Soviet catering, as it was (photo).

As in any other country in the world, people in the USSR wanted to eat, for which they either cooked at home (more often) or went to catering establishments - cafes or restaurants (less often). Soviet cafes were quite peculiar, I still managed to catch some of them, my impressions were contradictory - a very pleasant and tasty milk bar on Kozlova Street in Minsk (where the Al-Khalil cafe is now), with cool cherry jelly and apple mousse, and a very bad canteen at 52 Kolasa (in the house where the World of Wallpapers is now) with nasty sauerkraut soup.

In this post, we will see what Soviet cafes looked like in different years how a cafe differed from a restaurant, and we will also see the construction of the first McDonald's in Moscow.

02. Quite a rare photo from the first Soviet years, picture taken in 1925, showing a student cafe. Most likely, the interior was left from some "tea house" of tsarist times. Pay attention to the interesting counter with turned balusters, the chimney under the ceiling, as well as the external electrical wiring on the walls.

03. And this is already the fifties, this picture was taken in 1954, it shows a cafe in the Moscow GUM after reconstruction. Pay attention to the furniture, which is very futuristic for the fifties - most likely, the chairs and the table are made from the same tubes and using the same technologies as the Soviet folding beds.

04. Fifties, street pub with beer on tap. Such pubs existed for almost all the years of Soviet power and a few more years after the collapse of the USSR, in Minsk the last such pubs were closed in the late nineties and early 2000s.

05. Resort cafe in Yalta, Crimea. Crimean cafes have always had a traditionally good selection of local wines, which could be taken both by the bottle and on tap, and in Soviet cafes, wines were poured not into glasses, but into ordinary ones. faceted glasses like juices or water. Crimean wines not so hot in terms of quality, but for that time they were quite good drinks.

06. Interior of a Moscow bar, 1960 Apparently, tea is brewed in the vending machines - although it's hard to say, this is the first time I've seen such devices.

07. Cafe 1960s, Moscow. I love Soviet interiors of this era - the architects were looking for images that would contrast with the heavy monumentalism of the Stalin years; 1960s interiors are all very light and transparent. By the way, pay attention to the windows - it was in the 1960s that the first glass cafes began to appear - with windows to the floor.

08. Moscow cafe"Falcon", also the sixties. I think it looks cool, even now it would look good. In terms of architecture, this is the same "glass" that was massively built during the 1960s and 70s.

09. Cafe, 1968 On the wall is a very characteristic sixties-style sconce, and on the counter are placed very curious cones, inside of which there were juices. I didn’t find such things anymore - they began to be removed around the 1970s.

10. It is necessary to say a few words about cafes on trains - in the USSR (and now too) there was a separate restaurant car in the trains, in which passengers could have lunch and dinner. According to the regulations, the assortment of dining cars everywhere should have been approximately the same, but in reality it varied greatly depending on the thieving of the staff - for example, there could be almost no meat in cutlets, etc.

11. Assortment alcoholic beverages dining car in 1982, a train on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

12. There were also cafes at airports, this is how the cafe at the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport looked like - in fact, the current food courts at airports are no different, except that they are organized a little better / prettier.

13. And this is the ice cream cafe in one of the luxury Moscow stores. Under this name, in the USSR, cafes with an exclusively "garden" assortment were usually located - juices, ice cream, hot chocolate, coffee, mousses, jelly. Sometimes such a cafe could also be called a "milk bar" - there was approximately the same assortment.

14. The interior of the cafe in the late Soviet years, a few visitors in hats, "roosters" watching TV. The furniture is very characteristic - in the eighties such heavy wooden chairs with carved backs were popular.

15. According to the types of food served, Soviet public catering can be divided into two types. The first is self-service. The visitor took a tray and approached the counter with food, where the attendants gradually handed him the plates with the first, second and third. By the way, such a cafe has been preserved almost unchanged in the Minsk Central Department Store (Olimp cafe on the second floor) - I recommend visiting it to anyone who wants to remember the USSR.

16. The second type of service is a cafe with waiters. In the USSR, such cafes were most often called "restaurants" - but they were not always such in the strict sense of the word. However, there were signs of a "restaurant" serving - the dishes were more refined and difficult to prepare, there were tablecloths on the tables, the staff tried to set the tables and serve dishes according to etiquette.

17. Unlike cafes, it was customary to dance in restaurants - very often there was a separate stage in the hall, on which invited VIAs performed.

