Mikhail Zelman wedding. Zelman Mikhail Vitalievich. - A little to the side. Have you heard the story about Teremok?
"Biography"
Mikhail Zelman was born on January 18, 1977 in Moscow. At the age of 15, he graduated from Moscow high school as an external student. After that, he entered the Moscow Open Law University. He also completed courses for accountants, sommeliers, cooks and waiters.
Career
In 1992-1994. worked in a brokerage office at the Russian Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange. In 1994-1996. As part of a government program, he participated in the creation of the Industrial Association for Support of Disabled People.
In 1997-1999 headed the Konprokinvest enterprise, which supplies food products to the State Reserve and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. In 1999, he organized and headed a holding company conducting foreign economic activities (the holding included customs terminals and a transport company supplying raw materials to Europe). Since June 1999 – General Manager of the Arpicom company (formerly Eriola CJSC).
In 1999 he created the front office restaurant “San Michel”. From that moment on, Zelman began to engage in the restaurant business professionally.
In 2003, he created the Arpicom Management Company, which managed about 20 restaurants.
In 2008, Zelman opened the Goodman steakhouse in foggy London. In 2010, a second steakhouse of the same type opened in Zurich.
In the summer of 2010, the Arpicom company became part of the Food Service Capital group of enterprises.
At the end of 2011, Zelman's Burger & Lobster restaurant opened in London.
Social activity
Mikhail Zelman took an active part in the government program “Industrial Association for Support of Disabled People.”
Personal
Mikhail Vitalievich is a family man. My wife's name is Yulia. The daughter's name is Mira.
In his free time from work troubles, Zelman always preferred not to lie on the couch, but to do something active - play tennis, for example, less often - go fishing and hunting.
Awards and prizes
Winner of the “Best Restaurateur 2003” award.
In 2005, he was awarded “For personal contribution to the development of the food and hospitality industry in Russia” by the Federal Institute of Foreign Affairs.
"Connections / Partners"
— Russian entrepreneur of Uzbek origin, founder and president of the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC)
"News"
Zelman's manifesto: why the creator of the Goodman steakhouse left for London
At 22, Mikhail Zelman invented the first restaurant. At 27, he popularized real steak in Russia. At 37, he opened a restaurant in London with two dishes on the menu. About the reasons for the move, money and his manifesto - in the “RBC Heroes” program
Restaurateur Mikhail Zelman: “Brexit is a good example of real democracy”
The founder of Goodman restaurants, Mikhail Zelman, who sold his business in Russia three years ago and moved to London, told RBC about the attitude of British acquaintances to leaving the European Union and the consequences of this decision for business
How the lobster beat the system
Restaurateur Mikhail Zelman talks about emigration, the lobster empire and the annexation of Crimea
Successful Russian businessman Mikhail Zelman is called the man who determined the restaurant look of modern Moscow. At the age of twenty-six, he created the Arpicom company, under the direction of which there were about twenty restaurants. Zelman invented and made the Goodman steakhouse chain super popular. He built food factories, supplied food for the Sapsan trains and the country's Ministry of Defense. In 2012, Mikhail Zelman unexpectedly sold his business in Russia and moved to live and work in the UK. In England, he opened four Burger & Lobster restaurants, which quickly became one of the most popular establishments in London. Zelman promotes a single-product concept and sells visitors only two dishes: burgers and lobster.
Restaurants "Kolbasoff" and Goodman have changed owners
One of the once leading Russian restaurant holdings, Arpicom, which developed the Goodman and Kolbasoff chains, did not survive the crisis and now operates in Russia only as a franchise. The structures of the head of the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company Iskander Makhmudov refused to participate in the project
Restaurateur Mikhail Zelman: “Burger is what I really love”
Mikhail Zelman is certainly one of the most successful Russian restaurateurs in London. Today, his GCG company includes 13 Burger & Lobster restaurants (including franchises), three Goodman's, one each: Smack Lobster Roll, Beast, which serves only Canadian crab and Nebraska beef, as well as seafood Rex & Mariano. However, he does not limit the geography of business to the British capital - soon seven more restaurants will be added to the existing ones, including in Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE. For an interview, Mikhail invited Guzel Gubeydullina to the office of the Mikhail Zelman School of Success, where restaurateurs are taught to greet guests, select meat and cook the world’s best burgers and lobsters.
Mikhail Zelman's Burger & Lobster restaurants increased revenue abroad
The UK-registered Burger & Lobster restaurant chain, owned by Russian restaurateur Mikhail Zelman, is gaining popularity: in 2014, its revenue grew by more than 40% and exceeded £25 million.
