Svetlana Drobot

I was brought into the restaurant business by my husband, Setrak Depelyan, who had experience working with Semifreddo Group. In 2007, we opened two projects at once, and we haven’t stopped since. We began with large restaurants in shopping malls and bedroom communities. It was a good and sustainable business, but we wanted something more, we wanted to bring some old dreams to life. Our first such ambitious project was Tokyo Sushi at Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street. It was completely unlike everything we’ve done before. It has an intimate format, a different kind of budget, different architects, goals, and objectives. And a completely different final product, which is, obviously, more expensive. That said, when we opened in 2018, Bolshaya Nikitskaya wasn’t the gastro street it is now. It was an experiment. And then the street began to blossom — and we grew with it. Today, we open new places in a different format: they are small, they are far from the hustle and bustle, other restaurateurs don’t go there. As for us — I guess we are not afraid of risk. That’s how we opened Linbistró. I had a feeling that Ostozhenka Street needs a good restaurant: not some haunt for the residents of the “Golden Mile,” with a high heels-only dress code, but a raucous cool place for everyone who finds themselves in the neighborhood — there was never a place like that there. Our next project opened in the middle of last year. It’s a restaurant called Rebecca, and it’s at Khamovniki district, in the Garden Quarters residential complex. It’s not on the street front — the restaurant is hidden deep in the courtyard. And there’s still construction around us — there will be a wonderful pond there. But we had opened our doors already, and we were right to do so: despite its inaccessibility, the restaurant shows good sales, and we are waiting for the summer, when the pond will be completed and will become a point of attraction. In our family tandem, each has their strengths. Setrak is more about legal issues, construction, disciplinary, systemic issues, organizational details. And I am responsible for design and kitchen. At some point, we decided that we will use old furniture, vintage stuff, objects of art in each of our projects. For me, this is a conscious consumption of sorts, when you have something with a history, something that catches your eye, something you want to touch, something that brings you certain emotions and memories. In truth, I was always in love with this kind of stuff. When I was small, my favorite pastime was taking apart old wardrobes, cupboards, and busying myself with dishware. And even when I moved from Omsk to Moscow and brought my parents here, these cupboards and wardrobes with grandmother dishes came both with them and myself. I guess, subconsciously I wanted my restaurant to have such a cupboard with really old beautiful dishes. So, I’m gradually filling my vision board. At Tokyo Sushi, for example, all the cutlery is vintage German silver. And we have an antique chinoiserie cupboard filled with Japanese plates bought at a flea market there. Some things are brought to us by interior designers and some things we find on our own. This particular cupboard we found at Avito (Russian analogue of Ebay). Today, all our key managers are the kings of Avito. I think that all these antiques impart a certain depth on our projects. There is a dialogue with the guests — I think that’s something I do well.