restaurants as fate
1 June 2021 0 comments
"FOR ME RESTAURANTS ARE NOT JUST A WORK, BUT A WHOLE PHILOSOPHY"
Sergey Mironov. Restaurateur, founder of Meat & Ryba restaurants, Vice President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia, President of the Union of Restaurant Managers of the Russian Federation, Ombudsman for Moscow Restaurant Business, Associate Professor, Lecturer at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation ...
He could have gone into politics, into power, but his restaurants are his life. Sergey is sure that the famous Mironoff steaks will soon be tasted not only in the most remote corners of Russia, but also in Europe and even in America. Five years should be enough for this ... And administrative positions are needed only to help the industry develop.
TO OTHERS FOR GOOD
Sergei, last time you gave a big interview to Restaurant Vedomosti five years ago. How have you, your approaches to business, Meat & Fish restaurants changed during this time?
Today "Meat & Fish" consists of eight restaurants in Moscow and one in Volgograd. We deliberately took a risk and launched a franchise in a city that many call the "depressed millionaire". It was important for us to tackle a region that is not the easiest in terms of doing business and prove that you can and should go there in order to become, without exaggeration, the best restaurant in the city. Expectations were justified: Volgograd residents accepted our concept, and for us it was a kind of “grafting with difficulties”. And, in my opinion, we passed this exam.
Our restaurants all this time also did not stand still: the menu was improved, textbooks were written for waiters and managers. "Meat & Fish" have become truly technological establishments. Today we are the largest steak and fish house in Russia in terms of area, and we are also a really powerful franchise, perhaps of all those I know. This is an enterprise that can operate under a franchise in any city and in any country.
If we talk about me, over the past five years I have grown in a certain sense - both professionally and as a social activist, and in the awareness that now it is my turn to give something to the restaurant business. Related to this is the social work that I have undertaken and which now takes up most of my time.
You could, of course, sit still, scold officials or the authorities, but why not do something yourself to change the situation? It is clear that one in the field is not a warrior, but I thought that I could be involved in a common cause.
The list of your public positions is now quite extensive: vice-president of FRO, president of the Union of Restaurant Managers of Russia, ombudsman for the Moscow restaurant business ... Some are already talking that you will leave restaurants and go into politics.
It will not happen. There are various proposals, there are many of them. But I will not leave the restaurants. If someone can call what I am doing now "politics", then this is the policy that is directed towards all restaurateurs, without exception. Personally, I do not have any benefit from this and do not receive any preferences for my restaurants. Moreover, I have never addressed such a question to anyone. Everything I do in this sense is geared towards the needs of the restaurant community as a whole.
"CROWN" FOR EMPIRE
You were about to build your restaurant empire, but the coronavirus crisis hit. How has the pandemic changed your plans?
We have stopped several projects in Russian cities and, what is most offensive, in Europe, where we were already preparing to go. These were serious franchise projects, strong agreements, one of which, by the way, concerned the United States. Alas, Europe and America are stopped for us for today, and our regions are temporarily on pause. But this does not mean that we have said goodbye to our ideas.
You said that you could find pluses in the "crown" ...
The pandemic has helped to unite many restaurateurs - all the major players in our market have rallied. And now it really is a chorus of voices, and not single exclamations. We have a common path, common goals and ways to achieve them. Perhaps we can say thanks to the "crown" for this.
You have managed to do without closures. At what cost did you manage to keep the staff?
We are, I repeat, a project tailored for a franchise. And here it was very important how each of our franchisees behaved. I don't take all the credit for myself. And then, "Meat & Fish" is a rather perfect, universal concept. We, like a big car, were able to stop and turn off the engines for a while without any particular risks - this, in fact, won. The losses from the pandemic turned out to be minimal for us, we started up pretty quickly and soon leveled our position.
The correct leader is not the one who has taken everything upon himself and dragged himself out with an effort. This is just a lousy manager. The leader does not work with tasks, but with people who solve them.
And how were your colleagues doing at that time? You once said that the restaurant business as a whole has not yet recovered from the 2014 crisis.
