Russia's Restaurant Boom

In case you weren’t aware of it, Russia is in the grips of a restaurant boom (and not just in Moscow) that has combined with a local produce movement to create a “new Russian cuisine.” This would have been hard to imagine just ten years ago, but here we are.

This is how it happened.

First, some background. For the average Soviet, a restaurant visit was rare, usually as a splurge to celebrate some momentous occasion. People either ate at home or in cafeterias scattered around cities under the auspices of enterprises and organizations. While prices and quality of products were higher in Soviet restaurants, the menus were largely lackluster.