Restaurants (entry)

Categories / City Services/Restaurants, Cafes, Cafeterias
RESTAURANTS, appeared in St. Petersburg in the early 19th century. The first "auberge," also called a tavern (see Traktirs), was located at the Hotel du Nord on Ofitserskaya Street, and was considered a "restaurant" in 1805. Russians pronounced the name "restaurant" in a foreign way. All restaurants were set up in "busy areas", with their windows overlooking the street; their halls were outfitted with soft furniture. In the 1830-40s, a so-called table d'hote was popular in Russia, and consisted of a common table laid at particular times that regular customers knew about, and which provided an informal dinner atmosphere. Initially, owners of most popular restaurants were mainly French (Dume, Talon, and others). Visitors were served by man-servants wearing frock coats. In 1839, restaurateur R. Legrand was the first in St. Petersburg to employ Tatars; after this, Tatar waiters served guests in the city's most fashionable restaurants (such as Grand Hotel Europe). At restaurants, unlike at other establishments, live music was played, and orchestras with popular soloists and Gypsy choruses performed (for example, from 1899, N.F. Shishkov's choir played at Tulon Restaurant at 19 Italyanskaya Street). During the second part of the 19th century, a considerable part of restaurants was turned into parlours and billiard halls. Up to 1861, women were not allowed in restaurants. The majority of restaurants were named after their owners (Palkin; Chvanovsky's at the corner of Kazanskaya Street and Stolyarny Lane, belonged to I.I. Chvanov, owner of several restaurants). Restaurants played an important role in St. Petersburg's cultural and business life; some restaurants became sorts of literary clubs (Davydov's, Maly Yaroslavets). In the 1860s, contributors to the Iskra newspaper met at A.I. Zeest's restaurant (5 Alexandrinskaya Square), until the company moved to Khutorok on Aptekarsky Island. Employees from Otechestvennye Zapiski journal gathered at Dussault Restaurant or at Donon once a month; employees of Birzhevye Vedomosti newspaper gathered at Medved. Various banquets, jubilee celebrations and dinners in honour of the city's guests were arranged at various restaurants. From the mid-19th century, restaurants were opened on the premises of some entertainment establishments. For the first time in St. Petersburg, in 1915, an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord buffet was arranged at Tourist Restaurant (110 Nevsky Prospect). After October 1917, the majority of restaurants were closed down, and some of them (subsequently, all of them) became public property; the tradition of naming a restaurant after its owner was lost. Leningrad citizens kept calling some restaurants by their former names; despite the new signs (Primorsky Restaurant at the corner of Bolshoy Avenue of Petrogradskaya Side and Rybatskaya Street was called Chvanovsky's by older generations up to the 1950s). The number of restaurants rapidly decreased, and they were replaced by communal kitchens, cafeterias, and cafes. The best restaurants from the 1930-70s were located at the Grand Hotel Europe (see Europe) and the Astoria Hotel, catering mostly to foreigners visiting Leningrad. The so-called boat restaurants (Kronverk, Parus, Okean), and some restaurants in the Nevsky Prospect area were especially popular in the 1970s (Kavkazsky, 25 Nevsky Prospect, founded in the early 20th century by I.V. and D.V. Makeev brothers; Metropol, 22 Sadovaya Street). Most servers at Soviet restaurants were women. Some restaurants frequently changed names and cuisine (Severny, 12 Sadovaya Street, was Baku in the 1970s, and Shanghai in the late 1990s). In the 1970-80s, all Leningrad restaurants had lines of waiting guests; some (Kronverk) required a reservation. In the late 1980s, the first private restaurant (the Polesye) was opened at 4 Sredneokhtinsky Avenue. In 1998, the building at 14 Griboedova Embankment housed the first German cuisine restaurant (Chaika). By 2002, St. Petersburg had a variety of restaurants offering Italian food (Pizzicato, 45 Bolshaya Morskaya Street), Eastern cuisine (Kalif, 21 Millionnaya Street), European cuisine (Troika, 27 Zagorodny Avenue), Chinese food (Kitaisky Dvor, 3 Truda Square), French cuisine (Matrosskaya Tishina, 34/54 Marata Street), Georgian cuisine (Bagration, 19/5 Liteiny Avenue) and many other national cuisines. St. Petersburg casinos, hotels, railway stations, airports and other establishments also feature restaurants. There is also a river boat restaurant (Flagman).

Reference: Конечный А. М. [Комментарии] // Светлов С. Ф. Петербургская жизнь в конце XIX столетия (в 1892 г.). СПб., 1998. С. 109-115.

I. A. Bogdanov. Chvanov Ivan Ivanovich
Legrand
Makeev D.V.
Makeev I.V.
Shishkov N.F.
Zeest A.I.
Bolshaya Morskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 45
Bolshoy Ave of Petrograskaya Storona/Saint Petersburg, city
Dekabristov St./Saint Petersburg, city
Griboedova Canal Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 14
Italyanskaya Street/Saint Petersburg, city, house 19
Kazanskaya Street/Saint Petersburg, city
Liteiny Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 5/19
Marata St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 54/34
Millionnaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 21
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city, house 110
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city, house 25
Ostrovsky Square/Saint Petersburg, city, house 5
Rybatskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city
Sadovaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 22
Sadovaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 12
Sredneokhtinsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 4
Stolyarny Lane/Saint Petersburg, city
Truda Square/Saint Petersburg, city, house 3
Zagorodny Avenue/Saint Petersburg, city, house 27
Светлов С. Ф. Петербургская жизнь в конце XIX столетия (в 1892 г.). СПб., 1998 Traktirs (entry)
Dume Restaurant
Talon Restaurant
Palkin Restaurants
Davydov's Restaurant
Maly Yaroslavets Restaurant
Dussault Restaurant
Donon Restaurant
Medved Restaurant
Grand Hotel Europe
Astoria Hotel