Danila Novichikhin, AZIMUT

The new hero of our #CBfriends section is Danila Novichikhin, Manager of the “495” restaurant, AZIMUT Hotel Olympic Moscow. We asked Danila about the principle of working with the hotel restaurant menu and about the tastes of foreign guests.

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Danila Novichikhin, I am the manager of the “495” restaurant, which is located at the AZIMUT Olympic Moscow hotel.

Our main goal is to provide delicious food to hotel guests, and we would really like our guests to come to us when choosing among a variety of options for where to eat deliciously. We constantly come up with new interesting sets for our guests, regularly update the menu and cocktail list.

Who comes to you as guests?

Mostly, of course, these are hotel guests. Unfortunately, it is not yet the tradition of our fellow citizens to drink coffee or have dinner in a hotel restaurant if you are not a guest. But we always welcome guests who are not staying at the hotel, and offer a decent menu at a very reasonable price.

Tell me, why is the restaurant called “495”?

495 is the first number that guests of the capital encounter: this is the telephone code of Moscow. Historically, these numbers connect both Muscovites and those who decide to visit our city in business and personal matters. The same idea underlies the concept of our restaurant. The menu of the restaurant “495” is based on international cuisine, which has absorbed all the intricacies of cultures inherent in Moscow. In our city you can meet many people from different cities and countries, whose traditions and ideas about beauty are so diverse! Moscow, as an open, hospitable city, readily absorbs new things, and we at “495” also offer guests a rich assortment of dishes from different national traditions.

You talked a little about the kitchen, but what are the specifics of drinks in the hotel business?

Here things are a little different. Let me explain: any independent restaurant (not at a hotel) exists within the framework of a certain concept. In a pub the priority is beer, in a cocktail bar - mixed drinks, and the cocktail menu in a hotel restaurant is the most versatile set. Since hotel guests come from different countries, we simply have to offer them something familiar, something sophisticated, and something authentic that reflects the national flavor. For example, Mexicans readily drink tequila, Finns drink vodka, and Italians and French are lovers of wine and cocktails. Not everyone is ready for exotic experiments, so we strive to ensure that every guest can find a drink on the menu that suits their mood.

How often is your menu updated and do you take seasonality into account?

Of course we take it into account! We update the drinks menu every season: in winter we launch a line of warming teas, in spring – vitamin cocktails and light alcoholic drinks, summer is the time of lemonade, and autumn is a berry story. We also regularly offer promotional menus that include up to 5 drinks of different types and varying degrees of “boldness.” I must admit, we are original in the promotional menu, however, if the guests especially liked something, we can include it in the main menu.

What drinks do foreigners prefer?

The most varied. I would even say that everyone drinks everything. Preferences may be exotic, but some things can be generalized. I won’t be wrong if I say that all foreigners love beer; Italians, Spaniards and French prefer cocktails and wine to everything else, and are not very fond of strong drinks. Regular guests are willing to experiment and don’t mind trying something new and unusual. But when they come to us, everyone, of course, wants to try Russian vodka, especially many who come to Russia for the first time. Moreover, which is typical, they drink it in a rather unusual way for us - they savor it in small sips and do not snack. Connoisseurs of fine strong alcohol also come to us - such drinks are most popular among Russian guests - we are ready to offer them an excellent assortment of premium drinks.

How do your guests perceive “Russian tastes”, for example, sea buckthorn?

It is a common misconception that sea buckthorn is only a Russian berry; it also grows in other countries. Or mushrooms, for example. This is a huge layer of Russian traditional cuisine, but they do not cause much surprise among foreigners. Speaking of Russian tastes, I remember one story that really puzzled me. Once foreign guests asked me what kvass was. “This is just Russian taste,” I thought, “our Russian specificity and peculiarity.” But when II tried to explain the taste of kvass, the guests did not understand me very well. "What is this? Bread drink? Like this?" In response, I simply invited everyone to try it, and they really liked it!

In Moscow, you can meet Russian tastes, rather, not in hotels, but in themed restaurants. And such specific Russian products as, for example, horseradish, horseradish, jelly or kefir, are difficult to present to foreign guests: the reaction to them can be ambiguous. And yet, sharing experiences, especially culinary ones, is always interesting and causes fireworks of emotions. We ourselves enjoy getting acquainted with the peculiarities of the culinary preferences of people of different cultures whom we receive as guests. It’s also always very interesting to watch how guests communicate with each other and share their impressions of exploring the city and its gastronomic aspect.

Do the taste preferences of guests from different countries differ?

I wouldn't say so. In 10 years of work, I have never had a situation where, for example, tequila was asked to be served with pepper; Vodka is usually topped with lemon. When someone tries a drink or dish for the first time, we, if necessary, suggest how to enjoy the drink according to all the rules. There are, of course, experimenters, but this is rare, the exception rather than the rule.

How do foreign guests order? In what format is it more convenient to present information?

Interest Ask. Foreigners, especially in Asia, prefer pictures. Often because they don’t know English. And although the concept of our restaurant does not involve a lot of visuals in the menu, we willingly give verbal recommendations, having found out the guest’s preferences, wishes, and goals for the evening. In the main menu we offer classics, but the promotional menu is all about experimentation and spectacular presentation. Even if this is not exactly a specialized topic for a hotel restaurant, sometimes guests like the drinks from the promotion so much that they order them several times a day throughout the week of their stay at the hotel.

Has it ever happened in your practice that you doubted the success of a drink, but it eventually became popular?

It happened, so it is important that the decision to include a new item on the menu is made by more than one person. This requires collective work, since individual taste is not always objective.

I must admit, it happened that I refused some items on the menu that more experienced colleagues insisted on and were right. For example, I never understood the point of salted caramel and some other additives in coffee, so I was very dubious about the new menu items based on MONIN syrups “Salted Caramel”, “Gingerbread”, “Green Mint” and “ Cherry". How surprised I was when these drinks became popular among guests! Since then, I have made it a rule never to make a decision to change anything on the menu based solely on my own taste sensations.

The hotel and restaurant business, like any business, does not stand still. It is important for us to work on ourselves and constantly develop, we follow trends, collect information, take into account and analyze the various requests of guests and strive to prove ourselves so that, having visited us once, guests will be happy to come to us again and again.

In fact, the hotel business is quite young in Russia: all international brands appeared on our market not so long ago, and we, as a Russian chain, want to show by example that Russian means good, very good. Hospitality is the most natural Russian trait, and we try to continue the tradition at the proper level, training relevant specialists, professionals in our business.

Without undue modesty, I will say: we not only focus on global experience, but also know how to apply it, and our service can be compared with the service of high-level foreign networks.