cafe "Abrikosov" in St. Petersburg Dmitry Lobanov, Roman Shustrov

Passing the gallery

A photo: George Shablovsky

Text: Alexey Zemskov

Designer: Dmitry Lobanov

Painter: Roman Shustrov

Magazine: (63)

The etymology of the name of the cafe "Abrikosov", located against the Gostiny Dvor in St. Petersburg, returns us to the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, to the famous dynasty of confectioners. The surname Stepan Abrikosov (in his youth, Palkin) - the grandfather of the "chocolate king" of Russia, Alexei Abrikosov - received in 1814 "for the trade in fruit". In the first life of the confectionery, in 1906 it was rebuilt in the Chinese style and differed favorably from the interiors of the modern era. In the mirrors, framing the always crowded institution, reflected the ladies with children, buying glazed fruit from Abrikosov. The venerable sellers in starched aprons roasted coffee beans in the most modern for those times car Probat (the golden sides and the complex construction of the "great-granddaughter" which attract the attention of modern visitors no less than various goodies). In the second life the store turned into a cafe. Today, darkened from time to time vintage ceiling with a fancy pattern, restored panels with an embroidered pattern, patterned carpet in the manner of a new bar and a bar with bronze dragons are adequately lit with lamps attached to the "bamboo" stalks (cut from balsa). Reconstructed by designer Dmitry Lobanov and delicately filled with modern "stuffing", the interior truly revived the spirit of the "sweet" past.