"The Customs": New Life of a Cult Restaurant

On the site of the famous "Old Customs" restaurant of Yevgeny Prigozhin in St. Petersburg, a new restaurant "The Customs" has opened. Correspondent Dmitry Grozny sampled Russian cuisine and assessed the atmosphere.

Feb 28, 2026

A waiter in a linen kosovorotka (traditional Russian shirt) shared with Dmitry Grozny: «Yesterday we had a bear at our banquet. Well, a she-bear. I saw her when I was still working at the »Russian Shot Bar«, she»s grown since then, gotten thicker.« This took place at the »The Customs« restaurant, which has taken over the space of the legendary »Old Customs«.

«The Old Customs» was opened in the 1990s and became the first project of Yevgeny Prigozhin«s business empire. In the then-empty restaurant market of St. Petersburg, it quickly became a magnet for the powerful. Its guests included US President George Bush, Prince Charles (now King Charles III), German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, and French President Jacques Chirac.

The same waiter noted: «On the very first day we had guests from Moscow. Young guys around 25 years old. They thought they had come to the »Old Customs«, didn»t notice that there«s a new restaurant here. They were lucky that we opened, otherwise they would have come to closed doors.»

The concept has changed radically. If the «Old Customs» was a nobleman«s restaurant with French cuisine, »The Customs« is betting on a merchant style and Russian cuisine: shchi (cabbage soup), borscht, kulebyaka (filled pies), and rasstegai (open-faced pies).

The building on the spit of Vasilievsky Island was built in the 1830s to a design by architect Ivan (Giovanni) Lukini. The interior is rich in historical artifacts: on the walls hangs, for example, a 1914 order prohibiting the export of «cotton ends» and «wool and down». However, many details, such as a dark portrait with medals or the purpose of the customs yacht «Sluzhitel» (Servant), remain a mystery, as no tours are given here.

In the two banquet halls, the brick vaults are whitewashed, creating the feeling of old Russian chambers. The musical background is provided by folk instruments — balalaikas and gusli (psaltery). The main clientele are older people, and the waiters actively use diminutive words: «little cucumbers», «little tongue», «little meatballs».

Chef Nikolai Oleinikov has compiled an extensive menu with deliberately archaic names. For example, «baked bone marrow» costs 790 rubles (approx. $9 at current rates), and «pâté from the liver of virgin chickens» costs 510 rubles (approx. $6). Prices vary: blini (4 pieces) cost 310 rubles (approx. $3), a side of White Sea halibut costs 1650 rubles (approx. $18). A glass of wine costs from 590 to 1090 rubles (approx. $7-$12), a portion of nastoyka (herbal vodka) costs 320 rubles (approx. $4).

Among the appetizers, the vinaigrette with milk mushrooms (550 rubles, approx. $6) turned out to be on the dry side, and the «salad with spicy herring in a beetroot coat» (610 rubles, approx. $7) is a classic herring under a fur coat.
The daily shchi (590 rubles, approx. $7) was only lukewarm, and the mushroom soup (580 rubles, approx. $6) is served with chicken quenelles.
The Novomikhailovsky cutlets (810 rubles, approx. $9), created in 1947 according to William Pokhlebkin, are generously sprinkled with breadcrumbs.
The fish kulebyaka with salmon and caviar (790 rubles, approx. $9) turned out self-sufficient.
The «detinets» pies (80–110 rubles, approx. $1-$1.20) have various fillings from meat to apples.
The dessert «Pavlova» (640 rubles, approx. $7) was called «Count»s Ruins« by the waiter, but it was done classically — meringue, cream, and berries.

By evening, the atmosphere in the restaurant livens up, more nastoykas appear on the tables, and the staff warns of an upcoming gypsy performance. The material was written by Dmitry Grozny.