Shortly after its opening, Leo Club became one of the most prestigious places in the city to hold corporate parties and celebrations. Oleksiy Boyko While historical buildings in this city keep falling apart because no one is willing to fund their renovation, some already long-gone ones are being rebuilt from scratch.

Restaurant Riviera, once a highly popular entertainment place for well-to-do Kyivans before the communist revolution in 1917, burned down to the ground before World War II. However, the place was just so picturesque that the Kozyrna Karta restaurant chain used an opportunity to open its most exquisite restaurant there, called the Leo Club.

Its very location will tell you this place is for the chosen ones only. To get to the entrance you’ll have to drive along an ally and pass a security barrier. If the guard doesn’t think your car is expensive enough you might not even get in.

But even if the gate is opened to you, you have to present Kozyrna Karta’s gold discount card to get inside, or a special Leo Club card. The gold discount card, of course, is issued to the chain’s most valuable regular customers.

If you don't have either card and cannot prove that someone is waiting for you at the restaurant, don’t expect to get in. That would be a shame, because inside is where all the impressive stuff is.

The restaurant was recreated on the basis of an old photograph of the Riviera, which quintessentially was all about chic and extravaganza.

Designed like a palace, the two-storied restaurant has five different halls: the Golden Hall, the Piano Hall, the Gallery, Hetman’s Hall, and the fabulous VIP Riviera on the upper level with a stained glass ceiling.

Each hall is a masterpiece of aristocratic glamour filled with bas-reliefs, dozens of paintings, chandeliers and carpets, expensively upholstered chairs, heavy curtains and antique-style furniture.

To enjoy yourself in warmer weather, there is also an open-air Moroccan Yard and a round terrace with a fabulous view of the Dnipro and the left bank of Kyiv. With such an abundance of space you can come and go virtually unnoticed by other guests.

There is a dress code to be observed in Leo Club, especially in the evening. This is the place for showing off your latest evening dress and the most elegant suit, or even a tuxedo.

The restaurant’s kitchen is managed by Stephano Antoniolli, an Italian chef who used to cook in Da Vinci Fish Club. His Italian dishes are flawless, but his talents stretch much further than that. He likes to experiment, improvising with early 20th century pre-revolutionary cuisine fused with modern cooking techniques and rare ingredients. Prices hover around Hr 150 for an average main course.

You can try the chef’s Ukrainian borshch with home-made pampushkas, or small round garlic-flavored rolls, for Hr 79. It’s bound to be very special for this price.

Veal cheeks with gratin potatoes for Hr 158 are reputed to be the latest gastronomic fashion in Moscow, while the trivial Chicken Kyiv is turned into a Hr 189 high-end affair with the help of fois gras stuffing.

A plate of fresh vegetables on ice goes for Hr 97, and the cheapest salad is a lettuce mix with cherry tomatoes for Hr 89. The famous Russian salad known by the name of Olivier is made with crawfish tails and quails eggs and goes for Hr 157.

If you’re feeling like gorging on extravagant Russian-style food, you’re in the right place. Potato pancakes with smoked salmon, sour cream and black caviar are just the thing. You will have to pay Hr 345 for it, though. Even pelmeni offered here have a twist: venison stuffing and bilberry sauce, all for Hr 149.

The rest of the menu sounds just as good. Cold Spanish gazpacho with zucchini-and-mussel shashlik (Hr 197), scallops marinated in lime with red caviar (Hr 157), white asparagus cream soup served with vegetable confetti (Hr 94) and black trout confit, served with warm ginger and lemon grass soup. (Hr 279).

Italian food is suitably represented with a combination of classical dishes and the chef’s own creations, such as risotto with smoked tiger prawns, gin and junipers for Hr 194, and green tagliolini with aromatic green arugula (rocket) pesto and marinated red tuna fillet for Hr 145.

As was mentioned before, the most modern cooking techniques are used in Leo Club. The Norwegian salmon, for example, is vacuum-cooked and served with steamed asparagus (Hr 197). The baked duck gets a fiery twist with Cointreau flambe and is served with blackberry sauce (Hr 174).

Leo Club also has lobsters on the menu. Expect to pay Hr 159 for a grilled lobster. Lobsters are kept in a special tank on the first floor, filled with ocean water to preserve the natural environment of the beasts.

If you believe the comments of its official web site, the Leo Club restaurant is especially valued for the high class atmosphere it has managed to create and its matching flawless service.


Leo Club (20 Parkova Aleya, 270-7171). Open noon till midnight.

English menu: Yes

English-speaking staff: Yes

Average meal: Hr 600