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"Food is emotion. And we give it to our guests"
"Food is an emotion. And we give it to our guests."
There is a growing trend of strong restaurants appearing outside of Kazan's tourist centers. The restaurant "V Desyatku" has been operating in Gorki for six months already. It was introduced by the creators of Cieseria, and is visited by gourmets from all over the city. Its concept is very dear to the heart of a hedonist: worship of meat. Chef Bulat Sakhapov, who came to work in Kazan from St. Petersburg several years ago, specializes in the processing, preparation and cooking of meat. The menu of the restaurant "V Desyatke" includes about 200 items, in addition to which Maxim Shamikhin and the authoritative sommelier Maria Solovyova have compiled an impressive list of drinks.
"My focus is meat. It is distinguished by its quality and natural taste," explains Bulat Sakhapov. "It is important that the meat that guests eat has a natural taste. Of course, you can marinate it in different ways, adding exotic spices, but, in my opinion, the true aroma and taste of the meat will be lost. All you need is salt and pepper to season it properly.
According to the chef, he designed the restaurant's kitchen himself: he drew the plans, built them, developed and ordered the equipment. There is everything here to show gourmets the true taste of meat, including all its variety and complexity. The menu includes beef, lamb, poultry, sea and river fish.
— There is nothing special about our restaurant, but each dish has something unique and special. In addition to pursuing the goal of preserving the original taste of meat, we have another principle: we make all semi-finished products and ready-made dishes ourselves. For example, prepare dried duck for salads or pumpkin soup. We take raw duck, ferment it by hand, dry it and then use it. Or, for example, the lard used in the meat platter is beef brisket cooked in a special way in the kitchen. We have everything ourselves, but we don’t have a garden where we can grow vegetables yet,” says Bulat Sakhapov. “I have to be 100% sure of the quality of the products I use, and the exclusivity of the taste is achieved through our own cooking process.
In addition to semi-finished meat products, we also use homemade cheese from Ceseria (restaurants of the same group), vegetable pickles and homemade lightly salted fish.
The meat is brought from farmers in Tatarstan (Arsky and Sabinsky districts) and the largest federal suppliers. The menu offers all types of steaks that can be cooked on the stove or grill. Five different types of roasting (the chef will take into account every nuance, and the average steak will never, under any circumstances, be medium-rare unless you ask for it). You can choose one of two types of aging: dry and wet. There are two levels of premium beef marbling: Prime and Choice. And all this meat is not even seasoned yet!
— The steak you choose will depend on what exactly you want. It depends on whether it is lean or fatty, boneless or boneless, tender or juicy, and how much marbling it has. A dish with two types of steak is also available. If you do not know how to do this, our waiter will help you. They know the menu very well and will tell you which steak you will like based on your requests,” explains the chef.
Bulat Sakhapov explains the peculiarities of dry aging. The cuts are hung for 20 days in special cabinets where special humidity, temperature and even bacterial microflora are maintained (this is necessary for the slow fermentation process). After the allotted time, the beef becomes pliable, soft and incredibly juicy (the water evaporates, but a thin fat veil remains between the fibers, soaking them). Not all central steak houses have the conditions for aging meat!
Particular attention is paid to the training of waiters. Restaurant director Vadim Mikhailov says that when employees are hired, they receive a huge amount of material to study, and in fact, waiters are trained by service managers, which helps them hone their work skills. "V Ten" is a respected restaurant, so it is important that the waiters have a lower age limit. Here, adults over 25 are hired.
“Eating meat is a whole ritual, like drinking tea for the Japanese.”
Each cut of meat in the dry-aging cabinet is marked with the remaining time and date (time is strictly controlled!). Guests can choose their favorite cut of meat as they walk around the restaurant. The selected pieces will be individually prepared for them. In the kitchen, we will focus only on the heat treatment process. The rest - grilling (flambé), cutting, finishing and serving - is done at the table. Each serving of steak is a kind of show. A separate part is the ritual removal of a suitcase with eight knives. Guests will be able to choose which knife they will use to cook dinner tonight.