Evgeny Chichvarkin and Mikhail Zelman competed in intelligence
Evgeny Chichvarkin from Hedonism Wines and Mikhail Zelman from Burger & Lobster are the most media-rich Russian businessmen in London. Evgeny constantly gives comments to the media about how bad Putin is for Russia and how much he would like to return to Moscow, and Mikhail, in turn, actively talks about his concept of a single-product restaurant, thanks to which the Burger & Lobster chain appeared in London, which recently expanded beyond the UK.
The first international summit of chefs Creative Chefs Summit 2016
Great Britain - Mikhail Zelman, one of the leading restaurateurs in the UK, founder of the Global Craftsmen Group (London), author of the mono-product manifesto.
Gastro tour
Mikhail Zelman, founder of the Goodman, Filimonova and Yankel and Kolbasoff restaurants, has exited the Russian business and will focus on developing his restaurants in London. And just in time - the restaurant empire created by Zelman in Russia has lately brought nothing but losses.
The founder of restaurant chains on why it is easier to work in London than in Moscow
By the age of thirty-nine, I had lived several lives: I was an entrepreneur, a micro-oligarch, a restaurateur. I lived most of my life in Russia, but I have Israeli citizenship, and now I have moved to London and started my craft. That’s what I called my company: Global Craftsman - global craftsman
Approximately £1.5 million ($1.8 million). In the spring, the chain consisted of eight restaurants, Zelman planned to open 12 more within two years. In an interview with RBC Zelman, the company has already sold a franchise to the Middle East and Scandinavia.
"He went to live in London"
Mikhail Zelman left Russia in 2013. In the same year, he sold his stake in the restaurant holding Food Service Capital (Arpicom, United Food Network, etc.), which manages the Goodman, Filimonova and Yankel and Kolbasoff chains in Russia, to the structures of a partner - co-owner of Uralskaya mining and metallurgical company of Iskander Makhmudov. Experts estimated the transaction amount to RBC at $120 million. Zelman did not sell his business in the UK, including three Goodman restaurants in London.
The Goodman and Burger & Lobster chains are operated by Global Craftsmen Group. Its shareholders, in addition to Zelman, are his long-time partners: the former co-owner of Zelman’s first holding Arpicom, Ilya Demichev, who launched the first Arpicom restaurants in London, Georgy Bukhov-Weinstein, the brother of the restaurateur Roman Zelman, as well as the former editor-in-chief of the Izvestia newspaper ( in 2004-2005) Vladimir Borodin, who runs the Burger & Lobster restaurant in New York.
In December 2013, Mikhail Zelman said in an interview with Afisha magazine that the decision to leave the country was due to the negative social and business climate in Russia. “My values are tolerance, globalization and cosmopolitanism. But if I utter these words at a meeting at the mayor’s office, then in a couple of weeks it will turn out that I hid taxes, ate all the cats and fried all the dogs in the city,” Zelman said then.
In an interview with RBC this year, Zelman emphasized that he had no intention of starting a business in Russia again: “I cannot participate in the agenda that has emerged in Russia today under any circumstances.”
Russians are coming
Mikhail Zelman is not the only successful Russian restaurateur operating in the highly competitive British restaurant market. In 2012, the founder of the Novikov Group restaurant holding, Arkady Novikov, together with his partner Alexander Sorkin, opened the Novikov Restaurant & Bar restaurant in London with Italian and Pan-Asian cuisine. Despite criticism in the British press at launch, this is one of Arkady Novikov's largest projects. The revenue of this restaurant alone in 2013 amounted to £25 million, Novikov said in an interview with the Russian Forbes. Now Novikov has five restaurants in London.
The creator of the Ziferblat chain, Ivan Mitin, opened his own anti-cafe in London at the end of 2013, and at the beginning of this year he launched another outlet in Manchester.
The restaurant company Ginza Project opened the Russian cuisine restaurant “Mari Vanna” in London in 2012. The place turned out to be so popular that Prince William celebrated his 30th birthday there.
In Russia, there are no prospects for the successful development of the restaurant business in the near future, says Boris Zarkov, owner of the White Rabbit Family holding (restaurants White Rabbit, Luciano, Zodiac, Che? Kharcho!, Bufet, Vatrushka, Red Fox and Selfie). . “The menu in foreign currency in Russia now looks ridiculous,” he says. — If you compare it with London, the average bill there in restaurants is £100-200, but in Russia it’s only £20. You can’t raise prices, otherwise you could lose consumers. So, where is it more interesting to work: in Russia or in London?” Zarkov himself plans to open restaurants in London and Dubai and is now actively looking for sites, he shared his plans.
