How to move from Moscow to the region and open a restaurant: an interview with restaurateur Roman Golubyatnikov

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The life hacker talked to a man who left the capital to open one of the most popular restaurants in the city in Voronezh.

Roman, why did you decide to go into the restaurant business? Who did you work before?

We can say this is a matter of chance. I worked in B2B for a long time, selling thousands of tons of grain and rice. But at some point I realized that I see nothing but e-mail, a diary and an airplane.

At that time I was not even thirty, I wanted to develop, do something really interesting, and not sit in the office. Therefore, I decided to radically change my life, and with it the field of activity. It was the end of 2013, then I was fond of cooking, and in general there was a restaurant boom in Moscow.

Small restaurants and bars opened one by one, and various street food festivals were held. So, you can say I am a product of that very gastronomic boom. Then I was absolutely far from the sphere of hospitality and made all the mistakes that could only be made when opening my first project.

Everything came with experience. Over time, the format of the institution changed, I met interesting people with whom I still work.

You have moved from the capital to Voronezh to open a restaurant. What for?

At that time, I did not have enough like-minded people to open a restaurant in Moscow. And from a financial point of view, it is easier to open a restaurant business in the region. Voronezh is located just 500 kilometers from Moscow, it is the capital of the Black Earth Region, a million-plus city.

Initially, I hoped that I could establish the restaurant's work remotely, but it turned out that this was impossible. For a restaurant to live, it is necessary to constantly be in it, to make a lot of decisions every day, from the menu to the seating of guests. Rushing from Moscow to Voronezh, I realized that it is extremely difficult to work this way. You must either constantly be in the project, or leave it. Therefore, I decided to move to Voronezh and have already launched a second project.

The main advantage of working in the region is that in fact you form the views of people and the understanding that a restaurant is, first of all, a matter of hospitality and taste. People here are not yet so spoiled and finicky, so it's easier to surprise them and bring something new.

How much money does it take to open a cafe in Moscow and Voronezh?

The question of money is a very relative issue. You can make a good place for 10 million, or you can open a shed with a stove for 40 million. It's about taste and experience, not location.

After opening the restaurant, you studied to be a cook in Moscow. What for? What did it give you?

I not only studied, but also worked as a cook for some time. And it gave me the opportunity to argue more reasonably with chefs and colleagues, to express my opinion.

Even when I was at the Ragout school, although with the help of the school, we nevertheless opened a pop-up restaurant "Ratatouille" for one day. This was my first experience when guests came on an ad-hoc basis, ordered something.

We had chefs who, despite the pop-up project, took the matter seriously. I still remember how everything was clearly and well organized. Unfortunately, we cannot always work at this level in our work. But we try.

Perfect restaurant. He exists?

It is a myth. I have been to many restaurants in the world and visit my own almost every day. The impression they leave depends a lot on the situation and the mood of the staff and visitors. For example, I know for sure that in my restaurants they may not be received the way I would like, and the salad may not be the same as I tried it at the tasting.

This is because the chef had a fight with someone on the way to work or the visitor did not have a day in the morning. And such situations happen in the life of establishments of any level. This does not excuse our mistakes. Rather, on the contrary, it motivates to be better.

How is your day? Do you have time for something other than work?

Unfortunately, there is practically no time left for anything. The working day starts at 9:00 and ends around midnight, seven days a week. This is not a question of coquetry, it simply does not work out otherwise.

You travelling? Which countries have you been to and which cuisine is the best?

It so happened that I traveled more for work, but a lot. Where is the best cuisine? I do not know how to think in such categories at all. Wherever we had to go, we were fed both tasty and not very good. I think the question of tastes of different countries is a question of belonging to a particular culture. In China, they eat rotten eggs, and in Russia, they eat fresh ones. What is tastier?

What advice can you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

If it is possible not to open a restaurant, then it is better not to open it.

A restaurant is a business like a sawmill or a steel mill. But if you have a metallurgical plant, you definitely do not dream of opening a cool sawmill. But for some reason, everyone who has a sawmill or a factory wants to open a restaurant.