Northerners

The heroes of our new #CBfriends interview are chef Georgy Troyan and head bartender Anton Ivakha from the Severyanye restaurant. Georgy and Anton told us about their path in the profession and how to remain original and not succumb to the “Moscow classics”.

Tell us a little about yourself: how did you get into this profession and how did you start working at Severyany?

Georgy: My name is Georgy Troyan, I am the chef of the Severyanye restaurant. I opened this project initially, and this restaurant is already in its fourth year.

How did I get into the profession? Nogami) I went to technical school because I wanted to leave 10th grade. I went there to see my friends out of emotion, because we were friends then. Then I didn’t want to be a cook, but over time I got involved in this story and became interested. Then he worked as an ordinary mortal chef, and then went to Paris to the popular Le Cordon Bleu academy. Then I returned to Moscow and already gained experience - I worked with the French, worked in Gazprom - fed Miller, was a chef at the Four Seasons Hotel... When I worked as a brand chef at William Lamberti's restaurant, I met Ilya [Tyutenkov] , and we decided to try to make this magic.

Anton: And I’m Anton Ivakha, head bartender at Severyan. I am a former professional athlete - in 2012 I last competed at the freestyle wrestling championship, took my prize place and never went to the gym again) I stopped working out, moved to Moscow and worked in fitness for some time, then completely changed my vector and worked in a hotel, in several restaurants, and then ended up at Severyan as a bartender when the restaurant was just opening. 4 years have passed, of which I have been the head bartender here for 3.5 years.

Tell us more about your concept, what makes “Northerners” interesting?

Georgiy: Our concept is an open kitchen with a large oven and grill - it’s simple!

Anton: We were one of the first to start making infusions using the sous vide method. At first we tried to bake it in an oven, but there were a lot of difficulties with the temperature, so we started using a vacuum. Initially, the idea of the bar was strong alcohol and beer, but we changed everything. At the opening there were 7 infusions made using the sous-vide technology, 6 cocktails that should not have happened at all, but we made them anyway, and 9 beers.

For the first couple of months of the restaurant, we fed and watered everyone for free, and in the end it turned out that the way we thought things would work didn't work that way. It turned out that we made cool liqueurs that everyone liked, delicious cocktails that were sold, and little by little everything changed, more cocktails appeared, less beer and strong alcohol.

We don’t have tea, only herbs, and it was quite difficult to explain to a person 4 years ago why there was no Assam, Te Guanyin, and especially milk oolong. We talked endlessly about Karelian and Vologda Ivan tea, how we buy it from the family that collects and ferments it. As the icebreaker goes, so we sank for the herbs, and now this does not surprise anyone at all)

What motivates you at work?

Georgy: Well, soon we will have a salary) But seriously - firstly, it seems to me that this profession has already become the meaning of my life. This is my way of life - I live this way and don’t even perceive it as work - this is my favorite thing that I do every day. There are moments of ups and downs, but I respect my profession and love it.

Anton: Now this is that thanks to the unique things that the chef does, and we help with support, the restaurant is slowly creeping up, and we all draw inspiration from this.

What achievements in your profession are you proud of?

Georgy: It seems to me that the most important achievement is to get up in the morning and go to work) In general, one of the most important achievements is that in 2015 I became the best young Russian chef.

And what does it feel like?

Georgy: Yes, he came and prepared it. It was just at that moment when we opened “Severyan”, I had such a landmark year that I received this banner, and we opened the restaurant. It was a difficult and challenging, but very interesting year.

Anton, what about you? You made the best restaurant bar according to Bar Proof, how did you do it?

Anton: Nobody knew about our bar, because it’s a bar in a restaurant. We applied for Bar Proof twice and got into the top ten the first time. I’m not in the bartending scene, I don’t participate in competitions, I’m not in the media, and for me it was cool. And this year we got into the top three, went to the ceremony, and I couldn’t even really say anything - here we are, a bar in the area, and here we are the best bar! These are crazy emotions. ButIt’s also a big responsibility, because you always have to uphold your brand.

What are your Northern principles when working with guests?

Georgy: It seems to me that it should be like this: if a guest comes in a bad mood, then you should make sure that in the end he leaves in a good mood. You need to break into a cake, but to do it - a restaurant is emotions.

If there are any problems with a dish, we redo it, look for an alternative, or simply don’t give the bill.

Can a guest's opinion influence your decision about a menu item or recipe change?

Georgiy: Yes. We do this: let’s say we have created 10 items, listen to feedback, and if out of ten guests four did not like it, we review and refine the dishes. We can modify it, or we can remove it altogether - it’s simple.

Do you cook classics or experiment?

