When it comes to entertainment with a meal, Krasota, a gastro-theatre restaurant, is one of the most high-end options in Dubai. It’s making waves since it opened its doors this summer.
Coming from the celebrated White Rabbit Family, and helmed by Michelin star chef Vladimir Mukhin, Krasota opened its’s doors at the Address Downtown in April, and syndicates artwork by distinguished painters from the late nineteenth and early Twentieth century with cuisine from the much-admired Russian chef who is known to combine Russian cuisine with the hottest trends in epicureanism. The art is shaped co-owner Anton Nenashev (film director), who’s got in the interactional connections, 3D projections and custom AI designs, going. The interior design is by Natalia Belonogova. Mukhin Chose Dubai for this exclusive experience because he feels there couldn’t have been a better place to showcase innovative gastronomy owing to the many talented chefs and concepts already taking Dubai to the next level.
THE GASTRONOMICAL THEATRE
Twenty diners, experience the culinary journey together in a ‘gastronomical theatre’ – an auditorium with a large circular table. Art is projected onto the walls and table through a 3D multi-media fully immersive show, replete with visuals, lights and sound effects. Notwithstanding the intricate sounding procedure, Mukhin shares that it was all set up in within months, thanks to the awareness owing to an alike concept in Moscow in 2020. The more stimulating part for him was replicating the dishes from Russia, but expending local ingredients. Mukhin is celebrated for his use of old-style recipes harmonizing with up-to-date skills and seasonal ingredients. Apart from heading up the groups over twenty restaurants in Russia, Mukhin has also appeared on Season 3 of Netflix’s popular series Chef’s Table. Coming to the food at Krasota, a stunning eight-course menu awaits to be cherished. The menu is a stunning construal of the canvases of eight globally acclaimed legendary artistes through a synesthetic style, communicating its pictorial view in an appetising experience for all the senses.
INSPIRED BY TRAVELS
Some herbs and wild fruit are brought over from the Russian forests, however whatever is possible is sourced locally. Prior to creating the menu for the ‘Imaginary Art’ set, Mukhin visited farms near Dubai, and was elated to discover UAE’s gastronomic surprises. He sources local ripe tomatoes, peppers, herbs and even seedless avocados with edible peel. And from Russia he brings in ingredients like strawberries, sea buckthorn, cloudberries, and green gooseberries. They have a distinct taste when they are cherry-picked in wild green surroundings. For Mukhin Coming to Dubai also means bringing in something novel, and undeniably the best. And thus, the Krasota menu has been swayed by Mukhin’s experiences in the UAE, merging local flavour with Russian elements, ingredients and practises. He loves the fact that food is deeply rooted in tradition in the UAE and the concept of eating together on a table family style. During his travels in the UAE, he also discovered many similarities in the way flavours and ingredients are combined, although the Arabic dishes have a more intense use of lemon and salt. His favourite ingredient is the fermented lime (Lumi superfood) that locals use with tea or is added to stews. Mukhin uses it in a dish with crab. Mukhin’s travels and experiences are evident in his dishes, for example the Desert Rose petit fours, is an inspiration from a trip he made to Jordan last autumn when he visited a local market and the vendor told him how the white desert truffles were the only thing that grew in the desert naturally. This got him creating a ‘whole box of magic tales for a sweet ending to the menu. His version has petals made of white desert truffle, flawlessly imitating the desert rose texture, with a velvety silk core.
THE 9TH WAVE INSPIRATION
Mukhin’s black cod with plum and fig, inspired by Ivan Aivazovsky’s The 9th Wave from 1850, has a special anecdote of him on a sailing trip through the Norwegian fjords last winter, which he took to better comprehend the creation. Here the crew and he experienced a storm and had a choice: to go and face it or remain inside. So, they went through the storm on a sailboat, which felt like being inside the painting. In this special dish, Mukhin expresses all the emotions and impressions of this unforgettable journey.
He also terms the creative course of this dish as one of the utmost stunning, he’s worked on. Taking the sun as a ray of light and hope in a dark storm as muse, he shows the undertaking of life on sun ripened fruits, where he selects a plum and a fig. He was fascinated by the uneven icy colour texture and the variety of purples of their skins seen under the light. And most of all, how they co-ordinated the colour palette of the dark waters that Aizakovsky brushed.
He desired to bring into motion these waves with all their exquisiteness and power. Thin slices of plum are cut and warped up to symbolise the sea in crusade, permitting approaches that divulge its balminess, peach-orange flesh penetrating the light of the sun as the surfs in the scene. It is so graceful to notice that these dark-sealed fruits hide such harmony inside. So, the inside of the fruit signifies the light of the sun in disparity with the raw salinity of the scene: a cluster of stranded lives facing the 9th wave grip to the debris of the ship’s pole – a black cod, there’s no back. Sense the cod tiers melt in your mouth one by one, where the crusty fresh plum surfs bring the inner sound of the sizzling waves of the aquatic. It’s a beautiful synesthetic moment, where silence arises in the mid of the storm. There is optimism, even in the dimmest instants, notwithstanding none of the stranded being attentive of the sun. Whether they exceed the 9th wave or not, it is all about to come to an end.
COMING UP
In October 2023, there is going to be an entirely new, synergetic, pictorial and epicurean experience, the work on which is already ongoing. The artistic work, story in eight acts, the pictorial arts, essentially an entire new narrative. Post this, the menu is drawn out, trials done for the final act. Staging this new menu, as in a theatre, includes waiters’ costumes – one for every act, scenography, characterisation, sound, and performances. An entirely immersive, sensory experience where guests to do more than think. So that they savour, see, bouquet and touch to comprehend the power of krasota (beauty) of the cuisine and experience. But what’s interesting is that this new menu is being made using artificial Intelligence and not just ChatGPT…. now this is something I am going back for!
FACT BOX
Where? The eight-course gastro-theatre experience starts at Dhs1,500, and there are three shows a day – 3pm, 6pm and 9pm. Address Downtown Dubai, (04 433 1258). https://krasota.art/ (Awarded the “Best food writer in the country” by the Indian culinary forum, WACS and the ministry of Tourism, Rupali Dean writes on food and travel.)