| | | ATO Newsletter March 2007 -- Fine Food and Dining Download the full ATO Newsletter with the link on the right.
Main Article: Fine Dining and Fine Foods: An Interview with Dmitry Pronin
Dmitry Pronin, Manager of Filomonova and Yankel Fish House, has been in the restaurant industry in Moscow for over 12 years. During that time, he has seen a lot of changes in both the way the industry operates and consumer tastes. The Russian Market Place visited with him about his restaurant, food trends, and his views on changes in this growing industry.
Fish House has been tremendously successful, along with its partner steakhouse chain Goodman, named for jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman. The restaurants are fully Russian-owned and managed. I asked Dmitry how they position both Fish House and Goodman in the market. He says that they provide a very high quality product at moderate prices, and that both Fish House and Goodman Steakhouse are accessible for a large segment of the population. Goodman is celebrating the opening of its 5th restaurant in Moscow, and there are four Fish House locations. The new restaurant just opened at the European Trade Center, Moscow’s newest and Europe’s largest downtown mall, with over 320 shops. There are plans to open a Goodman in St. Petersburg within a few months, and southern Russia in late 2007 or 2008. There are also plans underway to open a Goodman location in London!
Both Goodman Steakhouse and Fish House have menus that resemble their North American counterparts. This is in contrast to traditional Russian menus that may feature 30-40 different main courses alone! Dmitry prefers to have fewer, consistently good offerings. New dishes are introduced through daily specials, but changes to the main menu are not frequent.
He consistently mentions that the restaurants have been successful because of its reputation for quality, and that preserving this is the most important element in their business plan. When selecting ingredients and dishes, he is always will to pay more to get the best.
Consistency in the ingredients is also a concern, and Dmitry says that they must work with a variety of distributors to procure a high quality, consistent product. He is very proud of the fact that they import their cheesecake from Brooklyn, New York!
Dmitry says high quality products can be found in Russia, but the price is high and consistency is a problem. Restaurants pay for local transportation costs of products. Since freshness and quality are such key issues, he prefers to order in small shipments without a large assortment to ensure a high turnover of stock.
At both Goodman and Fish House, the meat makes the meal. While they strive for quality in all areas of the menu, fish and steak reign supreme.
“No exotic fish on the menu! That way we can make sure there is fresh fish every day. We use a lot of sea bass and trout. Smoked fish is very popular, but grilled and pan-seared dishes are also sell well. It depends on the texture and flavor of the fish. Lobster is very popular. We usually sell 600g. lobster tails at Fish House.”
Wine and spirits are another area of opportunity for restaurants and American suppliers. There is a noticeable lack of American wine on the list:
“We get most of our wine from Italy and Chile, because of the price. Some European wine is too expensive. We used to sell Australian wine, but not anymore. It didn’t sell. We would like to sell some American wines, but we don’t work with anyone who carries it. Russians aren’t aware that America produces quality wine.”
When asked about current trends in Russia, Dmitry says that there are more professional managers with experience and that the restaurant business in Russia is becoming more service oriented. He sees a constant quest for improvement, both in product offering and management style. Unlike in the Soviet era, Russia today is a quality conscious market. At the end of our discussion, I asked Dmitry what he thought the secret to their success was:
“Always get the best quality you can find, even if the price is higher. That is what makes our reputation. If the quality is not there, we lose face with the customer.”
Good advice for any just about any business!
Reported by Newsletter editor Chelsea Brown.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Opportunities in Food: Talking with the Russian Restaurant Industry’s Dmitry Pronin
The Industry
·The New Russian Consumer
·Fruit Trade: Ripe for Growth
·Alcohol Update
News and Notes
·Culinary Classes
·New Russian TV SeriesSparks Interest in American Foods
United States – Russian Trade Through December 2007
Other Happenings: NRA Pavilion and U.S. Seafood Reception
USDA in Russia
ATO Upcoming Events
Download the other articles from the March 2007 newsletter by pasting the URL below into your internet browser or by downloading it with the link on the right of this page.
http://eng.usda.ru/en/docs/94.pdf
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