In Europe and the USA, it is now more profitable to develop a restaurant business than in Russia, agrees Andrey Petrakov, executive director of the consulting company Restсon: “There is a calmer, more predictable economic situation there,” he explains. “If you create a concept that is interesting to the consumer, it can be very profitable.”
With the participation of Igor Terentyev
We met with Mikhail Zelman, the founder of the super popular restaurants Goodman, Burger & Lobster and others.
, first of all,about business. But the conversation went completely wild
Apersonal spheres - to the concepts of good and evil, dignity and happiness. Mikhail Zelman was the main character of our
How many restaurants do you currently have in London?
Only 18. We already have thirteen Burger & Lobster, three Goodman and one each of Zelman Meat, Beast and Smack Lobster.
By what principle do you choose where the chain will be and which restaurant to make stand-alone?
This primarily depends on how much you like the idea e restaurant franchise applies. If the idea itself is replicable, then we develop the network. WhenZelman MeatI initially built a restaurant, I have no ambitions to develop it as a chain establishment, although franchising is possible here in several cities around the world. But this is just a piece of history, to build a hundred restaurantsZelman MeatI don't plan to. But in the caseBurger&LobsterOne restaurant can easily turn into a hundred.
The more the better in this case? More restaurants mean more profit?
Network implies ambition, and ambition implies growth, dominance. Therefore, of course, when I develop chain restaurants, they are ambitious and aggressive. And we want to open va more and more points . And an individual restaurant is, rather, about the pleasure of the process in which you constantly improve in one thing. You don’t replicate, but work to make a separate product whole and unique.
A chain restaurant involves different cities and countries, you cannot stop, you get pleasure from opening more and more. But here you get pleasure from what already exists, and from the fact that it is constantly getting better. That is, I would say that the network is ambition, hormones, expansion, even aggression, and an individual restaurant is calm and wisdom.
The restaurant business in general has a lot to do with pleasure. How significant a component is it personally in your work? How important is this to you? give pleasure and receive it?..
Undoubtedly. We just call it “experience”. We try to change people's lives for the better, giving them positive emotions, and experiences that make life more interesting and enriching.
What works well in London can work just as well in other cities or does London have its own specifics?
In London, each area has its own specificity. In the restaurant business, it is very important to be in the restaurant yourself, to feel the people for whom you are cooking, to understand their needs. People are very conservative when it comes to food.
Even in London?
Everywhere in general: a person himself is conservative in food. If I now offer you to eat some cockroaches...
I'd love to, I'm just a completely non-conservative person.
This confirms that there are exceptions to any rule. You are an exception. But people for the most part are very conservative. If we look into our refrigerators X friends, it is unlikely that we will find a wide variety of products there, updated from week to week.
People are quite constant in their eating habits. And a restaurant is always a reflection of society, a reflection of culture. And due to the fact that each area of London has its own rich culture and history, this means that success in the City will absolutely not guarantee success in Shoreditch, and vice versa.
There are, of course, examples like McDonald's, but this is also the exception rather than the rule.
We started talking about cockroaches, and I became interested: do you hypothetically see yourself as the owner of some “cockroach” restaurant? Or do you only work with what you know and can do well?
I know well what interests me and what excites me, and I try to develop in those things that I have loved for a long time, since childhood. If you look at my restaurants, it's all about steak, burger, with a little extra crab, lobster. Still, I'm more about meat.
What's the hardest thing about running a restaurant business in London? Many people talk about expensive rent. And what else?
I can say that rent is very expensive, but this keeps the market away from amateurs and beginners. For me, of course, the rent is very high, and in some places I cannot afford it. But the main factor is me and the team. If I’m in good shape and full of energy and the team feels it, then we’re filled with energy, and then we don’t care about any rent, we’ll always find a way out, we’ll always be able to adapt their ideas for the existing market.
Is inspiration an important element of your work?
State. Sometimes we confuse overstimulation with inspiration; this is a very individual process. True inspiration is a rare story, but we very often attribute to it various emotional states that imitate it.
On the other hand, professionalism lies precisely in not making inspiration the cornerstone of your work? It comes and goes, but the work must go on.
Absolutely. So I define myself as an artisan, and we truly are artisans. Our professionalism lies in maintaining quality in existing restaurants. And the more experienced I become, the more responsibility I feel for everything that I have discovered. That’s why sometimes I’m not happy about inspiration, because you need, first of all, to do well what you already have.