Georgy: We have an oven and grill, but no stove - this is quite unusual. I was used to working on a stove, and at first I felt like I had no hands - naturally this is a challenge for me and a huge experience. It seems to me that we were actually one of the first to build a restaurant with an oven, and no one understood what it was. We even delayed the opening a little due to the fact that no matter what we put in, everything is on fire. We didn’t understand what the temperature should be, how it should work, until we started studying the issue, reading... I was on tour in Alma-Ata, there they told me about chicken according to a local recipe, I brought it under my arm, they soaked it and threw it into the stove, but this, of course, is more of a winter story, and Anton came up with a tincture for it. Well, and so, gradually experimenting, we came to what we have.

In general, in Moscow there is such a thing as “Moscow cuisine” - no matter what restaurant you go to, everywhere there is approximately the same food, similar presentations...

Anton: “Moscow classics.” Everyone in Moscow makes cabbage rolls)

What about drinks?

Anton: We practically don’t prepare cocktail classics, only those that we ourselves have come up with. We prepare cocktails with vinegars, balsamic, and clarified ones.

Is it difficult to come up with new dishes and drinks? What guides you when working on the menu?

Georgy: You can come up with any kind of dish - I think more about the concept, because setting up a dish is one thing, but putting everything on stream so that it works systematically, works like a clock - this is much more difficult. Everything must work so that the team can deliver it accurately and efficiently.

Anton: We look at trends, but we make our own story, we make it tasty and of high quality. Recently we made detox juices for breakfast. Not everyone was confident that it would sell, but now it is selling) Because it’s delicious. After all, basically detox juices are simply impossible to drink because they are tasteless, and understanding and combining tastes is what we can give the guest.

Tell us about current kitchen trends.

Georgiy: I believe that I have only become established as a chef now. I’ve been working as a chef since I was 26 years old, and it used to be like this: you show all your techniques on a plate - siphon, nitrogen, but you don’t understand what taste is in general, but now I understand what I’m doing. And it seems to me that when a guest comes to a restaurant and orders, he doesn’t want to think, he just wants to eat deliciously, so the food, first of all, should be tasty and understandable.

So I think the trend is about delicious food.

Anton: Half of Moscow is covered in white truffles, but we don’t do it - this is a trend)

Georgy: Well, let’s say there are some classics - pasta, risotto - this is a trend, but we don’t have it on the menu, and we don’t do it.

What about the bar?

Anton: Now there is a certain fashion for milk punches - this is a method of clarification with milk. And we make tom yum cocktail using this method and popularize this method in every possible way. We made special filter bags for this.

There is a trend for light roast and sour coffee, but normal coffee in restaurants is a complex issue; for example, we ourselves bring and roast the coffee that we brew. Our coffee is a micro-lot; there is nothing like it anywhere else.

One of the current trends is zero waste, do you use this concept in your work?

Georgy: When we peel onions, carrots, vegetables, we burn the peelings in the oven, and sprinkle smoked butter with this ash.

Anton: By the way, this is the famous sprinkle – it went all over Russia!

Georgy: Naturally, everything is dehydrated, everything is dried, tastedwith concentrates, cook broths, use cleaning. Let's say we boil potatoes, and add the peelings to the milk for mashing, and they give it flavor. So for us this is an integral part of the kitchen, and as a bonus - less waste.

Anton: In general, at the bar we don’t use so many products that we need to throw them away. But with the berries on which the infusion was made, for example, you can’t do much - they are saturated with alcohol.

What equipment do you use most often in the kitchen?

Georgy: Here we have everything like everyone else - siphons, sous-vides, pacojettes. Plus the oven dictates its own rules.

What about behind the bar?

Anton: Coffee machine. We brew approximately 3.5 thousand servings of coffee per month - this is more than the average coffee shop statistics in Moscow. There are only 10 cars like ours in Russia - this is a unique car.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

Georgy: Probably the most difficult thing is to work on yourself, because working in a restaurant is quite monotonous - you do the same thing, and it can be very difficult to repeat the same thing day after day. The profession of a chef is generally quite versatile - you are both a psychologist and a chef, you must be able to scold and praise, so another difficulty is to find the right direction, the right approach.

What is the most enjoyable thing about your work?

Georgy: What do you think? Guests come, get emotions, come up, thank you, or don’t even thank you, they feel great - you can see from their smiles, from their faces - I think this is the most pleasant thing. Making your guests happy is what it means to be nice)

Anton: Nowadays the culture has become like this, guests, if they liked everything, get up, come up to the distribution and thank you - you gave them a part of yourself, and they give you emotions in return.

What do you need to do to become a professional in your field?

Georgy: You need to believe in what you are doing, love your job and, probably, not despair. Because there are periods when you think that something is somehow wrong, and maybe it’s not yours at all, I myself have had such periods, sometimes I’m in a bad mood... In general, you need not to despair and move forward if you want to be a great professional. My mother told me this: no matter where you are in the profession, you should always be a professional in your field.

Anton: You have to work and understand what you are doing. Because many are like robots - they don’t understand what they are doing. And you need to love your work - if I realize that I no longer like doing what I do, then I will stop.