The Restaurant That Russian Spies Once Favoured Reopens In Moscow

The old Aragvi, opened in 1938, was the first and only Georgian restaurant in Moscow. After reconstruction, little of the original decor remained. It has nine dining areas, most of which are light and airy, with a bit of Soviet style and some 17th-century chic. Aragvi

AFP: 'Soviet chic' restaurant favoured by KGB spies reopens in Moscow

Moscow (AFP) - Moscow's Aragvi restaurant, once the legendary haunt of KGB spies and cosmonauts, has reopened with its Soviet-era grandeur restored.

The high-end eatery on the main Tverskaya street, which opened in 1938 at the height of Stalin's purges, has relaunched under the same name after a $20 million (17 million euros) restoration.

The restaurant opened on the initiative of Stalin's notorious security chief Lavrenty Beria for the use of officials from his NKVD agency, the Soviet secret service later renamed the KGB.

It grew popular with other officials and later in the 1960s under Nikita Khrushchev, in the so-called "Thaw" period when censorship and repression eased, lured a more bohemian crowd of artists and actors.

Aragvi was immortalised in Soviet literature and featured in films, although its sky-high prices made it accessible only to a tiny elite.

Diners had to pay a tenth of the average monthly wage for the privilege of eating alongside artists, cosmonauts, filmmakers and chess champions.

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Update: After 15 Years, Aragvi Reopens Its Doors (Moscow Times).

WNU Editor: This restaurant is only a few minutes away from where my condo is .... I guess I should pay a visit. I am not into Georgian food .... and it is also a place that rumour has it that Stalin use to frequent late at night for a special meal ... which should excite the Stalinist to no end. My father took me there once in the 1980s .... it will definitely be strange to see the place again .... albeit with a more modern day look.