Yes, all this time it remained low-margin and unattractive for investors. In general, I consider those people who, after 2014, remained in the restaurant business, or accidentally survived (these are those who initially came at random and managed to stay, not fully realizing what was happening around), or real fans, for whom restaurants are not just work, but a whole philosophy.
It is clear that many establishments did not survive the pandemic. It is also clear that the closings will not end until the end of this year. Many of our colleagues took out loans - they need to be paid off, and the proceeds that restaurateurs receive, naturally, do not meet their expectations.
Yes, the guest went. But in democratic and luxury formats, average restaurants have expectedly sagged. People are still saving, the average check fell by 10-15%. And in business centers for lunch-oriented restaurants and office workers, profitability dropped by 30% at once.
Prices from suppliers are growing daily, we have to adjust, so it is inappropriate to make long-term forecasts now. If earlier we could try to plan something in advance, then in the current situation this number will no longer work.
SPEAK TO HEAR
Recently, you have been communicating a lot with restaurateurs from the regions. Why do you need this? Is there a fundamental difference for you in how your colleagues are doing in the capital and in the provinces?
I am the ombudsman for Moscow and the Moscow region and I can say for sure that here the attention to the restaurant business is more focused and targeted, restaurateurs are really heard and understood. And in most regions, the restaurant business is something insignificant, which is not even taken into account. We often have to travel to other cities, arrange video communication with local restaurateurs and authorities in order - in general, a paradox - to explain to the latter the importance of the restaurant business to them. Moscow and the Moscow Region are the flagships of the industry and a happy exception. There are, of course, other regions with a normal attitude towards restaurateurs. But I have outlined the general picture.
You often attend working meetings in ministries, write posts about the "power - entrepreneur" link. There is no feeling that these meetings are sometimes held for show and you are sometimes invited simply as a wedding general?
If I am invited as a wedding general, I disappoint everyone very quickly. I am inconvenient in this sense: I will not remain silent when I disagree with something or I do not like something - I always sharply criticize. I think, because of this, they have not called me for a long time where you just need to assent. I am not silent at all when I have something to say - I say right away. Therefore, I consider working groups with my participation not profanity, but really effective. They, as a rule, are ready to speak with business, and the business itself has an influence on the process of lawmaking. If suddenly something happens differently, then in the end I definitely leave such groups.
By the way, about social activities: globally, the restaurateur does not need this. Only time from work takes away, unless, of course, you are pursuing some kind of personal benefit. My position is fundamental: I don't ask for anything for our restaurants. You can consider it altruism, but I came to this decision consciously: our country, our business. Rather than moaning that everything is bad with us, it is better to roll up our sleeves and dig in the right direction. So I'm digging. But I hope this is not forever and I will also have time for restaurants.
Time for restaurants is also time for PR. You say that Sergei Mironov is his own marketer. Is this a hype or did you deliberately decide not to hire a professional PR man?
Since our brand has been associated with my name, I have given up on the services of marketers. Posts in social networks should be mine, steps and initiatives should come from me. Otherwise, it will all be artificial. There is no army of specially trained people behind me: I myself maintain pages on Facebook and Instargram, I myself respond to comments, I build relationships with bloggers. I have long noticed that to entrust, say, contacts with them to someone else means to lose the bloggers loyal to you for good. Even guests often come "to Mironov's restaurants" or "for a steak from Mironov", rather than just "there and for such and such a dish." My job and my responsibility are behind all this.
That is, you are against the promotion of some second person, for example, a chef? Some restaurants deliberately forge big names for them, make them stars.
I do not mind if this “second person” develops not himself, but restaurants. I will only support such a move, but again, let's not forget about the franchise project. Yes, when your name or someone else's, you gain extra weight. But only everything should go for the good of the cause.
WHEN THE MACHINE IS ON THE GO
Is it true that, despite the increased advertising after the "crown", restaurants are still waiting for difficult times - rising prices, outflow of guests?
I do not think so. Prices are constantly creeping up, alcohol has already risen in price by 15%. And although the state is trying to curb this growth, food in stores continues to rise in price. However, restaurateurs are no different from everyone else, and they will not invent a bicycle. Yes, we will be forced to raise prices by twenty percent. But this inevitable step is unlikely to drive all of us into depression.
