The first record of the building which now White Sun of the Desert restaurant occupies dates back to the end of the 19th century, according to the Moscow historical archives. Initially there was a tavern which was very famous in the city. Then the building was sold and a French café was opened instead of the tavern. During the stern post-revolutionary years there was an officer cafeteria and in 1951 the ministry of trade of the Uzbek SSR decided to open there Uzbekistan restaurant.
In 1997 restaurant keeper Arkady Novikov became the new proprietor of Uzbekistan. He began the restoration of the rooms and decided to transform the former banquet room into a conceptual restaurant White Sun of the Desert which reflected in its unique interior all the colour of the famous film with the same name. It is since the opening of this restaurant that the story of White Sun of the Desert begins.
Eugeny Demin was born at 1'st of january in 1975 in Moscow. После окончания Московского техникума общественного питания и службы в армии устроился поваром в гостиницу Olympic Penta (теперь Hotel Renaissance). Здесь, с 1995 по 1997 гг., работал с иностранными шефами, в частности, с алжирцем Амаром Туатом. Именно он привил молодому повару тягу к смелым кулинарным импровизациям. Потом была работа в знаменитом «Кафе Пушкинъ», шеф-поваром в «Бавариусе», в «Мускате» и в Vapiano. Открытие элитного казанского ресторана восточной кухни «Пашмир» в 2008 г. – еще один значимый пункт в кулинарной биографии Евгения. В 2010 г. началось сотрудничество Евгения Демина с Группой компаний Аркадия Новикова – для светского проекта Tatler Club он разрабатывал меню. C апреля 2013 г. талантливый шеф возглавляет кухни ресторанов «Белое солнце пустыни» и «Узбекистан».
The main scenes of the film were the principal source of inspiration for the design of the rooms: they are decorated with dolls looking like the main characters, unique photos from the shooting stage with autographs and best wishes from the director of the film White Sun of the Desert Vladimir Motyl who was the honourable guest and the friend of the restaurant.
All the year round in the aryks (open artificial ponds) of the restaurant you can see starlets which our chefs cook according to their signature Uzbek and Chinese recipes. If they wish, our guests can choose or even catch the starlet the like.
In summer White Sun of the Desert traditionally opens its cozy patio looking on the historical Neglinnaya Street. The restaurant also has a common green courtyard with Uzbekistan restaurant where one can hear our fantastic peacocks singing. Even during the hottest days it is fresh and comfortable in here thanks to a modern air-conditioner. Our guests can watch dishes being cooked on the barbecue and tandoor on both summer patios.
Today in the menu of White Sun of the Desert restaurant you can find Uzbek, Arabic, Azerbaijani and Chinese dishes. The trademark and decoration of our restaurant is a an oriental buffet called “dastarkhan”. Dastarkhan is a tree which is full of apples and butterflies or sometimes flowers, and in winter the branches are covered with white snow. There you can find various oriental starters, preserves, pickles and pastry.
We cook all our dishes according to the national and ancient eastern traditions: shish kebab is prepared only on a charcoal grill (even in winter) and is served on a tripod called “taganchik” together with hot coals. All the day round flatbread is cooked in a clay tandoor.
Some national dishes are prepared in front of guests, for example, a juicy mountain lamb marinated in cognac with spice is roasted on a hunting spit. The lamb wrapped in foil is revolving over scorching coals for several hours, then chefs take it off and carry it across the whole courtyard inviting everyone to taste its delicate aromatic meat.
Noodles are hand-made. It is a very subtle art and it is considered that noodles absorb the warmth of a master’s hands. Cooking a real Uzbek pilaf is an ancient tradition in itself and can be considered art. In White Sun of the Desert restaurant pilaf is cooked from special kinds of rice strictly observing the proportions. The secret that requires special skill is to make a pilaf light, easy to digest. In our restaurant pilaf is served by a chef who can tell a guest the story and explain the uniqueness of this national dish.