Biography
Arkady Novikov is a famous Russian restaurateur, also famous as a TV presenter of the reality shows “Master Chef” and “The Candidate”. In addition, he is one of the founders of the Russian Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers.
Arkady was born and raised in Moscow in the family of a factory designer and a kindergarten teacher. The boy was about six years old when his parents separated, and his son was raised by his mother alone. As a teenager, Novikov didn’t even think about his future profession, and there were no prerequisites for the boy’s biography to be closely intertwined with cooking. As the entrepreneur recalls today, until he was 15 years old, he read fairy tales in his free time and did not want to part with his childhood.
Restaurateur Arkady Novikov
The boy didn’t know how to cook either, but he watched with interest how his grandmother did it. However, after graduating from school, the young man spent his whole life in the kitchen and restaurants, with the exception of his military service, where Novikov had the opportunity to train dogs. Arkady received his first education at a culinary school, and then went to study at a prestigious higher education institution: the Faculty of Economics of Public Catering at the Georgy Plekhanov Academy of National Economy.
After studying, Novikov was a chef at the Universitetsky and Havana restaurants for about five years, and later headed the kitchen at the Olympic Lights restaurant. Arkady gained even more administrative experience in the Moscow establishment “Victoria” in the Gorky Park, as well as in the “Hard Rock Cafe” cafe, which belonged to the musician Stas Namin.
Estate in Italy
Novikov is a multimillionaire and can easily afford a luxurious life. True, he doesn’t fly in a personal helicopter: it’s too expensive to maintain, but buying the Italian estate where Gianni Versace himself lived is as easy as shelling pears for him. Which is exactly what he did ten years ago, when he learned that the mansion was put up for sale.
Novikov was ahead of Victoria Beckham herself, who dreamed of buying Versace’s house and placing her entire shoe collection in it and equipping a room for playing music.
The cost of the residence was not disclosed, but it can be assumed that, according to the most conservative estimates, Arkady Novikov had to pay from 33 to 40 million euros for it. It seems that this amount was really worth it, because the restaurateur got the villa of the cult fashion guru, who often hosted Hollywood stars as guests.
In addition, the neighbors of the Moscow restaurateur were George Clooney and the founder of the Virgin corporation, the richest resident of Great Britain, Richard Branson.
The four-story mansion is located in a picturesque location on the shores of Lake Como (Sardinia). This is the North of Italy and Milan is only 45 km away. It is known that Villa Fontanelle was built in the first half of the 19th century, and in the 80s Versace remodeled it for himself, replacing the neoclassical style with an imperial one.
They say that the interior decoration of the residence is reminiscent of the kitschy design of Novikov's restaurants. That's why he liked this villa so much.
Everywhere you look, there are Versace art collections: sculptures, marble statues, busts, vases, ancient paintings. Lots of expensive exclusive furniture. True, Arkady claims that when he moved into the mansion, almost all of the goods acquired by the couturier were sold off.
In the interior you can see paneling, carved wooden doors, and mosaic floors. The house has several dining rooms, one of which has a luxurious chandelier from the palace of St. Petersburg, several bedrooms, and a library.
On the adjacent territory of the residence there are two guest houses and a tennis court. At any time you can stroll through the beautiful garden with fountains and statues. The owner of the mansion has the right to use a private berth (video).
Arkady’s wife Nadezhda once said in an interview that Novikov loves this house very much. For the special energy that reigns in it, for the amazing aura of the place where the mansion is located. There are mountains all around, it’s always sunny, and there are the most interesting people nearby.
Catering business
Today Arkady Novikov is the person they talk about first when it comes to Moscow restaurateurs.
In 1991, Arkady Novikov founded his own, which today occupies a leading position in the restaurant business niche.
Arkady Novikov
And he started with a small establishment “Sirena”, which he opened in the building of a technical school. This was a very profitable project, since Arkady did not pay rent, but instead fed college students lunches for a nominal fee.
Things quickly took off, and in 1994 the restaurateur opened a new premises - “Club T”. Then there was the Russian restaurant “Tsarskaya Okhota”, the chain of taverns “Yelki-Palki” with affordable prices, elite and respectable restaurants “Grand Opera”, “Vogue Cafe”, “Gallery” and “Cantinetta Antinori”.
In 2006, a subsidiary company, Novikov Catering, began operating, the main area of activity of which was catering services in the luxury segment.
In the same year, Arkady Novikov managed to invite two world-famous chefs on tour to Moscow - Pierre Gagnaire and Charlie Trotter, which also significantly increased the restaurateur's rating.
Almost every year Novikov opens several new food establishments, and the style and idea for each become unique and are never repeated.
