For example, Arkady Novikov's vast empire extends from the elite Cantinetta Antinori to the ubiquitous Yolki-Palki. Andrei Dellos' portfolio, crowned by Turandot, includes the inexpensive Mu-Mu cafes. Likewise, Roman Rozhnikovsky, co-owner of Nostalgie and Shatyor, is developing the democratic segment of his business, with plans to turn the Grabli brand into an extensive network.
The first Grabli -- or "rake" -- opened near Alexeyevskaya metro station on Prospekt Mira in late 2003, bringing Moscow the so-called "free-flow" self-service and open-kitchen format seen at the massive Lido complex in Riga. With its huge selection of affordable food -- the average bill is said to be 200 rubles -- this first 350-seat Grabli unsurprisingly proved a hit.
A second, 500-seat Grabli opened last year at the Moscow State Construction University on Yaroslavskoye Shosse. Now the chain has gained a foothold in the center, with the opening in late August of a Grabli on Pyatnitskaya Ulitsa.
With a self-serve dining area, cafe, bar and summer terrace, the three-level, 1,200-square-meter restaurant has capacity to seat 450 people inside and 100 outside. While the first Grabli has a country style, the new restaurant's theme is fin-de-siecle fantasy, in keeping with its location in a renovated 19th-century estate house.
As at the other restaurants in the chain, the menu consists of 200 hot and cold dishes, including mussels baked under cheese (23 rubles apiece), borshch (55-90 rubles), a 59-ruble vegetable salad bar and a 75-ruble fruit salad bar.
According to Rozhnikovsky's press office, the opening is part of a $60 million project to create about 20 Grabli restaurants around Moscow in the next five years. The participation of a city government minister and the central administrative district prefect in the opening was no coincidence -- the project has the support of City Hall, which has long been keen to foster the development of "people's restaurants" in the capital.
27 Pyatnitskaya Ul., 545-0830/0831, 9 a.m.-midnight, M. Novokuznetskaya.
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