What is the secret of your restaurants being unsinkable? Successful concept, investors , loyal landlords?
Meat & Fish is a machine. I've always said that. Previously, however, I believed that a restaurant is a living organism, with its own internal processes. And there you have to be inseparable, make decisions every second. But in our project, I gave up this vision. Yes, we are a working machine, a robot. And we should not depend either on people or on any technical factors: a clear maintenance, a well-honed scheme of work without failures. The rain has gone, the sun has warmed up, frost has hit - we should not care, we work as we did.
What do you think of the divide and conquer principle? Do you delegate authority or do you carry all this cart alone?
The correct leader is not the one who has taken everything upon himself and dragged himself out with an effort. This is just a lousy manager, more like an executor. A leader is one who does not work with tasks, but with people who solve them.
You often post videos of all sorts of tastings. Is it true that most of the menus in your restaurants are your own ideas?
These are not my ideas. They are drawn from the world's gastronomy - different countries, different restaurants. Our task is to adapt, logically change the best, top dishes for our guests. Therefore, they are not at all from the head (mine or the chef's). We borrow them from world experience.
The brand chef of your restaurants - is he a mechanical performer or is he a creative person?
He's a versatile person. Combines the performer, the creator, and the manager. Dishes change, and we cannot just take something from somewhere and apply it to ourselves. Therefore, it is very important here to find such a person who would feel the fine line between creativity and the fulfillment of assigned tasks.
SERIOUS ARGUMENTS
How would you personally be able to motivate a sophisticated guest, a real gourmet, to come to your restaurants a second time?
And he will come to us anyway. Well, either already with us. If I myself directly communicate with a person who is “in the subject”, he will hear from me why it is worth trying our dishes, what and how we prepare them, and he will learn the essence of our concept (natural domestic product, healthy, without chemicals). I will tell him about wild fish from the cold Russian seas, about premium grain-fed farm beef, about author's marinades and sauces (for example, pepper, which we cook from a mixture of peppers for 16 hours, and as a result, every pea there explodes with a whole bunch of tastes and aromas - just a bomb). I'll also tell you about why I eat all this myself and bring my family and friends to our restaurants. And of course he wants to come back. In general, in such cases, I have a 100% refund.
What will you entice a beginner with?
The same! And also the features of the menu. In principle, we initially made it in such a way that, if you tell about it correctly, present dishes, a person will want to walk and try it all.
Here are the most popular examples: two steaks - our signature "Mironoff" and from wild salmon. "Mironoff" is a "secret" top steak. This one simply had to appear on our menu. We often heard from guests that the ribeye is too fat, and the filet mignon does not fit either in size or in taste. The question arose: how to make a steak that is perfect in every way? I suggested the solution myself: we chose a special cut (without fat layers) and added a little shashlik shade to it with the help of a special marinade. Many people said, they say, such experiments will not work, what kind of “pickled steak” Muscovites-meat-eaters will not appreciate! But I myself often cook meat on an open fire at the dacha, I know everything about it, I experimented a lot and I am sure: the barbecue taste is our native, primordial, originally from childhood. As a result, we got a pound of pure pleasure. The steak came out excellent! And his name was chosen by my subscribers in social networks, where I told about our new product. Of course, now, passing by the kitchen, I sometimes feel embarrassed to hear people asking for "Mironov with Blood", but all these are trifles, the main thing is that the steak is an absolute hit. By the way, we do not raise the prices for meat either: ready-made first-class steaks are cheaper here than from competitors or in stores (if you want to cook a steak yourself at home). Honest meat at a fair price is our basis and principle.
And if you love fish, then try the fish king - king salmon, chinook salmon, wild salmon. At first, we tried to cook it under the guidance of a cook from Kamchatka, since our fish turned out to be dry. The cook explained that this is not an artificially bred Norwegian salmon with fat, and therefore it should be so. But we were not convinced by such arguments, and we invited a chef from Canada. He, too, when preparing chinook salmon, said that natural fish should be a little dry. But since the dryish fish is unlikely to please our Russian guest, we began to develop a marinade that would retain moisture in the chavycha, we looked for the temperature of the sous vide so that the fish would not dry out and lose its taste. Then they worked on the sauce, burned the fish with fire so that the guest did not think that the chinook salmon was boiled. That is, we went to the impeccable salmon for a very long time, trying to make it not only tasty, but also juicy and healthy. Whether we succeeded in this is up to the guest.
