they begin to distinguish the nuances of taste. It is also important that the Josper oven is placed in the main hall, and thus the fascinating process of cooking a steak is open for the guest to see. This is a special part of meat cuisine culture.
- Who selects the new meat entries on the menu?
- It's an effort of the entire restaurant team. One person, even being the chef, cannot single-handedly dictate fashion, cannot impose the consumption of a dish upon the guests. All solutions are born during team discussions and tastings. The opinion of our guests is equally important.
- Does chef work in a Moscow restaurant differ from such in Europe?
- In Europe, gastronomy is a special culture, built on the principle of unquestioning discipline, a hierarchy in which the chef takes the leading place. This is due to the enormous knowledge of Western chefs and the presence of fundamental culinary education. In Moscow, the school is not that strong yet. However, the main feature of haute cuisine remains the same in the West and in Russia: there are always the basics, but every chef adds his own vision of the dish. Authorship means applying the skills and experience to create something of your own, individual. I'm waiting for the time when in Moscow people will be proud of their work, saying "I'm a chef" with head held high. Because it's not just a profession for life, it's a calling.
- In cooking, in my opinion, as in any other type of activity, there are priorities that are always en vogue. The overriding trend at Moscow restaurants is a truly quality product, and that's what "MEAT" is offering its guests. The molecular gastronomy craze ended, the popularity of Italy and the sauce component of French dishes are waning. However, the fashion for quality tasty food will never go away. Trends may change, but the honest taste of a product will always be interesting.
- How would you define your culinary style?
- I approach my work creatively. If we talk about my creed, it is definitely a quality product and respect for it. With regard to the author's touch - in my work, there can be no ready-made recipes. This craft is invariably creative. As an artist embodies images on canvas using oil paints, so does a chef, using his skill and first-class raw materials, create works of a very special kind of art - cooking. And my style can be described as "familiar taste with new accents." Each familiar dish will have some kind of author's highlight: if its vinegret, it may include mushrooms, a Greek salad might have feta cheese, and mushroom soup can have pearl barley. And this entertaining gastronomic game is appreciated by our guests, they value it.
- What does "MEAT" offer its guests?
- "MEAT" is the only restaurant in town with such a vast collection: we offer a full range of steaks, including gastronomic wonders rarely found in Moscow. We have about eight kinds of ribeye alone on the menu, and over 30 different meat entries from different regions of the world in total. We provide our guests not only the opportunity to compare grass-fed meat with grain-fed, but also to feel the differences in taste of the more lean herbal beef from Ireland, France, Italy, or marbled beef from America, Canada, Australia. Each of these dishes has its own unique bouquet that a guest can appreciate, thanks to the variety of the menu. The more often people visit our restaurant, the better they begin to distinguish the nuances of taste. It is also important that the Josper oven is placed in the main hall, and thus the fascinating process of cooking a steak is open for the guest to see. This is a special part of meat cuisine culture.
- Who selects the new meat entries on the menu?
- It's an effort of the entire restaurant team. One person, even being the chef, cannot single-handedly dictate fashion, cannot impose the consumption of a dish upon the guests. All solutions are born during team discussions and tastings. The opinion of our guests is equally important.
- Does chef work in a Moscow restaurant differ from such in Europe?
- In Europe, gastronomy is a special culture, built on the principle of unquestioning discipline, a hierarchy in which the chef takes the leading place. This is due to the enormous knowledge of Western chefs and the presence of fundamental culinary education. In Moscow, the school is not that strong yet. However, the main feature of haute cuisine remains the same in the West and in Russia: there are always the basics, but every chef adds his own vision of the dish. Authorship means applying the skills and experience to create something of your own, individual. I'm waiting for the time when in Moscow people will be proud of their work, saying "I'm a chef" with head held high. Because it's not just a profession for life, it's a calling.
