Probably Moscow’s most legendary restaurant, Aragvi, has re-opened its doors to both foodies and history buffs alike. While it’s clear what attracts the former, the latter come for the amazing building that houses Aragvi. Number 6 on Tverskaya st. is practically a ‘babushka’ nesting doll: it’s a 19th-century hotel built around an 18th-century mansion built on top of 17th-century ‘palaty’, and ancient Russian palace.
While it was never a secret that the building dated back at least to the 1730s, the discovery of 400 square meters of 1670s limestone rooms came as a complete surprise for the current owners when they were renovating the restaurant in 2004. Together with Moscow’s authorities and Tashir group, entrepreneur Gor Nahapetyan completely renovated the place, restoring the original 17th-century masonry wherever possible.
“When the ancient structures were discovered, restoring them became more important than the restaurant […] As soon as the new owners uncovered the site, they understood its value,” Arthur Gevorkyan, Aragvi's PR manager, told Sputnik.
To keep the look authentic, the best-preserved parts of the walls and arched ceiling were left exposed, while the rest was plastered using the same ancient technologies that the builders used in the 1600s.
Who owned the building in the 17th century remains a mystery, but in 1730 it was acquired and rebuilt by Prince Gagarin, who eventually expanded through purchasing adjoining lots. Nearly a century later, Number 6 was turned into a hotel, originally called ‘Northern’ and later re-named as ‘Dresden’. Now, not unlike Aragvi, hotel Dresden was quite an upscale place: Russia’s finest artistic minds from writers Anton Chekhov and Leo Tolstoy to Konstantin Stanislavsky, the father of method acting, stayed here, and artist Vasily Surikov even permanently resided in the hotel.
In the early 1900s, Number 6 grew two new stories, with the ground floor mainly occupied by shops. One of these shops, a German apothecary, was later turned into one of the Soviet Aragvi’s halls, and today became a lofty-looking underground bar, part of the contemporary Aragvi restaurant, complete with decanter-like lamps and apothecary (see what they did there?) cabinets.
Beria loved the creation so much he even had his own private parlor there, with a balcony overlooking one of Aragvi’s dining halls. Today, little reminds of the original inhabitant of the room, and if you call it ‘Beria’s Hall’, the current management will no doubt correct you and tell you that it’s the ‘White Hall’, which, considering the former patron’s history, is quite understandable.In 1918, Pravda newspaper got an office in the building, and in 1920, Soviet government departments moved in. Surprisingly, this is where Aragvi’s own story begins: among others, Lavrenty Beria, notorious for his involvement in Stalin’s repressions of 1937-38, had an office there. While his contribution to the welfare of the Soviet people is at the very least questionable, he did play a key role in the birth of the legendary restaurant. He stumbled upon a young chef Longines Stazhanze in a cafeteria, who inspired Beria to open Moscow’s then first Georgian place under Stazhadze’s guidance.
The current owners hope the Soviet it-place will be as big a hit the second time around, and with good cause — it’s hard to resist both the food and the history. The modern incarnation has several new additions, including a gorgeous traditional Armenian skylight, Prince Golitsyn’s wine cellar-turned-delicatessen (with a selection of the Caucausus’ finest wine, though) and the ‘Theater’ hall with a fully functioning stage. It is definitely one of Moscow’s must-see attractions, especially considering that unlike its predecessor, today’s Aragvi won’t set you back a month’s pay.Aragvi was an instant success back in 1938: the cuisine was superb, the crowd chic and the doorman ruthless. It was nearly impossible to get into the place, you had to be a pretty important somebody to dine there, but those who pulled it off rarely regretted all the hassle. Legend has it Stalin once had a house party he was attending catered by Aragvi, so good was the food.
