317 – äåéñòâèòåëüíî íàñòîÿùåå ãîðîäñêîå êàôå: â íåñêîëüêèõ øàãàõ îò îæèâëåííîé Êðàñíîïðåñíåíñêîé íàáåðåæíîé è ñ âèäîì íà ãëàâíûé ïîëèòè÷åñêèé ñèìâîë ñòîëèöû (è âñåé ñòðàíû).

Is it worth writing about a bar and restaurant where the bar would fit in any room in a standard Moscow apartment? In this case, however, size does not matter, because within these modest walls one of Russia’s most respected and experienced bartenders, Alexander Khan, works his magic.

Bar Luch is a sign of the times, indulging the notions of respectability and contemporary art that have matured into the culture of the modern bourgeoisie. Luch, with its name that means a ray of light, was sited in an old lightbulb factory, turning the former factory into a loft gallery and a restaurant-bar at the same time.

This small establishment in the Mayakovsky theater building used to be an exclusive club for the theatrical figures (who created it) and their artist, architect, poet and musician friends. Later Mayak opened its doors to all, but the atmosphere of intellectually unbridled fun remained. Here it is always noisy, smoky, boozy and playful.

Only slang comes to mind to describe the atmosphere of TM Cafe – super, cool, knockout, awesome. The place with a name that stands for “Technology of Youth” belongs to Tash, the host of Comedy Club, a popular television stand-up show. Being a professional entertainer, Tash condones an atmosphere of unrestrained joy in his bar (which is also a club with a dancefloor for 200 guests), the kind you can only feel in your youthful years.

If you want to find in All-Time Bar the stamp of the famous Moscow bartender Dmitry Sokolov, compare it not with Sokolov’s earlier experiments like Tema Bar or Help, but with the later Dream Bar. After developing a fair amount of lively youth projects, Sokolov put his efforts into a new direction: an informal bar for wealthy and accomplished people.

Cuba Libre is a bar for unrestrained merriment, an “Island of freedom” at Chistiye Prudy famous for its relaxed and careless atmosphere, with particularly “democratic” prices and manners. This cosy little place is a textbook illustration of a classic bar with not too much light, dark wood furniture, vintage photographs, the shimmer of racks encased in gold and rows of rainbow-colored bottles.

It is three and a half years since this institution exploded onto the stagnant Moscow party scene. Denis Simachev Shop & Bar, tracing a path from fashionable to stylish, has a bar on the ground floor and a boutique on the second. After trying on a couple of dubious pieces from the new collection, customers descend and enter a magical world of attractive people, stylish music and amazing cocktails.

When you order a cocktail at Free-Bar, you also get a free glass of fun and escapism. This is an institution that successfully balances on the intersection between democratic prices, a relaxed atmosphere and good service. These ingredients are well marinated in an extensive alcohol menu.

Despite the fact that this bar only opened recently, it has already received the nickname “a proper bar bar.” Ketama was intended as a European format bar, where getting heavily drunk and behaving indecently is not smiled upon. People come to establishments like this for a drink or two, to talk and people-watch.

02 Lounge is an upmarket bar in the five-star hotel The Ritz Carlton Moscow on Tverskaya, the capital’s main street. The establishment’s high status comes not only from the hotel’s reputation, but from its location, literally on the roof of the building in intimate proximity to the red stars of the Moscow Kremlin.

The first Starlite Diner, which appeared in the Sad Aquarium next to the Moscow City Council theater in 1995, instantly became a cult hangout. “Come on, we’ll show you a piece of real America,” said expat Americans to their Moscow friends, when inviting them to this stylish restaurant. In the 40s, workers breakfasted on omelettes and sandwiches before their shift in similar diners and, over time, by the end of the 60s, these establishments became glossy, without losing their democratic status, and became a symbol of the American way of life.

An absolutely Spanish place, hidden away behind old Moscow lanes, sunny and warm in any weather. This three-storey mansion is completely devoted to a stylized Spanish restaurant, where the first floor is a cramped bar with sports broadcast non-stop.

Even though the name of The Lounge on the first floor of the Lotte Hotel Moscow is not distinguished by its originality, the place itself is definitely not easy to forget. One whole, probably priceless, wall is made of onyx; you could easily lapse into meditation from the play of textures, colours and rays of light falling softly through the natural stone.