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Promoting the crazy atmosphere of 1980s-90s, Sorry, Babushka club fits in with the current strange times. Yaroslav Debelyi Just like everything else, the entertainment scene has been hit by economic crisis and has undergone changes. As always, when people have less money to spend, they cut down on expendable activities, such as dining out or hanging out at clubs. Still, it’s not as bad as it may seem. Some of the places that closed won’t be missed and, despite hard times, new ones keep popping up all the time.

Eating out

The ever-changing restaurant scene of Kyiv has slowed down, but only slightly. New eateries still keep opening, offsetting some of the ones that closed. Blackberry, a restaurant a few steps away from Yevropeyska Ploshcha, which opened last winter, has already sunk into oblivion. It was yet another pretentious place, with idle waiters who tend to stare at guests, and mediocre food for astronomical prices. Another costly restaurant to close was Marche. It has been around for quite a while, serving European and Mediterranean dishes in several fancy lounges. Once famous for its cooking, it had long ago lost its high-end reputation and couldn’t compete with numerous fancy eateries that opened in Kyiv.

Pleasure Cafe was established by famed restaurateurs Viola Kim and Margarita Sichkar, who had no trouble bringing in lots of celebrity clientele at first. But famous partiers tend to gravitate towards newer places all the time, and the high prices of the eatery failed to attract common regulars. As a result, the place closed.

Something that I’m definitely not going to miss is the coffe chain Kafka. There are more than enough cafe chains in the city already, and Kafka serving cold coffee and overpriced simple food was not worth it at all. Another place that called it quits awhile ago is Fratelli D’Italia, once a decent home-style Italian restaurant on 38 Saksahanskoho. However, I was glad to hear the eatery was replaced by Azbooka book cafe. Ever since Baboon and Kvartira left the scene, it seemed like the cool book cafe tradition had ended. But now, Azbooka is here to hopefully revive it.

Speaking of Baboon, Just Cafe has replaced it on 39 Khmelyntskoho. It offers a wide-ranging menu of Ukrainian, Italian and Japanese food, but it looks like its wait staff still has a lot to learn.

Cavern on 9A Pushkinska also has closed. It was once a popular youth hangout with a Beatles-themed menu, photographs of the legendary Liverpool band on the walls and a small stage frequently occupied by a cover band. It was replaced by Kitsch, a glamorous party bar serving “kitschy” food – shawerma and hamburgers along with wok dishes and other fancy dishes.

A few popular chains expanded, partly at the expense of their closed colleagues. Repriza replaced Kafka at Lva Tolstoho, and both Blinoff and Wolkonskiy Kaizer opened a place each in the Obolon district. A busy area around Pozniaky metro finally has its own decent bar, Pivnaya Duma, that is perfectly suited for guzzling beers with snacks or hearty meat dishes.

Fans of U Khromoho Pola (At Lame Paul’s) can now find Czech hospitality, food and beer at one more location – Staromak on 37-41 Artema. Since the two restaurants are closely related, same cozy ambience and great food are to be expected.

Pan Pizza chain turned into Oliva restaurant family, with a slightly altered menu offering tasty pizza, pasta and other European dishes for reasonable prices.

A recently opened club-restaurant Koroli i Kapusta (18 Chervonoarmiyska) is gaining popularity as a pleasant hangout with decent food (from carpaccio for Hr 40 to sashimi for Hr 45) and drinks. It's divided in two lounges – one for dining in peace and quiet, and the other is a noisy bar.

Those who can still afford pricy dining should check out Terracotta, the restaurant on the fifth floor of the Premiere Palace hotel. Expectedly, the place is pompous, featuring elegant interior and attentive staff, a cigar room with a fireplace, and a chef who polished his cooking skills around the world. Expect to pay Hr 85 for a plate of borscht and Hr 175 for “Terracotta” salad.

A new venue set to open this week on 12 Shota Rustaveli, Italian eatery Ciro’s Pomodoro, actually belongs to an international chain with restaurants in London, Dubai, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, and Bejing, among others. However, what’s more interesting about the place is that it is owned by Eugenia and Sean Carr – daughter of Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her rocker husband.

Although I already covered those, I still would like to mention the recently opened Austrian restaurant Kaiserhoff; Dixie Lee, chicken and seafood family restaurant; and Tike, a new Turkish restaurant offering a combination of food, service and prices that’s unusually fair for this city.


Clubbing

With nightclubs, the closing/opening dynamics are the regular story. Clubbers are a naughty crowd, always looking for new impressions at a new place and, therefore, clubs frequently close and new ones open in their place or elsewhere. A very curious clubbing venue, Sorry, Babushka, opened last fall, appealing to people's nostalgia for 1980s-90s and kitschy babushka-hostesses. Opium club located at the Olympic stadium, once a top hangout in the city, was first replaced by Soviet-themed TsK and now by a brand new club, First. Another recently opened club on Schorsa 44 was hit by a scandal even before its opening. It was going to be called Mekka, which, of course, enraged the local Muslim community. The organizers responded smartly by renaming it into the No Name Club. However, it didn’t save the new hangout from yet another scandal: Young Kyiv artist Zhanna Kadyrova was allegedly punched in the face by a club guard right at its VIP opening. In an interview with Afisha magazine, she claimed that all she got from club management was a lame apology for a “misunderstanding.” So, it may be wise to visit the new place in a helmet.

Live music clubs in Kyiv seem much more stable. The crisis has even helped, from the customer’s perspective. For instance, Route 66 cancelled the admission fee for most of its regular concerts. Only gigs by famous bands like T.N.M.K. will cost you Hr 70.

Probably the oldest live music club venue in the city, 44, is starting a tradition of showing movies on a big screen on its premises daily from 7 p.m. till 9 p.m. The April program features: “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Citizen Kane,” “Some Like it Hot” and other classics. Unfortunately, the films are being shown with Russian translation. However, admission is free.


Galleries

It’s always pleasant to see that Kyiv’s art scene just keeps flourishing and new venues still continue opening. We mentioned the opening of EIDOS Modern Art Center in Seven Days this week, but there are more spots to tell about.

New gallery Ducat managed to secure a central location on 4 Hrushevskoho, right across from Ukrainskiy Dim, thanks to cheaper rent. The first exhibition to open there was by notable Ukrainian emigrant artist Vasyl Khmelyuk. The gallery promises more art by famous Ukrainian emigrants in the near future. KievFineArt and Tsekh – both major city galleries – have moved to new locations. KievFineArt moved to 5 Darvina, closer to the fancy PinchukArtCentre, and already plans a lot of interesting exhibitions, featuring new works from Ilya Chichkan and Lada Nakonechna. Tsekh moved to the premises on 69 Frunze with seven-meter tall ceilings and 250 square meter area, becoming one of the biggest private galleries in Ukraine. The place is still under renovation, but the new exhibition by Oleksiy Say is expected to open April 23.

Lab Garage (38 Zhytomyrska) is the newest art venue in town. Overall, the place is more of an art lab targeted at experimental performances, designer shows and the like.