18. In the film "Belorussky Station" you can see such a typical Soviet restaurant of the seventies with VIA "Kamerton" performing on the stage:

19. And this is a restaurant cashier, a very curious thing - in some restaurants it was not the waiter who counted you, but you had to go to the cashier yourself and pay your check for dinner.

20. A bit of exotic from the southern republics - this is what a tea house in Samarkand looked like, the photo was taken in 1989.

21. In recent years, world chain cafes and restaurants began to come to the USSR. In the photo - the construction of the first McDonald's in Moscow, it will open in 1990. Interestingly, in the Russian-language version of the sign, the word "restaurant" is pronounced as "quick service enterprise".

22. Delivery of products.

23. Opening the first restaurant Pizza Hut, Moscow, 1990. A little less than a year remains until the end of the USSR.

And what do you remember about the Soviet public catering?

Tell me, I'm interested)

Danil SHISHIGIN, head chef of the new Albatros restaurant in Moscow, spoke about the concept of the establishment and how to adapt Soviet cuisine dishes to the present day.

To satisfy different tastes, the space of the restaurant is zoned: in the hall for 160 seats, a place is allocated for a glass. This is a separate story, reviving the spirit of that era. A beer barrel standing at the entrance sells beer for tokens (0.5 liters for 110 rubles) plus a cold display case where you can take a small snack or salad. chicken pate, roast beef with radish, vobla and dried smelt, beef basturma - a price tag of 140-200 rubles for a 150-gram serving. Plus taps with beer in the open kitchen - German beer and Russian, poured into mugs and three-liter cans.

Our name contains the word "pivbar", but we position ourselves primarily as a restaurant. And it works. People come to us for food, for menus, for forgotten Soviet dishes. The menu is small: salads, appetizers, soups, hot dishes, grill and desserts - 45 items in total. At these prices (most expensive dish- rack of lamb, 450 rubles. - Approx. ed.) you can feel comfortable. When a person can afford to choose what he wants, he rests with a different mood, relaxes.

Equipment: what is the kitchen equipped with?

The technological process is built in such a way that everything is given as quickly as possible. There are dishes where the rate of return cannot be influenced. Tapaka chicken cannot be given away in 15 minutes, and if they do this somewhere, it means that it is simply heated in the microwave or fried in advance. This dish takes 20-25 minutes to prepare. Pozharsky cutlet with any landing is cooked for at least 20 minutes. Shish kebab can be cooked faster, here the landing affects: when the hall is empty, one skewer is fried quickly. When loading the hall, more time is needed - the barbecue must be planted on a skewer, more servings are fried on the grill.

Meals: What is the portion size?

Most of the dishes from the Albatross menu can be given to a child. fish cakes- dietary, burger buns, like bread, we bake ourselves. We cook compote and fruit drink ourselves. Therefore, I do not worry that parents with children will come and order something for the child.

Economy: how to keep the balance of prices?

We solve it through constant monitoring of the supplier market and price-quality control. The products are domestic, some we buy on the market. Sometimes I go and control the prices in the purchase. There was a problem with lettuce and romano: it is all imported, the euro exchange rate has grown, and it costs 600 rubles per kilogram plus 15 percent waste - we do not earn anything on this salad.

People come to us for food, for menus, for forgotten Soviet dishes.

Sockeye salmon is also not cheap, and a good one comes every other time: they bring two, one is returned. It comes from Murmansk in a frozen form, like the Far Eastern cod. There is cod that comes in glaze, no matter if it is cheaper or more expensive, it is of poor quality, when defrosted, 50 percent of the waste. So when the storekeeper makes an order for the company, puts the mark “on-board freezing”, then the fish comes in excellent quality. Yes, it is not easy, but we are looking for quality products. Despite the fact that the portions are quite large, the most expensive dish costs 450 rubles.

At first, when they opened, the euro just started to grow, the food cost was 23%, now it is 25–27%, prices were not raised.

Secret: how to satisfy different tastes?

Our audience is 18 years and older. On weekends and on weekdays there are regular guests. On Sunday a couple comes in, both are well over 70, they have been with us since the opening and constantly order Soviet dishes. I asked them: how do they evaluate the cuisine? They replied that last time so they went to eat at the Metropol. I am pleased: I was able to satisfy their taste. People come to a restaurant looking for home cooking, habitual taste. Especially those who loved Soviet cuisine before, when it was not spoiled. On this basis, when the menu is dominated by Russian-Soviet cuisine, it is possible to build a concept for the future. I don't think that Russian or Soviet cuisine should be within limits. The main thing, as in any cuisine, is a good base, fresh, high-quality products and taste.