This reminded me of an old Moscow story about how at some restaurant conference they discussed the problem of stability and maintaining quality in restaurants. And then Mitya Borisov, who had been sleeping before, wakes up and says: “The quality in all my establishments is stable - g..but.”
Mitya is interviewed in the magazine “Money” and at the end they ask (and we are friends with Mitya): “Your friends, Mikhail Zelman, are going to go public, but you are not going to go?” He says: “You know, I feel so bad after yesterday that I’m going to go outside to get some air.”
Now Mitya Borisov has “Jean-Jacques” here - that is, expansion is also underway?
Instead of "Jean-Jacques" they made a barZimawith Lesha Zimin. It is run in London by Igor and Lyuba Galkin.
They, of course, powerfully changed the concept of “Jean-Jacques”. I mean, the food here was probably of better quality, but overall it was pretty boring. “Jean-Jacques” has lost its Moscow semi-bohemian charm.
This is what I told them: “We need to have more fun, drink, simpler…” Now Mitya is more in St. Petersburg, so he opened “Rubinstein” there, and it’s a success. It is very important to feel the city, to know it. But coming here on a visit doesn't work. Nika Borisov, Mitya’s brother, was involved in “Jean-Jacques”, but also left. Came, left.
So, if you were in their place, would you do everything differently? Right here in London?
I wouldn't do it in London Nothing for the sake of getting noticed. So I just moved here. I sold everything in Moscow and moved.
Have you always loved London?
How can I put it correctly... You see, I really like T-bone steak - I really love it. And at my core, I am a Jew who was born in Russia, works in London, but is a citizen of Israel.
That is, the one who was previously called “rootless cosmopolitan”?
Yes. But in fact, I am more of an American - in my consciousness and mentality. I feel good wherever my family is, where my children are and where I can be free.
Your comfort probably also depends on how good it is to run your favorite business in a particular country?
Definitely.
Is it easier for you now, having already owned many restaurants, to open a new place?
The more I work, the more difficult it is for me to open establishments, because I feel responsible. It used to be like an act of love. Opening the restaurant was like an orgasm. Probably because I was younger.
And now I already look at this as my future: what will happen to it in five, ten years? What will happen if I suddenly cool down to this? And for me this is a very big responsibility, especially after Russia.
In Russia, I built a business from scratch, and there was a time when my company employed more than two thousand people. And I knew every person in the company, everyone. And just taking, leaving, leaving all this was very difficult for me. Now I am no longer so frivolous and eccentric, and every restaurant for me is a very responsible matter.
No one came for you then?
Key people, for example, my partner Ilyusha Demichev, moved with me. Gosha Bukhov-Weinshtein, my partner who runs a business here, arrived first. Volodya Borodin, your colleague, he was the editor-in-chief of the Izvestia newspaper, and is now engaged in business in America. We all know each other since kindergarten, well, from school. And we left together as a team. But the guys who directly work in restaurants do not. Why? Because next we need to work with those who know the local specifics well.
In your office you don’t feel at all that the company is owned by a Russian, and it’s completely unclear with the employees , with whom can you speak Russian, with whom- No. Usually ours have this specificity: we bring little Russia, that is, it is important for us to speak our own language, to be surrounded by our own mentality... And you have a completely British office.
The main people I started working with here were one American, one Canadian. I am truly cosmopolitan in both the good and bad sense of the word. I think that Stalin would have shot me in the front row when he fought against the rootless cosmopolitans. But at the same time, when I moved to England five years ago, I did not speak English. Since then I have been studying and learning. The only reassuring thing is that in my profession it is not so ideal to know the language. When a restaurateur speaks with an accent, it only adds charm to him. And regarding “carrying little Russia with you”... I can tell you that I take it one way or another, because even though we live in a big, global world, I still lived my conscious life in Russia. And despite the fact that I organically, physiologically cannot tolerate many of the things that are now happening in our country, I am a Russian person, blood from blood, flesh from flesh.
Understand.
That’s why they write about me as a Russian. In Russia they write about me as an English restaurateur, and in England - as a Russian restaurateur. I just don't bother with this topic. You know, many people are shy about Russian origin or are proud of it. I'm pragmatic about this.
Do you have a goal to “mimic”, to become more “British”? Or, on the contrary, remain Russian at all costs?