I'll check it out at Meat & Fish. Moreover, this fish is rare: although it is caught in Russia, a considerable part of it "floats" for export abroad. We managed to buy a large batch for our restaurants and today we are happy to recommend the dish to our guests. By the way, they never refuse.
Today we are the largest steak and fish house in Russia in terms of area, and we are also a really powerful franchise, perhaps of all those I know. This is an enterprise that can operate under a franchise in any city and in any country.
MAXIMUM PROGRAM
Restaurateur Sergei Mironov can afford to get tired? How do you relax? Can you imagine you far from civilization, from social activities?
Easily. I can lock myself in a room all day and read a book. I would even say two books a day (I own speed reading, if it was wrong). Hunting Fishing. I can go to places where my mobile phone is not caught. In general, I love nature very much, it is a priority for me, so I try to arrange for myself such an emotional detox. But I will always prefer not a meaningless beach vacation, but the picturesque corners of Russia.
What about the maximum program for any man: build a house, plant a tree, raise a son?
The house has been built, there are two children, 23 and 18 years old, planted several hundred trees - that's all right. They have their own household: rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, guinea fowls, a garden, a vegetable garden. I love being on the ground, working with my hands, tinkering with plants, this is definitely my topic.
If we meet at the next interview in another five years, how do you see yourself, your trip to the business and restaurants "Meat & Fish"?
I see a powerful franchise deployed - Europe, USA, Russia. I have a dream - to prove to the whole world that Russian restaurateurs are no worse (and even better) than many foreign ones. I want to go out there with my project and conquer their market.
And I think in five years, when we meet, we will already be able to talk about it.
Link to publication: https://restoranoff.ru/experts_aricle/interview/dlya-menya-restorany-ne-prosto-rabota-a-tselaya-filosofiya/
Sergey Mironov. Restaurateur, founder of Meat & Ryba restaurants, Vice President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia, President of the Union of Restaurant Managers of the Russian Federation, Ombudsman for Moscow Restaurant Business, Associate Professor, Lecturer at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation ...
He could have gone into politics, into power, but his restaurants are his life. Sergey is sure that the famous Mironoff steaks will soon be tasted not only in the most remote corners of Russia, but also in Europe and even in America. Five years should be enough for this ... And administrative positions are needed only to help the industry develop.
TO OTHERS FOR GOOD
Sergei, last time you gave a big interview to Restaurant Vedomosti five years ago. How have you, your approaches to business, Meat & Fish restaurants changed during this time?
Today "Meat & Fish" consists of eight restaurants in Moscow and one in Volgograd. We deliberately took a risk and launched a franchise in a city that many call the "depressed millionaire". It was important for us to tackle a region that is not the easiest in terms of doing business and prove that you can and should go there in order to become, without exaggeration, the best restaurant in the city. Expectations were justified: Volgograd residents accepted our concept, and for us it was a kind of “grafting with difficulties”. And, in my opinion, we passed this exam.
Our restaurants all this time also did not stand still: the menu was improved, textbooks were written for waiters and managers. "Meat & Fish" have become truly technological establishments. Today we are the largest steak and fish house in Russia in terms of area, and we are also a really powerful franchise, perhaps of all those I know. This is an enterprise that can operate under a franchise in any city and in any country.
If we talk about me, over the past five years I have grown in a certain sense - both professionally and as a social activist, and in the awareness that now it is my turn to give something to the restaurant business. Related to this is the social work that I have undertaken and which now takes up most of my time.
You could, of course, sit still, scold officials or the authorities, but why not do something yourself to change the situation? It is clear that one in the field is not a warrior, but I thought that I could be involved in a common cause.
The list of your public positions is now quite extensive: vice-president of FRO, president of the Union of Restaurant Managers of Russia, ombudsman for the Moscow restaurant business ... Some are already talking that you will leave restaurants and go into politics.