Nowadays, it is not difficult to find a good fashionable establishment - even the most prestigious restaurants are happy to welcome any visitors. IN Soviet time ordinary Soviet citizens could not visit an elite cafe even on holidays, because the doors of such establishments were opened only to the elite. Now you can see the list of "caste" restaurants of that time.

"Prague"

This luxurious restaurant on the Arbat was very fond of the Soviet elite: Alla Pugacheva and Yevgeny Boldin often visited it, and Galina Brezhneva often celebrated on the mezzanine there in winter garden her birthday and arranged chamber parties in honor of March 8. "Prague" was the only place that served products from Czechoslovakia: sausages, smoked sausages and Czech beer. Also there you could taste the meatballs with shrimp and ham and the signature "Prague" salad with mushrooms. By the way, all the utensils, furniture and interior items were also ordered from Czechoslovakia, and cooks were hired only of the highest rank: the fifth or sixth. Curiously, in the 19th century, this luxury restaurant, named after the capital of the Czech Republic, was a run-down inn for cabbies who called it "Braga".

"Aragvi"

Restaurant Georgian cuisine Aragvi, opened in 1938, was located in the building of the former Dresden Hotel, which was often visited by Robert Schumann, Turgenev and Nekrasov. One of the regulars at Aragvi was Lavrenty Beria: he, of course, dined not in the common room, but in a separate office. Faina Georgievna Ranevskaya also went there to taste chicken tobacco. "Aragvi" was famous for its branded meat dishes: there you could order barbecue in Karsky (kidney part on the bone) and in hussar style (lamb, layered with lard).

"Soviet"

"Soviet" - the official government restaurant at the hotel of the same name, located in the rebuilt building of the legendary "Yar", whose truffles and veal were enthusiastically recalled by Pushkin. IN different time Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Mireille Mathieu, Arnold Schwarzenegger and other eminent guests dined here. “A non-Soviet person lived in the Sovetskaya Hotel,” Vysotsky sang ironically about the status of this place. By the way, in the 1950s it briefly became home to Vasily Stalin. It is noteworthy that in the restaurant, in addition to the government and creative elite, hockey players often reveled - perhaps this tradition was entrenched there for many years precisely thanks to the leader's son.

"Arbat"

Arbat is a luxury restaurant, which was opened in 1967 and was considered one of the largest in Europe (it had 2000 seats) and even got into the Guinness Book of Records. By the way, it was in it that Irina Allegrova and Marina Khlebnikova began their singing career. In 1982, this institution received an award for best service banquets of dignitaries. However, Arbat became famous not so much for its spaciousness and adherence to the classical traditions of Russian cuisine, but for its more than frank variety show that breaks stereotypes about the lack of sex in the USSR. It is noteworthy that it was this restaurant that beat all records for the influx of moths.

Restaurant at Intourist

The restaurant at the Intourist Hotel is a very popular currency institution in the 70s and 80s and absolutely inaccessible to Soviet citizens, a fartsovka paradise, which could only be entered at the invitation of foreigners. For payment in dollars, real terms threatened, so it was impossible for honest workers to even stare at the bright shop windows. Apart from classical cuisine, the restaurant served and exotic dishes like pineapples in champagne - such were the ideas of Soviet citizens about the bourgeois dolce vita.

Restaurant at the CDL

Restaurant at Central house writers - a closed institution for writers' bohemia, which director Sergei Solovyov dubbed "an oasis of intellectual drunkenness." Mikhail Svetlov, Arkady Arkanov, Grigory Gorin, the Vainer brothers, Vasily Aksenov, Andrey Voznesensky, Bella Akhmadulina and Bulat Okudzhava often visited it. Within the walls of this institution, they not only discussed the problems of creativity and made new acquaintances, but also branded objectionable writers. At the same time, despite all the behind-the-scenes intrigues and unpleasant incidents, the restaurant was famous for its wine list And signature dish- meat on the coals. In addition, its director (the only one in Moscow!) was allowed to buy fresh herbs in the markets, while others were content with stale goods from the vegetable warehouse.

"Seventh heaven"

"Seventh Heaven" is a bright landmark of Soviet Moscow, a three-story restaurant located in the Ostankino TV tower at a height of 320 meters. Representatives of the Soviet elite and advanced workers who received invitations could freely get into it. However, at a time when the restaurant was not closed for special services, it was possible to taste set lunch. The menu was unpretentious: sandwiches with sausage, meatballs, julienne, shuttlecocks with black caviar and salad "Capital" - the list of dishes, according to eyewitnesses, has not changed for years. The quality of the cuisine was also not up to par: in fact, nothing was cooked in the restaurant itself for reasons fire safety but only warmed up the food.