I already unimaginably feel like a cosmopolitan. But now I’m thinking about my children... You can always spot a Russian person in a crowd: it’s as if something has always happened, there’s always uncertainty about the future. And of course, I wanted to give my children freedom, so that they knew the language perfectly, so that they were as confident as the British and Americans, so that they could choose where to live, what to do - unlike me when I was a hostage of the environment in which he existed. But now I understand that they already have this, they don’t need to do anything special for this, they don’t need to create any decorations. The only thing I think is important now is to teach children a programming language, because, just as English used to be, now it is becoming the universal language of communication in the future.
Your children- citizens of which country?
They have three citizenships: Russian, British and Israeli. Life may turn out in such a way that something else will appear. They already know Russian, English, and will definitely know at least two more languages. What else can I give them, based on my life experience, from what I lacked in life? I can honestly say that my move (and my children were born here) and all the difficulties that I have experienced and are experiencing are absolutely justified by the future of my children. All questions are immediately resolved. I would not want them to have to live in the atmosphere of uncertainty about the future in which we lived. Especially with our government’s declared course towards stability.
How is it with us? If you proclaim a course towards stability, then everything will definitely be unstable.
And this, of course, gives rise to a colossal number of complexes and things that do not allow the personality to reveal itself as much as possible here. From the outside, the countries seem to be no different, by and large. If aliens came, they would hardly understand our differences. But the main thing that distinguishes us is- This, of course, is absolute uncertainty about the future.
Opening restaurants is probably one of the most reliable ways to bring part of your own into a new culture, to become close to the new one yourself?
I try to use the strengths of my multiculturalism, the fact that I know Russian culture and live in English. But I’m not trying to be an Englishman... I’m trying to be a good person, believe me, it’s not so easy.
Especially in business.
Yes. And be a good businessman. These are the two things that take away from me all the time. And to be an Englishman or to be Russian - I simply have no time for that.
How difficult is it to remain a good person in business? Or is it as tough a thing as politics?, - just as hypocritical, multi-layered?
And who finds it easy to remain a good person?
It’s probably easier for a school teacher or a monk...
If you read about life monks, then you will learn aboutinternal strugglewhich is happening inside them . Or look at Christian icons: who is in the forefront in purgatory? You will see just monks, priests, they generally have their own court. Or take scientists: they invent the best things, but no one knows how their invention will be used later.
Of course, in every profession there are moral issues. Indeed, it is difficult for a politician not to become a hypocrite... But, as history shows, it is precisely in those moments when real, great politicians are able to show their humanity that we, as a civilization, move to a new stage. Therefore, even a politician, I am sure, has an internal struggle. And hypocrisy is a manifestation of this internal struggle.
It's the same in business. Of course, there are professions and crafts that allow a person to reveal himself to the maximum. For example, a baker or pastry chef. These people, as a rule, are a little blessed, in a good way. They see the results of their labor produced s e with their own hands, they are in a completely different value system. I would say this: it’s hard for everyone, but the temptations when you’re doing business, not to mention politics, are, of course, 100 times greater than for a baker.
They often see you doing something with your own hands. For example, grill steak in your restaurants. What comes first for you: PR, quality control or pure pleasure?
Everything here, as a rule, follows from one another. But most of all, I enjoy it, because it's very hard to do good things if you don't really love them. But the result is PR. And a motivational program for employees, because the guys see that they are working with a person for whom this work is as important as for them. This is also very effective. Or, for example, a dentist comes to my restaurant and says: “What are you cooking?!” I don’t ask him when I come to him for treatment: “Do you also do teeth?!” Or I don’t tell the actor: “Are you also going on stage to act?!” Still, we forget that a restaurateur is a craftsman. We are accustomed to a certain image of an entrepreneur...
Which only manages someone, right?
Yes. This is very time-justified. When I started the restaurant business, there were only about 500 restaurants in Moscow. There was nothing, and I had to be a good entrepreneur, an organizer. But when competition reaches a certain level, you just need to be able to do something better than others. It could be food, interior, something else. I try to fry meat better than anyone else.
But at the same time, you probably also like the attention of the public and recognition in general?
When I'm at home, I like to clear the plates from the table, I like to wash the dishes. I love it not in terms of the fact that the process itself is so pleasant.
I just think that what distinguishes a person from a monkey is that we wash the dishes after ourselves, and that we share food with others, and that we can happily cook for someone else.
I like all manifestations of humanity, I love it. Therefore, I am proud of this and enjoy doing it. And people feel it.
Many people call your product manifesto a brilliant idea. Do you see copycats?