It will not happen. There are various proposals, there are many of them. But I will not leave the restaurants. If someone can call what I am doing now "politics", then this is the policy that is directed towards all restaurateurs, without exception. Personally, I do not have any benefit from this and do not receive any preferences for my restaurants. Moreover, I have never addressed such a question to anyone. Everything I do in this sense is geared towards the needs of the restaurant community as a whole.
"CROWN" FOR EMPIRE
You were about to build your restaurant empire, but the coronavirus crisis hit. How has the pandemic changed your plans?
We have stopped several projects in Russian cities and, what is most offensive, in Europe, where we were already preparing to go. These were serious franchise projects, strong agreements, one of which, by the way, concerned the United States. Alas, Europe and America are stopped for us for today, and our regions are temporarily on pause. But this does not mean that we have said goodbye to our ideas.
You said that you could find pluses in the "crown" ...
The pandemic has helped to unite many restaurateurs - all the major players in our market have rallied. And now it really is a chorus of voices, and not single exclamations. We have a common path, common goals and ways to achieve them. Perhaps we can say thanks to the "crown" for this.
You have managed to do without closures. At what cost did you manage to keep the staff?
We are, I repeat, a project tailored for a franchise. And here it was very important how each of our franchisees behaved. I don't take all the credit for myself. And then, "Meat & Fish" is a rather perfect, universal concept. We, like a big car, were able to stop and turn off the engines for a while without any particular risks - this, in fact, won. The losses from the pandemic turned out to be minimal for us, we started up pretty quickly and soon leveled our position.
The correct leader is not the one who has taken everything upon himself and dragged himself out with an effort. This is just a lousy manager. The leader does not work with tasks, but with people who solve them.
And how were your colleagues doing at that time? You once said that the restaurant business as a whole has not yet recovered from the 2014 crisis.
Yes, all this time it remained low-margin and unattractive for investors. In general, I consider those people who, after 2014, remained in the restaurant business, or accidentally survived (these are those who initially came at random and managed to stay, not fully realizing what was happening around), or real fans, for whom restaurants are not just work, but a whole philosophy.
It is clear that many establishments did not survive the pandemic. It is also clear that the closings will not end until the end of this year. Many of our colleagues took out loans - they need to be paid off, and the proceeds that restaurateurs receive, naturally, do not meet their expectations.
Yes, the guest went. But in democratic and luxury formats, average restaurants have expectedly sagged. People are still saving, the average check fell by 10-15%. And in business centers for lunch-oriented restaurants and office workers, profitability dropped by 30% at once.
Prices from suppliers are growing daily, we have to adjust, so it is inappropriate to make long-term forecasts now. If earlier we could try to plan something in advance, then in the current situation this number will no longer work.
SPEAK TO HEAR
Recently, you have been communicating a lot with restaurateurs from the regions. Why do you need this? Is there a fundamental difference for you in how your colleagues are doing in the capital and in the provinces?
I am the ombudsman for Moscow and the Moscow region and I can say for sure that here the attention to the restaurant business is more focused and targeted, restaurateurs are really heard and understood. And in most regions, the restaurant business is something insignificant, which is not even taken into account. We often have to travel to other cities, arrange video communication with local restaurateurs and authorities in order - in general, a paradox - to explain to the latter the importance of the restaurant business to them. Moscow and the Moscow Region are the flagships of the industry and a happy exception. There are, of course, other regions with a normal attitude towards restaurateurs. But I have outlined the general picture.
You often attend working meetings in ministries, write posts about the "power - entrepreneur" link. There is no feeling that these meetings are sometimes held for show and you are sometimes invited simply as a wedding general?
If I am invited as a wedding general, I disappoint everyone very quickly. I am inconvenient in this sense: I will not remain silent when I disagree with something or I do not like something - I always sharply criticize. I think, because of this, they have not called me for a long time where you just need to assent. I am not silent at all when I have something to say - I say right away. Therefore, I consider working groups with my participation not profanity, but really effective. They, as a rule, are ready to speak with business, and the business itself has an influence on the process of lawmaking. If suddenly something happens differently, then in the end I definitely leave such groups.