"For the Japanese, eating meat is a whole ritual, like drinking tea. After all, a person never gets full from going to a restaurant. With us, it acquires an aesthetic and hedonistic mood. Every nuance is important to create a real atmosphere," explains the chef.
In addition to traditional grilled steaks, V Ten also offers meat prepared in a variety of ways, including stewed, smoked, fried and dried. There is a lot of experimentation here. No less than seven marinades are regularly used for meat alone, and new ones are invented from time to time.
The chef's show is available for group orders of 7 or more people. When ordering in advance, the leg of lamb is boiled on a spit for 6-7 hours and served to you by Bulat Sakhapov himself. He will pour it with whiskey, fry it, cut it and serve it. The bridge itself is a work of art. Crispy crust, and underneath it is aromatic, fire-braised meat that melts in your mouth.
But the show's elements include more than just meat presentation. Restaurant director Vadim Mikhailov talks about how much attention is paid to seemingly simple dishes like river fish soup.
"In our restaurant, fish soup is served according to all the rules and cooked on real coals to preserve the aroma of the fire. Together with the plate, the waiter will bring you a piece of coal straight from the wood-fired oven, bring it to the fish soup, boil it and fill it with aroma. And he will definitely put a shot of vodka next to him. To fully reveal the taste of the dish, it needs to be poured into the fish soup (guests must do this themselves, we do not take it ourselves, in case someone does not drink). There is also the option of serving fish soup in a large cast-iron pot for companies of 7-8 people. Cast iron is placed on the table, and the waiter brings out not coals, but naturally charred logs, which spoils the taste of this fish soup. It is truly amazing. It's all about emotions. After all, people come to restaurants for emotions and attention. And we give them that!
"We can do anything. It's just a question of how long it will take."
A trip to the Top 10 can be a gastronomic journey. Bulat Sakhapov adheres to the fusion concept. For example, how about stewed seafood with passion fruit sauce or bruschetta with Baltic sprat and Baku tomatoes! But the menu also has a very clear geographical reference. For example, if you want to feel like an Italian, you can order pizza or pasta. If you are craving exotic Asia, spicy shrimp, fish with Thai sauce and tom yum goong will satisfy your craving. We have not been to Cyprus for a long time. Fried halloumi will instantly transport you to the sunny island. Are you a fan of the Caucasus? Here you can try signature dishes of the sunny South, including barbecue and eggplant salad. And if you cannot live without memories of ebiyka and childhood on the Volga, try echpochmak or noodles with freshwater fish kebabs.
- What is food? It is feelings and memories," says Bulat Sakhapov. - Each of us has a memory of taste, and we try to remind guests of happy moments. For example, we always serve young potatoes baked on coals with sour cream. Do you remember how in childhood we fried and ate potatoes on a fire? Here you will hear echoes of childhood happiness. Only in a completely different interpretation, but the essence of this memory remains the same!
Here, the wishes of all guests are taken into account. In restaurants, customer orientation is of paramount importance. Any comments will be passed on to the kitchen. You can ask not to add certain ingredients to a dish if you do not like them or are allergic to them. Today, more and more guests ask for advice on calculating the protein, fat, carbohydrate and caloric content of dishes. Here we provide calculations for each menu item.
"I am often asked if I can cook certain dishes. I say: We can do everything. The question is how long it will take," says the chef.
Having enjoyed the meat and tried Bulat Sakhapov's original idea, you can move on to dessert. Ekaterina Lunkova's signature desserts are true works of confectionery art.
Did you like it? Want to expand your pleasure? Then, on your way out of the restaurant, you will find yourself in a farm shop. Cheese, farm sausage, bread, flour – everything a Tatar farmer can imagine. Semi-finished products such as triangles, pancakes, pelmeni, vareniki, elessi, balysh, syrniki are specially prepared on the restaurant’s kitchen workbenches. All you have to do is bring home the prepared ingredients and start cooking. Enjoy restaurant cuisine at home! Here you can order a steak at home or enjoy a quick snack from the “To the Ten” menu. And if you really want to try the creations of Bulat Sakhapov and his team, but have absolutely no time to go to the restaurant, all this is available for delivery.