Restaurateur Arkady Novikov
Arkady Anatolyevich has his own restaurant “Novikov Restaurant & Bar” even in London. In addition, the entrepreneur organized his own greenhouse farm, Agronom, which supplies the kitchens of his establishments with fresh vegetables and fruits. The registered trademark “Novikov” was also founded, under which the businessman creates and promotes environmentally friendly products to the masses.
In December 2020, the restaurateur opened one of his most unusual establishments - the Syrovarnya restaurant, distinguished by its own cheese production. The restaurant is located on Badaevsky and offers cheese tasting, but also has a classic menu, which, however, is also filled with dishes containing cheese.
Professional activity
Cook. Arkady Anatolyevich began his professional career at the Universitetsky restaurant, where he worked as a cook until 1988. Then he became a deputy chef at the Moscow restaurant “Havana”. He worked as a chef at the Olympic Lights restaurant. After that, he was the chef of the Victoria corporate cafe, where famous artists and musicians often gathered. In 1990, he became the chef of the Hard Rock Cafe, which was opened by one of the founders of Russian show business, Stas Namin.
Restaurateur. Arkady Novikov is considered one of the best Russian restaurateurs. Each of his restaurants is a theater with its own decorations, composition and even action. The activities of Arkady Novikov had a significant impact on the development of the Russian restaurant business.
1992 - Novikov opens his own restaurant “Sirena”. This establishment became the first fish restaurant in Moscow. Here, many residents of the capital first became acquainted with various exotic seafood.
1994 - creates a French restaurant known as Club T. For a long time it was considered the best restaurant in the capital with French cuisine.
1996 - opens the Tsarskaya Okhota restaurant (Russian cuisine). In the same year, Russian President B. Yeltsin and French President J. Chirac hosted a dinner in this restaurant.
1996 - creates the Yolki-Palki tavern, which became the first democratic restaurant with Russian cuisine. Over the years, it has grown into a huge chain of affordable restaurants.
1997 - the White Sun of the Desert restaurant was opened. This establishment started the trend for nostalgic and themed restaurants.
2002 - the Biscuit restaurant was opened, thanks to which lounge restaurants spread. In addition, Novikov organizes Agronom LLC (Gorki-10, Rublevskoe highway). In this greenhouse, a large number of environmentally friendly plants are grown: tomatoes, strawberries, cucumbers, melons, eggplants, herbs, etc. The grown products are supplied to Novikov’s restaurants, as well as to other enterprises. In 2005, Arkady Anatolyevich begins to promote environmentally friendly products under the Novikov brand.
2004 - A. Novikov, together with entrepreneur L. Khasis, launches new projects in the field of gastronomic retail. In particular, the Russian branch of the world famous French chain Fauchon (gastronomic boutiques).
2005 – the Globus Gourmet grocery chain is launched. The Russian branch of the French chain of stores Hediard is also opening. In addition, the Yolki-Palki supermarket (soft-discount retail segment) was opened. Additionally, Novikov is the host of the first Russian reality show about business, known as “The Candidate” (a joint project of TNT and Junior TV).
Since the 90s, in partnership with various investors and restaurateurs, Arkady Novikov has managed to create more than 30 projects: Restaurants: “Gallery”, “Uzbekistan”, “Market”, “Vanilla”, “Cheese”, “Bapaska”, “Vogue” cafe", "GQ Bar", "Tatler Club", "Shore House", "Mr. Lee", "Luce", "Vesna", Cantinetta Antinori, Francesco, China Club, Peperoni; Network projects: “Prime Star”, “Kish-Mish”, “Little Japan”, “Yolki-Palki po...”, “Sushi Vesla”.
2012 – Arkady Novikov’s group of companies includes more than 50 different projects:
- 30 concept restaurants;
- Agronom LLC;
- Novikov Catering company (organization of parties, banquets, buffets);
- (seafood supply);
- (real estate trade);
- Flower Studio 55 is a network of florist salons.
TV show
Arkady Novikov first became the face of the TV show in 2005. He hosted the reality show “The Candidate,” in which participants tried to demonstrate their organizational skills and showed creativity as entrepreneurs from broadcast to broadcast. The winner of the show got the opportunity to try himself as the head of one of Novikov’s new restaurants.
In 2013, a new project “Master Chef” was launched on the STS channel, and restaurateur Arkady Novikov became the main judge and TV presenter. By the way, he is actively involved in writing the script, develops complex tasks for participants in the television show, and also composes recipes for novice chefs of this program.
Personal life
Restaurateur Arkady Novikov met his wife Nadezhda Advocatova in 1990 at a party with mutual friends. The woman is the owner of flower shops and beauty salons, not only in Moscow, but also in the capital of Great Britain. Nadezhda’s clients include such celebrities as designer Daria Zhukova, singer Alsou, actor and director Fyodor Bondarchuk, musician Dmitry Malikov and many other stars.