"Uzbekistan"

"Uzbekistan" is the first Central Asian restaurant in Moscow, which has gained popularity in bohemian circles. Cooks were invited only from Tashkent, and in order to get a table for the evening, people queued up from 11 am. “Someone, drunk as hell, knocked on the door of the Uzbekistan restaurant, where, of course, they didn’t let him in,” Yevtushenko wrote about him. A culinary shop was also opened at the cafe, which sold pasties, cakes and oriental sweets very popular among the people.

More than 20 years have passed since the breakup Soviet Union. But nevertheless, the period of the history of the USSR has been preserved in the minds and hearts of many Russians, symbolizing a certain order, rich culture and good relations between "comrades". People tend to forget all the bad things, nostalgic only for the brightest events in life. One of these nostalgic spots is Soviet restaurants, cafes and canteens, in which the quality of food, unfortunately, was not in the first place.

Today in Moscow there are establishments stylized as Soviet era:

The Soviet-style interior takes visitors back to the days of red ties and party meetings. Nostalgic memories wake up at the sight of rare interior details: a carpet with the painting "Three Bears" on the wall, books that miraculously did not get into second-hand bookshops, and retro photographs. The place will be interesting both for fans of Komsomol aesthetics and tourists, as well as for young people. Informal atmosphere, rare interior details and retro-style music will return you to the atmosphere of the Soviet era, give you a feeling of home warmth and comfort.

The 1950s-style interior, old songs of that time playing everywhere, special staff uniforms, posters and paintings take you back to the Soviet era. All dishes from the menu - home cooking: dumplings, khinkali, tortillas, salinity can plunge you into times of nostalgia for delicious and simple food.

The renovated restaurant invites its guests to enjoy famous beer accompanied signature snacks and dishes. Every day in "Zhiguli" hits of the Soviet pop music performed by talented bands sound, and you can have plenty of fun on the dance floor.

All Soviet resort paraphernalia worked out very carefully in the restaurant. The spacious main hall with a marble parapet symbolizes the embankment. There are in the "Glavkurort" and seascapes, and the murmur of the fountain - in a word, everything, as it should be at the resort. Two small VIP rooms depict a "typical" Caucasian house, entwined vine. In the evenings, there is live music on the "quay", where you can dance and relax to the old hits of the 80s and 90s.

Great Soviet style is recreated here - from old family photos on the walls and snow-white crispy tablecloths to the lulling speech of the waiters. The guests seem to find themselves in the huge apartment of the Stalinist people's commissar, who is going to celebrate the anniversary and among those invited are Lyubov Orlova, Leonid Utyosov, Lev Yashin. The atmosphere of a solid Soviet film.

In its halls, you will no longer feel the flow of time, willingly believing that you have returned half a century ago. Each visitor of the restaurant can not only feel the atmosphere of past years, but also have a great rest, paying tribute to the gastronomic purpose of the institution.

Here you will be carried away by the atmosphere of post-war Moscow, and you will become a witness of the events that took place in those years. The restaurant is located in the place where the most high-profile cases of the criminal world of that time unfolded. You can fully immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the thieves' house in Maryina Roshcha, visit the offices of the famous MUR, and visit one of the most fashionable restaurants of that time - Astoria.

The establishment was named so not by chance. The cafe invites you to take a short trip to the era of the 30s. To the accompaniment of Soviet songs, carpet paths lead you to cozy booths with comfortable sofas. Life-affirming posters are hung on the walls, and in secluded corners you will find an old telephone, a radiogram, an old heavy typewriter, a real gramophone.

Photo: pokrovskievorota.ru, zhiguli.net, glavkurort.com, restsindikat.com, varenichnaya.ru, traktirlubyanka.ru, specbufet.ru

For an ordinary Soviet citizen, going to a restaurant was an inaccessible luxury. Moreover, not only fashionable establishments with impeccable service, but also places with mediocre cuisine and thieving waiters were closed and “caste”…
"Prague"
"Prague" - this luxurious restaurant on the Arbat was very fond of the Soviet elite: Alla Pugacheva and Yevgeny Boldin repeatedly visited it, and Galina Brezhneva often celebrated her birthday on the mezzanine there in the winter garden and held chamber parties in honor of March 8.