By the way, about social activities: globally, the restaurateur does not need this. Only time from work takes away, unless, of course, you are pursuing some kind of personal benefit. My position is fundamental: I don't ask for anything for our restaurants. You can consider it altruism, but I came to this decision consciously: our country, our business. Rather than moaning that everything is bad with us, it is better to roll up our sleeves and dig in the right direction. So I'm digging. But I hope this is not forever and I will also have time for restaurants.
Time for restaurants is also time for PR. You say that Sergei Mironov is his own marketer. Is this a hype or did you deliberately decide not to hire a professional PR man?
Since our brand has been associated with my name, I have given up on the services of marketers. Posts in social networks should be mine, steps and initiatives should come from me. Otherwise, it will all be artificial. There is no army of specially trained people behind me: I myself maintain pages on Facebook and Instargram, I myself respond to comments, I build relationships with bloggers. I have long noticed that to entrust, say, contacts with them to someone else means to lose the bloggers loyal to you for good. Even guests often come "to Mironov's restaurants" or "for a steak from Mironov", rather than just "there and for such and such a dish." My job and my responsibility are behind all this.
That is, you are against the promotion of some second person, for example, a chef? Some restaurants deliberately forge big names for them, make them stars.
I do not mind if this “second person” develops not himself, but restaurants. I will only support such a move, but again, let's not forget about the franchise project. Yes, when your name or someone else's, you gain extra weight. But only everything should go for the good of the cause.
WHEN THE MACHINE IS ON THE GO
Is it true that, despite the increased advertising after the "crown", restaurants are still waiting for difficult times - rising prices, outflow of guests?
I do not think so. Prices are constantly creeping up, alcohol has already risen in price by 15%. And although the state is trying to curb this growth, food in stores continues to rise in price. However, restaurateurs are no different from everyone else, and they will not invent a bicycle. Yes, we will be forced to raise prices by twenty percent. But this inevitable step is unlikely to drive all of us into depression.
What is the secret of your restaurants being unsinkable? Successful concept, investors , loyal landlords?
Meat & Fish is a machine. I've always said that. Previously, however, I believed that a restaurant is a living organism, with its own internal processes. And there you have to be inseparable, make decisions every second. But in our project, I gave up this vision. Yes, we are a working machine, a robot. And we should not depend either on people or on any technical factors: a clear maintenance, a well-honed scheme of work without failures. The rain has gone, the sun has warmed up, frost has hit - we should not care, we work as we did.
What do you think of the divide and conquer principle? Do you delegate authority or do you carry all this cart alone?
The correct leader is not the one who has taken everything upon himself and dragged himself out with an effort. This is just a lousy manager, more like an executor. A leader is one who does not work with tasks, but with people who solve them.
You often post videos of all sorts of tastings. Is it true that most of the menus in your restaurants are your own ideas?
These are not my ideas. They are drawn from the world's gastronomy - different countries, different restaurants. Our task is to adapt, logically change the best, top dishes for our guests. Therefore, they are not at all from the head (mine or the chef's). We borrow them from world experience.
The brand chef of your restaurants - is he a mechanical performer or is he a creative person?
He's a versatile person. Combines the performer, the creator, and the manager. Dishes change, and we cannot just take something from somewhere and apply it to ourselves. Therefore, it is very important here to find such a person who would feel the fine line between creativity and the fulfillment of assigned tasks.
SERIOUS ARGUMENTS
How would you personally be able to motivate a sophisticated guest, a real gourmet, to come to your restaurants a second time?
And he will come to us anyway. Well, either already with us. If I myself directly communicate with a person who is “in the subject”, he will hear from me why it is worth trying our dishes, what and how we prepare them, and he will learn the essence of our concept (natural domestic product, healthy, without chemicals). I will tell him about wild fish from the cold Russian seas, about premium grain-fed farm beef, about author's marinades and sauces (for example, pepper, which we cook from a mixture of peppers for 16 hours, and as a result, every pea there explodes with a whole bunch of tastes and aromas - just a bomb). I'll also tell you about why I eat all this myself and bring my family and friends to our restaurants. And of course he wants to come back. In general, in such cases, I have a 100% refund.
