Location: 26A Tverskoy Boulevard, Moscow
Average bill: PPPP
Cuisine: Italian/European
Tel.: +7 (495) 739-00-33
Open: 24/7
More than half a century ago, Gilbert Becaud, a renowned French singer-songwriter, was in Moscow on a concert tour. Back in France, he composed one of his best-known songs, Nathalie, dedicated to his Russian guide. “She is marching ahead of me through Red Square, she is speaking written words about Lenin and the revolution, and I am thinking of how nice it would be to take her to Pushkin Café. We would drink hot chocolate and talk about something else …”
The song became so popular in France that many tourists started seeking out the fictional café named after the famous Russian poet. In 1999, restaurateur Andrei Dellos turned the song into reality. He set up Pushkin Café in a mansion on Tverskoy Boulevard and invited Gilbert Becaud to sing at the opening.
The concept of the restaurant – to serve Russian and French dishes of the Pushkin era – was brilliantly realized by Andrei Makhov, the restaurant’s irreplaceable chef. Even the menu is printed in the old style, with the antiquated ‘hard sign’ letter after consonants at the end of words. For example, “Мелюсье, инымъ способомъ съ грибами разнаго виду” (Melucier salad with various mushrooms) or “Козiй сыръ, печенный съ медомъ, дополненный ростками салатаовъ” (Honey-baked goat cheese with lettuce sprouts). Gradually, the restaurant won the hearts of diners from all over the world and is now a Moscow tourist destination in its own right.