What I wrote in the product manifesto was there without me; I didn’t come up with anything there. Even if we remember the times of the Soviet Union, which I don’t love with every fiber of my soul, there were dumplings, cheburek, donuts, and so on. Not to mention Italian pizzerias. I simply adapted it to the modern world and said: “Guys, if we want to be successful, we need to focus on something. Less is better than more, but so-so.” That was the idea. That is, the idea of a mono-product manifesto is not to make one ideal product (only God can have an ideal one), but to strive to work on quality, to work on doing something better than everyone else.
I, when I was preparing for the interview, I remembered about a super popular place in London calledL'Entrecôte .
I know them.
They also have a mono-product idea: for more than 50 years all over the world they have been serving only steak and potatoes.
They were my inspirations. When no one believed that it was possible to serve one dish in a restaurant, I said: “What about Entrecote?”
Is it important for you to communicate with your colleagues - Russian and non-Russian?
Very important. And with the Russians it is very important. I do master classes specifically twice a year in New York and London. I invite colleagues from the West and the East, and we hold such discussions and seminars. I also broadcast something there. It is very important. I don’t like idle feasts and just long conversations, even with my friends, but despite all my asociality, I am so greedy for communication in the context of things that are really interesting to me! I am ready to talk about the service for hours, argue, agree, disagree, argue, listen.
If you and I sat down to discuss some TV series, for example, would you quickly lose interest?
No, I'd love to. I just feel that I spend a lot of energy on such conversations, but there is no return. The only thing I can discuss with my wife is this. We like the series “Girls”. Simply magnificent. I also really love Game of Thrones and watch it.
Are there people in the restaurant business you envy?
No, you don’t need to envy people. We're all going to die, you know. The better something turns out, the more unfortunate it is to lose it all, of course...
You look like a pretty happy person.
Well, yes, if now. And after 15 minutes you may think differently. Although I can sincerely say that I am mega-happy. There are things that I can't help but be proud of. And everything that happened to me in my life changed my life for the better, even the most terrible things. Therefore it is a sin to complain. May God grant this to everyone.
Returning to the restaurant business, I will replace the word “envy” with “orientated”. Do you have role models?
I have a colossal number of role models, a lot. Even this room is not enough to write all the names in small handwriting. In principle, all people who were able to overcome their selfishness, began to create, work for others and at the same time find humility in this - deserve my respect.
Do you often visit Moscow?
Very rarely.
Can't pull it?
“It doesn’t work” is not quite the correct wording. I always told my comrades, especially in Russia, one simple thing.
Everyone knows why Brodsky left. Everyone knows why Dovlatov left, or why Baryshnikov “left”. But no one asks themselves why they didn't come back when they had the opportunity. And this is the main question.
Why aren't many people drawn back? What is the main cultural and value problem of modern Russia? Why does it not fit into today's global context? There's a lot we can't do. We have forgotten how to produce many things or have never even produced them. But what we know how to do better than anyone in the world, and so subtly and gracefully, is to offend each other. That’s how much we know how to humiliate each other’s dignity, so we can’t do anything else against this background.
On the other hand, it seems to me that very few people know how to love each other even if the aorta ruptures.
I don't argue with that. Loving and humiliating are often presented in one bottle, like shampoo and conditioner. But still, humiliation is something that can happen once and change a person’s personality forever. And people for whom dignity is a core value cannot survive this. We must understand that the dignity of a person is much higher than the success of the state or society as a whole, and that a successful state or a successful society consists, first of all , of people for whom dignity is a core value. Until Russia understands this, we will not move forward anywhere.
If a newbie with a large sum of money came to you for advice and said that he wanted to open a restaurant business in England, what would you advise him?
If there is a lot of money, I would say: “Buy yourself a luxury boat and sail around the world for two years, relax, enjoy.” Because at least this will leave positive emotions. And the wasted money will only result in empty worries.
Photo: Anastasia Tikhonova, press service of Mikhail Zelman
Before getting into the restaurant business, Mikhail Zelman worked at the Russian Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange and went down in its history as the youngest broker. In 1999 he opened his first restaurant “San Michel”, in the early 2000s he founded the company “Arpicom” and became one of the people who determined the restaurant image of Moscow. Now “Arpikom” manages the establishments and trademarks of Goodman, “Kolbasoff”, “Le Gateau”, “Filimonova and Yankel”, “Mamina Pasta”, as well as a factory-kitchen in Moscow, which supplies food to 24 restaurants in the capital. In addition, Zelman is thinking about developing Russian cuisine and claims that in 10-15 years Russia will be able to claim the title of gastronomic center of the world. In his free time he goes hunting, fishing and travels a lot. Member of the Snob project since December 2008.
