Lunch at Café Pushkin
Moscow, Russia February 28th, 2021
More than 50 years ago, the legendary French singer Gilbert Bécaud performed in Moscow. When he returned to Paris he wrote the song “Natalie” and dedicated it to his Russian guide. The song goes:
“We are walking around Moscow, visiting Red Square, and you are telling me learned things about Lenin and the Revolution, but I’m thinking, ‘I wish we were at Café Pushkin, looking at the snow outside the windows. We’d drink hot chocolate, and talk about something completely different…’”
The song became incredibly popular in France, and it is no wonder that French visitors to Moscow tried to find “Café Pushkin”, but they could not, as it existed only as a poetic fantasy in Bécaud’s song. But it was the song that inspired Andrei Dellos, an artist and restaurateur with Franco-Russian roots, to create “Café Pushkin.”
On June 4, 1999, “Café Pushkin” opened in a Baroque mansion on Tverskoy Boulevard. At the grand opening, Gilbert Bécaud performed his world-famous song “Natalie.”
Tverskoy Boulevard and the streets around it played a significant, almost mystical role in the life of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.
When the boulevard opened in 1796, it became a favorite place among Moscow high society for a stroll. Pushkin could be found there frequently.
The famous dancing master Jogel, who taught dance to the children of Moscow and St Petersburg’s nobility for many years, hosted children’s balls at the house of the Kologrivov family, which stood where the Moscow Gorky Arts Theatre now stands. It was at one such ball that Pushkin met his future wife, Natalya Goncharova. At the far end of the boulevard, near the Nikitsky Gates, is the church where the couple later married. The statue of Pushkin originally stood on Tverskoy Boulevard, too.
In the 1780's, a St. Petersburg nobleman in the service of Empress Catherine the Great retired from the Royal Household and moved to Moscow where he decided to have a house built by Italian architects in a baronial Baroque mansion a la russe style. The house passed to a German aristocrat in the middle of the 19th century as part of his future wife's dowry. Financial ruin forced the new owner to open a pharmacy in the building. The pharmacy was situated on the ground floor and the library, filled with reference books was installed on the upper and mezzanine floors. The customers of the pharmacy could drink restorative beverages while waiting for their medicines to be prepared. Thus a small café appeared on the ground floor of the building.
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Café Pushkin sign
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Outside of building... needs a bit of a makeover
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Part of the menu - keep in mind that 1000 rubles is the equivalent of about $17.50 Cdn. Our lunch cost $150 Cdn. with no alcohol!
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Angie's meat pie appetizer - delicious with incredible pastry
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My Caesar salad with fried chicken wings and her sauerkraut
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My main - herb salmon with mashed sweet potatoe and pineapple, mango, papaya fruit
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My dear friend Angie who is always up for eating out with friends and shopping😋🛍
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Chocolate that came with Angie's dessert
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3rd floor
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3rd floor looking down onto our table by the window
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3rd floor
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3rd floor selfie
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3rd floor
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3rd floor looking down onto 2nd floor where we were - the Library
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The bar / old pharmacy on the main floor - also called the Pharmacy section where 2 beautiful Russian ladies are enjoying their drinks
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If you have a chance to visit, I highly recommend Café Pushkin. The service (all male wait staff) is excellent and attentive, the food is beautifully presented and delicious and the atmosphere is lovely. The price... well that all depends on what you're willing to pay for the experience!
Thank you Ms. Angie! Loved our luncheon date together. 💗
Wow - what an amazing place. I have to admit that I almost drooled more over the library sections than the food! :) Loved the cat statues too.
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