Profile of the chef: Bakhtiyar Shamsiev

I agree, it’s not really fair that everyone knows good restaurants, but only a few know the chefs who cook there and create the menu. We at The Fashion Vibes decided to correct this situation and created the “Chef Profile” section, where we will introduce you to the main chefs not only in Moscow, but all over Russia.

This time we are talking with Bakhtiyar Shamsiev, the chef of Eva, one of Moscow’s legendary restaurants. We mention them in the plural because at the beginning of this year the second location of the restaurant appeared on the map of the capital. Isn’t this a sign of a quality project? In general, you can meet Bakhtiyar in other projects on which he worked before. For example, in Probka on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, and before that in the Bolshoi and Vanil restaurants. But since the opening of the restaurant, Eva has risen from sous chef to chef.

Before you search on Google for all the merits of Bakhtiyar, we recommend that you study the most interesting details of the biography in our material.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Bakhtiyar Shamsiev.

33 years.

Eva.

Vegetables. Ask why? First, it’s easy to experiment with them and come up with new flavor combinations. Second, it is useful. Thirdly, after eating vegetables, there is no weight left and, of course, it is delicious! Moreover, vegetables and other healthy foods have now become a global trend in gastronomy.

Homemade. Especially as adults, we often remember what our mothers and grandmothers prepared for us because it is a simple and understandable dish. There’s not too much sauce, texture or flavor – that’s what makes it great.

In my opinion, everyone loves simple food, so home cooking here is second to none. By the way, Greek also looks like homemade, it is not complicated in any way, so I chose this vector for myself.

I don’t have food like this. If you hate cooking a meal, it means you don’t really love your job. Guests always feel it, and food prepared with soul really tastes better. Therefore, if the chef does not like to cook something, the result can be sad.

I tried scorpions for the first time in Guangzhou during my trip to China, I still think about it often and it was really delicious for me. I can’t help but mention my mother’s cutlets, especially her mashed potatoes.

I went to work at a new restaurant where the chef was a very strict Frenchman. On the fourth day of working in the kitchen, I was assigned to prepare compliments – meatballs for the guests. We made it immediately by making a reservation, 100-150 kg of minced meat was required. The cooks told me that to mix all the ground meat, you have to ask the chef for special boots, like with grapes.

I confidently go to the boss to buy shoes and, in broken English, try to find out where I can buy boots for kneading minced meat. I flew out of there screaming and the cooks had a great time.

Warm raisin pancake. You have no idea how delicious it is. My best memory from my childhood: I would go to the side street for freshly baked pancakes, then I would cut grapes in the garden of the house and eat them together.

Many people think that being a chef means inventing new dishes and being creative. In fact, the chief’s responsibilities include many operational issues: preparation of schedules, budgets, purchasing, searching for suppliers and much more.

Pearl barley! I ate a lot as a child, but I still can’t look at it.

My favorite part of my job is that my team has become my big Greek family. I love communicating with guests, learning their preferences, collecting feedback and working with them. We work primarily for guests, so I think we need to listen to them carefully.

All! “Which of your own children do you love more?” This is like asking: I love them all equally and think they are the best, otherwise they wouldn’t be on the menu.

I dream of a house by the sea and my own little cafe on the beach.