Arkady Novikov’s family has two children – daughter Alexandra and son Nikita.
Arkady Novikov with his wife
The restaurateur maintains a popular account on Instagram, the number of subscribers of which approaches half a million. Most of the photos posted on this page are images of food, which is quite expected from a professional restaurateur, especially since the Instagram account for Novikov is also a working tool, and not a personal blog, which is clearly hinted at by the link to the official one posted in the header of the page restaurateur website.
But still, on the page you can also find footage of Arkady Novikov himself, both at work and in everyday life.
Arkady Novikov now
Today, Arkady Novikov, in addition to directly managing his restaurant business, is also engaged in educational activities. In mid-2020, the restaurateur opened his own culinary school, Chefshows by Novikov, which began a full professional chef course in September 2017.
The description of the course leaves no doubt about its seriousness: the study will last nine months, and the students’ schedule includes both theoretical lectures and practice in restaurants and even transfer exams between course segments.
At the same time, despite the fact that the cost of the course was 750,000 rubles, timely payment is not yet a guarantee of a prestigious diploma from a professional school. Novikov separately emphasized in an interview about the new course that the agreement clearly states: students who do not show decent results and miss classes may be left without a diploma.
Arkady Novikov
Arkady Novikov himself believes that the main difference and merit of the course is not its duration, but that the Chefshows by Novikov school is the first in Russia to provide a truly systematic education for future restaurateurs and chefs.
It is also already known today that it was Arkady Novikov who was announced as the first ambassador of the WorldSkills Kazan 2020 World Championship of Professional Skills. Professional competitions will be held from August 29 to September 3 in Kazan.
Businessman Arkady Novikov
The purpose of the competition is to demonstrate the value and raise the profile of blue-collar professions, as well as the need to develop professional skills.
Participants in the competition will demonstrate their skills in more than fifty competencies, including a number of culinary ones: “Cooking”, “Bread Baking”, “Confectionery”, “Restaurant Service”. A number of other areas related to computer technology, transport, industrial production, construction and other areas will also be presented.
What else do future employees of Arkady Novikov’s restaurants (Novikov group) need to know?
Strict but fair leader.
We must admit that working in Arkady Novikov’s restaurants is sometimes stressful. If you perform your duties correctly and on time, then you have nothing to fear. Your career in this company will be successful. At the Ikra gastronomic festival, which took place at the beginning of 2020, Arkady told a funny story that characterizes him as a person who knows what he wants from his employees and asks them about it.
Arkady calls one of his restaurants.
A girl picks up the phone and says:
- Hello.
Arkady: Hello.
- Hello.
Arkady: - Hello. Why don't you introduce yourself? Don't you know the rules? Come on, call the manager quickly.
- There is no manager.
Arkady (sternly and indignantly): Why not?! Call the director quickly! What's going on in your restaurant?!
- This is not a restaurant, this is an apartment...
Arkady is an excellent speaker and, thanks to his natural charm, he spoke about this incident in such a way that all the listeners of the round table laughed until they dropped.
Instantly sees all the shortcomings.
As a guest in his restaurants, you will be able to observe how Arkady can suddenly appear in a restaurant, instruct employees to correct this or that dish (sometimes he knows that something is wrong even by appearance), and also instantly evaporates. And after another couple of hours he will come to check if everything is in order.
So he won’t be able to relax!
Vacancies in Arkady Novikov's restaurants: chef, pastry chef, service manager, director, manager, bartender, sommelier, bartender, bar manager, barista, hostess, waiter, cook.
If you are looking for vacancies in Arkady Novikov's restaurants (Novikov group), just send your resume to
Join @restovacancy on Telegram
Condition assessment
The A. Novikov Group of Companies today includes about fifty franchises, both in the restaurant business, in the entertainment sector, and in retail trade.
Restaurateur Arkady Novikov
Arkady Novikov regularly finds himself in the rankings of the richest restaurateurs in Russia, and consistently remains in the top ten. Various sources estimate Novikov’s fortune at around $180 million.
Interestingly, several years ago the restaurateur bought the Fontanelle villa, located in the Italian province of Lombardy. This estate previously belonged to the legendary couturier Gianni Versace and cost Novikov £26 million.
What is the salary in Arkady Novikov's restaurants?
Arkady Novikov is a brand person, he is known far beyond Russia and working for him is considered prestigious in the restaurant industry. In other words, when working for him, you understand that you work in a holding company with a good HR brand.
As a rule, salaries in such companies are somewhat lower. But everything changes from project to project, so if you are interested in the position of a cook or waiter in a particular restaurant, just call them and ask.
If you are looking for a job as a manager or chef, call or whatsapp the recruitment agency RABOTARESTORAN: +7985 134 41 35.
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