The city where I live
Moscow region
“I built this house three years ago, the project was developed by the architect Mikhail Dautov. I imagined that the house would be a mixture of a Swiss chalet, a seaside house and our reality. The shape of the roof and the walls are decorated with natural stone are from a Swiss chalet. The feeling of a seaside home comes from the large open spaces. And the reality of the Moscow region is manifested in the fact that the walls are painted in bright colors.”
Moscow
Birthday
Where he was born
Moscow
Where and what did you study, where and how did you work?
He founded the Arpicom company, which currently manages about 20 restaurants and cafes under the following brands: Goodman, Kolbasoff, Filimonova and Yankel, Mama Pasta, Le Gato.
“Our waiter is the owner of the hall, he waits and greets his guests with a smile. Clients come to many waiters specifically, as if they were visiting their hairdresser, doctor or psychotherapist. This is a very difficult profession. After all, the waiter bears all the responsibility of communicating with the guest.”
“The satisfaction I get from the restaurant business is something I don’t get from any other business I’ve ever been in in my life. And I am very grateful from the point of view of the opportunities that both the creative component and the managerial component provide. A very multi-faceted, multi-faceted business. There's never a dull moment."
In the early 90s he worked in a brokerage office at the Russian Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange.
Managed the Konprokinvest company (supplying food products to the Ministry of Defense).
Achievements
In the early 90s, he became the youngest broker in the history of the Russian Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange.
In 2007, the Arpicom company became one of the leaders in the Russian HoReCa sector - enterprises of the so-called “hospitality” business.
Public affairs
Participated in the government program “Industrial Association for Support of Disabled People”.
Public acceptance
Winner of the National Hospitality Award in the Best Restaurateur category. Received the award from the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers “For personal contribution to the development of the food and hospitality industry in Russia.”
First created and invented
He created the first ceremonial office restaurant in Russia, Saint-Michel.
Organized master classes for visitors in restaurants.
“...you can come to our restaurant and...find out everything, really try and see. ...We conduct master classes. They are very popular. Many people come even with families, we tell you. We take meat from the market, fry it, and show it. And that’s a philosophy that’s really interesting to me.”
Successful projects
At the beginning of 2008, Arpicom built a factory-kitchen in the Moscow region, supplying 24 restaurants of the chain with food.
I'm interested
play table tennis - did it professionally
I love
“Not only do I like to eat delicious food, I just like feeding people. My house is full of friends on Saturday and Sunday. And, naturally, to feed them, I choose and buy the best meat and put a piece of my soul into its preparation. For example, when my friends and I return from hunting, everyone usually asks me to cook something to eat. Maybe that’s why I like such trips into nature, because I see the satisfied, well-fed eyes of the people dear to me. After all, besides this, I don’t need anything else.”
travel, and on the May holidays go to the mountains
paintings by artist Rustam Khamdamov
“The paintings for the interiors of the Saint-Michel restaurant were painted by the fantastically talented artist and director Rustam Khamdamov. When the restaurant closed, I hung them in my bedroom. I look at paintings by Renoir or Manet through the eyes of a person who can appreciate the style and skill of the artist, and I perceive these paintings as a part of myself, as a part of my life.”
Dream
Create an establishment with an average check of $2.
Build an empire of chain restaurants throughout Russia and the CIS.
“I work in restaurants from morning to evening, waiting for a dream... Russian cuisine requires special knowledge, it is a technologically complex cuisine. When the right format appears (maybe I’ll dream about it?), there will be restaurants.”
And generally speaking
“The attitude towards public catering has changed dramatically over the years that I have been involved in gastronomy. Just 15 years ago, a restaurant employee was considered a thief, a swindler, a black marketeer. Today it is a respected profession. And we understand that opinions about a particular country are formed largely through its cuisine.”
“...if I have the opportunity to buy time with money, I buy it right away. If there is an opportunity to buy a market share for money, I would rather buy it than try to achieve it.”
“The amount of income is only an indicator of how professionally I work. In addition, people bring profit, so you can’t skimp on them. In general, you make money not when you save on something, but when you invest it correctly.”
Mikhail Zelman is an experienced restaurateur and owner of the Burger & Lobster chain. Ten restaurants of the chain operate in England, two in New York, and there are also Burger & Lobster establishments in Malaysia, Dubai and Stockholm. Plans include launching restaurants in Singapore and China. In an interview with Elizaveta Osetinskaya for her project “Russian Norms,” Zelman explained why he had not been to Russia for five years and named the average lifespan of a restaurant.