Sommelier Maria Solovieva regularly holds tasting evenings, which become a real gastronomic, historical and cultural journey. Only for this evening, Bulat Sakhapov develops special dishes designed to highlight different parts of Maria's history and cleanse the palate with each new dish. Every time the chef comes up with something new, it is something that has never been before and will no longer be on the menu. For example, do you like lightly salted salmon with strawberries in mint sauce and, finally, marigold inflorescences?
- Registration for these evenings is limited. 12-14 people. Because this is a gathering of like-minded people and decent conversations with deep meaning. For example, the next evening we will have an evening on the topic of "Tasting French architecture" with conversations with architects. And in October, etiquette experts will be invited to the meeting, who will reveal to the guests the secrets of impeccable behavior at the table," says Vadim Mikhailov, lifting the curtain of secrecy.
The New Year holidays promise to be very eventful. From December 13 to 30, you can join the joyful New Year's atmosphere by coming to "V Desyatku" with a company at a pre-prepared table with a pre-ordered menu. Pre-orders for small companies are currently being collected, and Vadim advises you to hurry. Some time slots of the entire restaurant are already filled (that's 28 tables for 154 people!). In fact, the atmosphere is the responsibility of the fiery hosts, musicians, contestants, magicians, Father Frost and Snow Maiden. All this is correct, neat and respectable, but festive and truly relaxing. The restaurant team has been holding a similar New Year's program in Tsiezeria for several years in a row and now promises to present their best performances here.
— These New Year's Eve parties will be a great solution for a corporate event — many people find it too expensive to rent a full restaurant (especially one as big as ours), so small groups can celebrate the New Year at our parties. Based on our experience at Chiseria, we love this mixed format: people don't just limit themselves to the company of colleagues, they get to know each other and immerse themselves in a true New Year's atmosphere, with its joy, celebration and general jubilation, — says Vadim. — And our experienced hosts will help maintain this atmosphere.
"We have already tried these recipes, but they will not be on our regular menu."
Despite the fact that the restaurant is quite new, it has already managed to gain fame in professional circles. And therefore, "V Desyatku" is admitted to participate in all-Russian gastronomic festivals. You can also participate in them (as a guest). For example, from October 1 to November 30, the All-Russian festival "Russian Breakfast" will be held - you can try a ready-made author's set of Russian ethnic orientation.
Bulat Sakhapov has prepared a special menu for him, rethinking his favorite childhood dishes: lazy vareniki with blackberry sauce, buckwheat with cheese, crispy zucchini pancakes in cheese breading with creamy pike caviar sauce, pancakes with airy curd cream and flower honey. And as a dessert, the chef has come up with a fancy serving of fruit salad in the form of fried eggs. You can try the special breakfast menu only for two months, until November 30.
And from October 15 to 30, “V Desyatku” will take part in the Russian Restaurant Festival with its signature set.
— In this set I present a complete fusion, — says Bulat Sakhapov. — I will prepare blini from crushed buckwheat with stewed beef and porcini mushroom sauce, veal tenderloin with seafood sauce, which includes capers — it will be fresh, light, but filling. The pate will be served with baked apricot and onion jam, and the vegetable salad — with homemade labneh cheese. We have already brought each dish to perfection, but since we do not plan to include them in the regular menu, you have a unique chance to try them only during the festival!
So, Kazan proves once again: signature cuisine, premium design and service — all this is possible with a talented team in love with their business. Connoisseurs of good steaks and quality signature cuisine regularly come to "V Desyatku" and are convinced time after time of the highest qualifications of the chef and the entire restaurant team. "V Desyatku" has truly become a point of attraction outside the Kazan gastro center, and if you value truly delicious cuisine, non-trivial execution of even the simplest dishes, first-class service and the highest quality of products, you definitely need to visit here.