Top chef Anatoly Komm as Guest chef in the Ikarus

May 2011 at Restaurant Ikarus: Anatoly Komm

The oligarch of molecular cuisine

Anatoly Komm is more than just one of the best chefs in Russian cuisine; he is also the new ’czar’. However, unlike many of the royal courts, Anatoly does not stick to the traditions of the past. He does just the opposite: there are no constants in his molecular deconstructionist cuisine. His favoured approach is to dismantle the rich dishes native to his country and transform them into haute cuisine. He has acquired an excellent reputation worldwidethrough his 5 restaurants. The most powerful weapons owned by this Russian czar of cooking are his tremendous talent, unwavering courage and his top Varvary restaurant.

Varvary in fact means ‘barbarians’ – a term which many would quite readily assign to the Russian art of cooking. Anatoly Komm wants to prove that Russian cuisine can be different. His aim is to dissociate Russia from the stereotype of multi-millionaires with no sense of good taste and uncultivated people who do not give even the slightest consideration to the food they eat. So what has happened? Initially there was a sense of disillusionment. Although his restaurant was a great success and tables were fully booked for several weeks in advance with an endless waiting list, there was one catch: 90% of the customers were foreigners who were just on a journey through to enjoy culinary treats from a ‘food futurist’ for an evening. But Komm would not be the genius he is today if he were not able to change this. He has changed plenty of things in the past, in particular in his own life, which had taken place outside the kitchen for a surprisingly long time.

Anatoly only started cooking at the age of 34. After studying geophysics, he worked in the IT industry before moving on to the glamorous world of fashion. He has co-owned and represented various companies including representing the successful designer labels Dolce & Gabbana and Versace in Russia. However, the exhausting travelling took its toll and made him realise what he had really wanted to do ever since pre-school: to work in a kitchen and learn the art of cooking. He taught himself and learned at lightning speed. In 2001, he opened his first restaurant Green, followed by the Kupol and the Anatoly Komm Restaurant at the Barvikha Hotel & Spa. It wasn’t long before the awards came pouring in: chef of the year, restaurant of the year and annual presentations before some of the most highly renowned panels in Spain, Italy and Switzerland. He is the first Russian chef to be listed in the Michelin Guide and to address the Congress Lo Mejor de la Gastronomia. As a result, the Russian public increasingly began to show interest in him. Now, the people’s culinary hopes rest on his shoulders. He is their pride and joy and a saint in the art and science of molecular cuisine – worldwide.

Komm serves ‘gastronomic theatre’, which may comprise as many as 15 acts, all surprisingly different: fish foam with pine nuts, rye bread as a soft jelly or carrot ice-cream in an espresso cup with caviar almond sauce. The molecular maestro draws on chemistry and technology to create new and unusual dishes in the most unusual colours and textures. With foams, injecting and gelling, this is a science in itself- and a real spectacle. Centrifuges, pressure chambers and freeze dryers stand alongside the pots and pans contributingto a re-interpretation of traditional Russian dishes: a Russian renaissance.

For Anatoly Komm, real innovation lies elsewhere: he uses only local/regional ingredients, something rarely encountered in his homeland. But ‘local/regional’ in Russia also refers to a certain distance from the rest of the world. This is not a problem for Komm. He has a deal with a pilot to obtain the best seafood in the world. It comes from Kamchatka, a peninsular in the eastern part of Russia, and is used only by the Japanese. He will do anything to make his ‘local/regional’ dream come true and wants his food to do for Russia’s cooking what the Bolshoi theatre did for the culture of the country: to create an institution motivating the masses.

Anatoly Komm’s campaign against the traditional ways of thinking is far from over. After all, being a czar is not a career choice but rather a calling – hopefully one he will follow for a long time to come.