Kiev restaurant "Nobel" Yuri Belikov, Alexander Kupinsky, Dmitry Usaty

Passing the gallery

Text: Anna Vergasova

A photo: Elena Koldunova

Architect: Yuri Belikov, Alexander Kupinsky, Dmitry Usaty

Magazine: N4 (71) 2003

In fact, the new Kiev restaurant has nothing to do with the founder of the world's most famous award. In addition to the sayings of the Swedish patron, painted in white on the red wall in the back of the restaurant. The name for an institution with European cuisine appeared at the last minute and was chosen for neutrality and harmoniousness. The favorable location of the Nobel - a ten-minute walk from Khreshchatyk - almost turned out to be a serious trap for customers and architects. House 65 on Bolshaya Vasilkovskaya Street is an architectural monument. The long two years were spent on all sorts of coordination with the city authorities, during which time the concept of the establishment changed several times. "Nobel" started as a restaurant with Mexican cuisine, then, in accordance with the new fashion, they decided to make it a Japanese restaurant. However, while Kiev officials were considering the possibility of another redevelopment, the public excitement around the Far Eastern cuisine also managed to calm down. By the time when all the formalities were left behind, the customers and architects hardened by the bureaucratic struggle developed a clear institution concept: in Nobel, the visitor should be just calm and good, he should not be amazed by exotic dishes in the exotic entourage. Strangely enough, the "Nobel" did not turn into a sad long-term construction worker and did not choke in contradictory stages of its short history. Odessa architects of the group “Beletage” managed to create a solid space with a well thought out idea and good ergonomics. Here is a soft design with correctly placed accents, finds like a wall made of onyx or mesh partitions over which water flows, with a beautiful play of planes and volumes. In general, if architects were entitled to a premium for their long-suffering and humanism towards the consumer of architecture, the “Mezzanine” group would be its undoubted nominee.