Advice for aspiring restaurateurs
When asked by Osetinskaya to give advice to those who have just entered the restaurant business, Zelman responds with the phrase “first of all, you need to figure out what you can do better than others.” According to him, people with an entrepreneurial mindset constantly have a lot of ideas, but it’s unlikely that they will be able to implement everything, so it’s better to focus on one project.
Mikhail Zelman
restaurateur
“We need to start doing it. The biggest risk is when we do nothing. We need to start doing it. In principle, everything is very clear and simple. It is advisable to find some kind of mentor - a person who has already managed to do this, surround yourself with the right people, the right team and start doing it. All the same, you will make all the mistakes that lie ahead of you. Any business is a series of mistakes. It is an illusion when we think that such a nightmare happened only to us. No, business is made of mistakes.”
Zelman himself made a lot of mistakes when he entered the restaurant business - for example, he opened restaurants without a concept with “Olivier, steak, borscht, hookah, baklava, khinkali” and tried to launch more establishments. Now the entrepreneur is promoting a single-product manifesto: you need to do less, but better, he believes.
About the main thing in business
The restaurant business begins with those who work in the restaurant, Zelman is sure. As a manager, he tries not only to ensure that guests are greeted by well-trained employees, but also to think about the comfort of his employees. “My concern for them is important. A good leader is one who can help,” he says.
Another key thing is the age of the establishment. “Very few restaurants become institutions. Typically, the lifespan of a restaurant and concept is 7-10 years. Some restaurants have been operating for 20-30, 100 years. Every city, every time has its own heroes and its own restaurants,” argues Zelman.
The exceptions are chains like Starbucks, which have been around for many years. However, Starbucks was created at a time when consumers needed such a network, and now it is almost impossible to repeat its success: “Can I become a billionaire? No. How many billionaire chefs do you know?”
About corruption in Russia
The restaurant business in London (and Zelman lives there) is not much different from the Russian one: “here you pay lawyers to get all the permits, but in Russia we paid bribes to all sorts of officials.” At a time when the restaurateur still lived in Russia, it was impossible to open an establishment without paying a bribe, he claims.
Mikhail Zelman
restaurateur
“You understand, in Russia a bribe is a means of communication, a means of trust, and building business relationships. Due to the fact that in society there are no normal ways of building relationships, and a bribe, as it were, makes people closer to a person, unites them, many give and take bribes not because they need even more money, but because it is a way of building relationships in society.”
In the West, business works differently: according to Zelman, the local community is distinguished by continuity and strict rules. He compares Russia with the “civilized world”, which includes the USA and England and does not include, for example, China and Asia.
About Russian elites and changes
“We want Russia to one day become America or Spain, to become a civilized country. This doesn't happen overnight. This is a very long, painful task. Of course, elites play a very important role in this process. And the elites in Russia are shit,” says the restaurateur.
Zelman himself does not visit Russia due to lack of time. In addition, after several trips there, the entrepreneur began to feel a “division between you and us,” due to which communication with friends and acquaintances living in Russia came to naught.
On the sale of business to Iskander Makhmudov
The restaurateur began doing business with the metallurgical oligarch Makhmudov in the 90s. At that time, he recalls, there were several hundred restaurants in the capital. Makhmudov drew attention to Zelman’s business when he already had 5-9 establishments.
Mikhail Zelman
restaurateur
“So it was a boom, it was an incredibly interesting time. And we were, in a good way, so limited and stupid, dull that we [decided]: now we’ll build an empire! Without this it is also impossible. Without this testosterone it is impossible to do anything. Accordingly, I needed some kind of partner, because in Russia you had to have a roof. You could have a gangster roof, a cop roof, or an oligarchic roof. Of course I chose the third. When I was in partnership with Iskander, no... (laughs) no one encroached on my small restaurants.”
According to Zelman’s recollections, he managed to “make friends” with Makhmudov. The restaurateur calls this a mistake and advises not to mix friendship and business: “in many ways, the difficulties that we had were probably due to the fact that we had both business relationships and human relationships.”
About bureaucracy in Russia
Zelman is convinced that Russia needs “fresh blood.” It’s not only about the need for new faces to come, but also about political competition, which will develop competition in the business community and defeat the bureaucracy.
Mikhail Zelman
restaurateur
“The only alternative is to create competition. There will be political competition, and there will be economic competition. Therefore, when Putin came to power... It was a catastrophic mistake to let Putin into power. Not because he is a bad person. He is a very good person: he brought his friends, they became rich people, he does not betray anyone. But a slightly different person was needed in power.”
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