"Prague" was the only place that served products from Czechoslovakia: sausages, smoked bacon and Czech beer.
Also there you could taste meatballs with shrimp and ham and specialty Prague salad with mushrooms. By the way, all the utensils, furniture and interior items were also ordered from Czechoslovakia, and only the highest rank cooks were hired: 5 or 6.
It is curious that in the 19th century this luxury restaurant, named after the capital of the Czech Republic, was a run-down inn for cabbies who called it "Braga".
"Aragvi"
"Aragvi" - this restaurant of Georgian cuisine, opened in 1938, was located in the building of the former hotel "Dresden", which was frequented by Robert Schumann, Turgenev and Nekrasov.


One of the regulars at Aragvi was Lavrenty Beria: he, of course, dined not in the common room, but in a separate office.
Faina Georgievna Ranevskaya also went there to taste chicken tobacco. "Aragvi" was famous precisely for its specialty meat dishes: there you could order karski shish kebab (kidney part on the bone) and hussar style (lamb layered with lard).
"Soviet"
"Soviet" - the official government restaurant at the hotel of the same name, located in the rebuilt building of the legendary "Yar", whose truffles and veal were enthusiastically recalled by Pushkin.
At various times, Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Mireille Mathieu, Arnold Schwarzenegger and other eminent guests dined here.


“A non-Soviet person lived in the Sovetskaya Hotel,” Vysotsky sang ironically about the status of this place. By the way, in the 1950s, it briefly became home to Vasily Stalin.
It is noteworthy that in the restaurant, in addition to the government and creative elite, hockey players often reveled - perhaps this tradition was entrenched there for many years precisely thanks to the leader's son.
"Arbat"
"Arbat" - this luxury restaurant, opened in 1967, was considered one of the largest in Europe (it had 2000 seats) and even got into the Guinness Book of Records. By the way, it was in it that Irina Allegrova and Marina Khlebnikova began their singing career.


In 1982, this institution received an award for the best service for banquets of dignitaries.
However, Arbat became famous not so much for its spaciousness and adherence to the classical traditions of Russian cuisine, but for its more than frank variety show that breaks stereotypes about the lack of sex in the USSR. It is noteworthy that it was this restaurant that beat all records for the influx of moths.
Restaurant at the CDL
The restaurant at the Central House of Writers is a closed institution for writers' bohemia, which director Sergei Solovyov dubbed "an oasis of intellectual drunkenness." Mikhail Svetlov, Arkady Arkanov, Grigory Gorin, the Vainer brothers, Vasily Aksyonov, Andrey Voznesensky, Bella Akhmadulina and Bulat Okudzhava often visited it.


Within the walls of this institution, they not only discussed the problems of creativity and made new acquaintances, but also branded objectionable writers.
At the same time, despite all the behind-the-scenes intrigues and unpleasant incidents, the restaurant was famous for its wine list and signature dish - meat on the coals. In addition, its director (the only one in Moscow!) was allowed to buy fresh herbs in the markets, while others were content with stale goods from the vegetable warehouse.
Restaurant at Intourist
The restaurant at the Intourist Hotel was a very popular currency institution in the 1970s and 1980s and absolutely inaccessible to Soviet citizens, a paradise for fartsovka, which could only be entered at the invitation of foreigners.

For payment in dollars, real terms threatened, so it was impossible for honest workers to even stare at the bright shop windows. In addition to classical cuisine, exotic dishes were also served in the restaurant, such as pineapples in champagne - these were the ideas of Soviet citizens about the bourgeois dolce vita.
"Seventh heaven"
"Seventh Heaven" is a bright landmark of Soviet Moscow, a three-story restaurant located in the Ostankino television tower at a height of 320 meters. Representatives of the Soviet elite and advanced workers who received invitations could freely get into it.


However, at a time when the restaurant was not closed for special services, it was possible to taste a complex lunch.
The menu was unpretentious: sandwiches with sausage, meatballs, julienne, flounces with black caviar and salad "Capital", - the list of dishes, according to eyewitnesses, has not changed for years. The quality of the cuisine was also not up to par: in fact, nothing was cooked in the restaurant itself for fire safety reasons, but only warmed up food.
"Uzbekistan"
"Uzbekistan" is the first Central Asian restaurant in Moscow, which has gained popularity in bohemian circles. Cooks were invited only from Tashkent, and in order to get a table for the evening, people queued up from 11 am.


“Someone, drunk on the board, knocked on the door to the Uzbekistan restaurant, where, of course, they didn’t let him in,” Yevtushenko wrote about him. A culinary shop was also opened at the cafe, which sold pasties, cakes and oriental sweets, very popular among the people.
Valeria Morina