Restaurateur
Saveliy Libkin

Once upon a time I was a year and a half .

I was bathed in the enamelled baby’s bath. Then this baby’s bath has hanged at the balcony on the wall more 47 years as decorative container for some needless things. Then it  has got the photo shoot together with one more item.

The binocular has passed through all war together with my grandfather. Then my brother and I have played with it. Later it was putted as a relic into one of the cupboards. Then it met my eye also…

On tha day of photography at 07: 00 a.m it was 4 degrees below zero at the thermometer.

Today I saw the copy of new catalogue 100 best restaurants of Ukraine.  In comparison with the catalogue of last year the edition became much more presentable, with hard cover and it has suitable  book size. They write that number of printed copies is 15 000. There is enough of interesting information except the raiting in this edition.  And particularly the statistics of national research within the framework of the project, and also the basic restaurant trends from the viewpoint of editor’s company. If to print  for example 100 000 copies of such edition in the basic European languages then we have the real chance to get additionally a few tens of thousands of tourists which are really not enough in Ukraine and in Odessa specifically.

I’m still in Italy.
And meanwhile in the Steakhouse  the preparation for the festival of Tuscan cuisine is at the homestretch already.
The feast in the honour of the opening is planned on the next Thursday and I will be in time in Odessa.
I have received photos of some dishes of the Тuscan menu from Rigan.

Get more photos

We have agreed with Rigan Bagshaw.
2 years of work in London and 3 years of work in Sydney have made the most imortant thing – Rigan is ready to learn in Odessa. In our restaurant company Rigan will has new experince and new opportunities. The soonest time Rigan will be engaged in the development of the menu for the annual Holiday of Toscana cuisine for the restaurant «Steakhouse. Meat&Wine“. Rigan almost doesn’t speak Russian so the famous words of three letters and more he will know not very soon. The first time Rigan will appeare in the hall of the restaurant on the 24 of October 2009.

Yesterday we have tasted the food cooked by Australian with Irish appearance. He has considerable expirience of work in London in the restaurants at the hotels with French cooks. If we will come to agreement today then the soonest time in the Steak  will be the long-expected renewal. Mr. Rigan doesn’t speak Russian at all, let alone the Ukrainian language but he gave high praise to the local products. Аnd I liked his food. One can hear such things from me not often. The dishes which are cooked outside the Hosper will be the subject to renewal. So, the specialization of the restaurant won’t be changed in principle. As earlier we will offer 6-10 types of steaks from the selected and non frozen meat accompanied by interesting and not very expansive wine of Old and New World. More detailed information about Rigan including his photo I will post  further if we wil come to an agreement. The photoes of some dishes from the tasting you can find below.

More dishes

ФОКУС: Лучшие шеф-повара Украины?

The weekly Focus addressed with the questions and predetermined already answers.
The task was”complex”, to estimate 50 cooks appointed by the editorial staff  and to state your versions additionally.

Not only this thing that the majority just  is not able to cook  and they are not cooks in general but tit is also the pretension to  “the best in the country” multiplied by already existing silly pseudostardom will do its work:

• The salary will arise or it should lift up
• The star is supposed to shine (not to cook, not to manage, not to teach, not to train, not to control etc.)
• The ambitions will prevail over the reality ( I am genius, what else should I want)
• The guests will read one and then the weeklies in the restaurant and they will be forecasted, wait, expect and almost always they will be disappointed… Alas!
• The headhuntres will rush to catch the ”talent” by order of the beginner restaurateurs and that new restaurateurs will be surprized much by the quality of the ”stars”.
• ……………………….
• ………………………………………………..It will be many other things.

Where the chefs can appear from in general in the country where there are no professional schols or  institutes and hystory???
Where the excellent cooks can appear from in the country without restaurant culture in general???
Where  from and how the professional reviewers from another restaurants can estimate the cooks in my projects???

Focus just did not take into account the main thing: The history of the restaurant in Ukraine IS NOT DEPEND on the quality of a chef.
The restaurant has a hundred of ways to be decent but do not depend on a half-chef-half-cook…
And the main thing: what relation to our country have the foreign cooks -”guest workers”???
If that’s the case, then the several months the interesting indeed specialists from France, Italy, Greece etc. have worked in Ukraine…
But even they are not the best in their countries, but in our country they do the geniuses from the  gastronomy, but they did not get this rating…

In this rating I have seen the chefs from my own projects and I did not understand the contents of the rating still more.
Ivan is learning to cook, Ruslan is retrained from the metropolitan food to the delicious one, but the process of the teaching takes  yeeaars… and now …already the verdict : The best… it is ridiculous and  sad.