What will you entice a beginner with?
The same! And also the features of the menu. In principle, we initially made it in such a way that, if you tell about it correctly, present dishes, a person will want to walk and try it all.
Here are the most popular examples: two steaks - our signature "Mironoff" and from wild salmon. "Mironoff" is a "secret" top steak. This one simply had to appear on our menu. We often heard from guests that the ribeye is too fat, and the filet mignon does not fit either in size or in taste. The question arose: how to make a steak that is perfect in every way? I suggested the solution myself: we chose a special cut (without fat layers) and added a little shashlik shade to it with the help of a special marinade. Many people said, they say, such experiments will not work, what kind of “pickled steak” Muscovites-meat-eaters will not appreciate! But I myself often cook meat on an open fire at the dacha, I know everything about it, I experimented a lot and I am sure: the barbecue taste is our native, primordial, originally from childhood. As a result, we got a pound of pure pleasure. The steak came out excellent! And his name was chosen by my subscribers in social networks, where I told about our new product. Of course, now, passing by the kitchen, I sometimes feel embarrassed to hear people asking for "Mironov with Blood", but all these are trifles, the main thing is that the steak is an absolute hit. By the way, we do not raise the prices for meat either: ready-made first-class steaks are cheaper here than from competitors or in stores (if you want to cook a steak yourself at home). Honest meat at a fair price is our basis and principle.
And if you love fish, then try the fish king - king salmon, chinook salmon, wild salmon. At first, we tried to cook it under the guidance of a cook from Kamchatka, since our fish turned out to be dry. The cook explained that this is not an artificially bred Norwegian salmon with fat, and therefore it should be so. But we were not convinced by such arguments, and we invited a chef from Canada. He, too, when preparing chinook salmon, said that natural fish should be a little dry. But since the dryish fish is unlikely to please our Russian guest, we began to develop a marinade that would retain moisture in the chavycha, we looked for the temperature of the sous vide so that the fish would not dry out and lose its taste. Then they worked on the sauce, burned the fish with fire so that the guest did not think that the chinook salmon was boiled. That is, we went to the impeccable salmon for a very long time, trying to make it not only tasty, but also juicy and healthy. Whether we succeeded in this is up to the guest.
I'll check it out at Meat & Fish. Moreover, this fish is rare: although it is caught in Russia, a considerable part of it "floats" for export abroad. We managed to buy a large batch for our restaurants and today we are happy to recommend the dish to our guests. By the way, they never refuse.
Today we are the largest steak and fish house in Russia in terms of area, and we are also a really powerful franchise, perhaps of all those I know. This is an enterprise that can operate under a franchise in any city and in any country.
MAXIMUM PROGRAM
Restaurateur Sergei Mironov can afford to get tired? How do you relax? Can you imagine you far from civilization, from social activities?
Easily. I can lock myself in a room all day and read a book. I would even say two books a day (I own speed reading, if it was wrong). Hunting Fishing. I can go to places where my mobile phone is not caught. In general, I love nature very much, it is a priority for me, so I try to arrange for myself such an emotional detox. But I will always prefer not a meaningless beach vacation, but the picturesque corners of Russia.
What about the maximum program for any man: build a house, plant a tree, raise a son?
The house has been built, there are two children, 23 and 18 years old, planted several hundred trees - that's all right. They have their own household: rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, guinea fowls, a garden, a vegetable garden. I love being on the ground, working with my hands, tinkering with plants, this is definitely my topic.
If we meet at the next interview in another five years, how do you see yourself, your trip to the business and restaurants "Meat & Fish"?
I see a powerful franchise deployed - Europe, USA, Russia. I have a dream - to prove to the whole world that Russian restaurateurs are no worse (and even better) than many foreign ones. I want to go out there with my project and conquer their market.
And I think in five years, when we meet, we will already be able to talk about it.
Link to publication: https://restoranoff.ru/experts_aricle/interview/dlya-menya-restorany-ne-prosto-rabota-a-tselaya-filosofiya/