“From the taxi, glowing in the Moscow skyline, there is a light in the darkness: the words Door 19 written large in neon on the top of a five-storey brick compound. At a two-building complex still under construction, visitors give their names to the first of two bulky doormen. Ushered into an elevator, they are taken to the top floor where they are confronted by a strange human-like sculpture with the face of a weasel. Eventually, they enter a sprawling industrial-style penthouse with stunning views of the city. The brick walls are covered in graffiti sprayed by one of the city’s best-known street artists, Zhenya Ozzik, and the room showcases an eclectic mix of industrial chandeliers and vintage furniture.
Over the past two months, many of Moscow’s oligarchs, art collectors and curious food lovers have filled this soaring loft to eat at Door 19, a pop-up dinner series. Each week a different pair of international star chefs, from Paco Morales to Sebastian Mazzola, took over the kitchen and served four courses each. Award-winning mixologists, many from London, served speciality cocktails.
Door 19 was not just a successful pop-up restaurant and the man behind the project is not a restaurateur but a real estate developer. Andrey Grinev owns the sprawling top-floor loft in which the temporary restaurant took place, a high-end apartment on the market for $25m.”