Arkady Novikov was born in 1962 in Moscow.

Arkady Novikov: “I grew up quite late and hadn’t even thought what I wanted to do in school. I was reading fairy tales until I was 15…”…

After school he graduated from the culinary college № 174, then the economics and management department of Russian Economics Academy named after G.V. Plekhanov. He started his career as a chef in Universitetsky restaurant where he worked for almost 5 years. Following that was the position as a deputy chef in Havana restaurant and chef in a restaurant called Olympic Lights. In 1990 Arkady became a chef in Hard Rock Cafe that Stas Namin opened in Gorky Park’s Green Theatre. Arkady Novikov: “I couldn’t cook until I went to college but I loved to watch my grandmother cook. And she would try to get me out of the kitchen saying “It’s not men’s business!”. The 1990-s became the decade of real success. The numerous original and popular projects that Arkady came up with brought him a reputation of “the city’s number one restaurateur”.

Arkady Novikov: “When I was studying, everything was very interesting. I burrowed in books dreaming to cook up something new. I doubt that anyone believed that I would succeed back to then but now there is a memorial board in my college “Arkady Novikov graduated from here”

In 1992 Arkady Novikov opened his first restaurant, Sirena. It became the capital’s first fish restaurant ever and introduced Moscovites to the most exotic (for that time) fish and seafood delicacies. Sirena, still successfully existing in the same concept, became one of those first restaurants with a qualitatively different approach to cooking, serving, interior and ambience that gave rise to a new, post-Soviet stage in the development of Russian restaurant business.

Arkady Novikov: “The work on this project has largely defined our strategy. It made clear that impeccable food is a prerequisite though not exhaustive condition of a restaurant’s success. Each following project was a quest for some interesting, always new theme and scrupulous work on the realization of the idea.”

Not without grounds Arkady Novikov is often thought to be the one behind turning-point events. One of these landmarks was the opening of a French restaurant, Club T, in 1994. Over many years Club T was rated the best French restaurant in the capital by numerous critics. In 1996 a new restaurant, Tsarskaya Okhota (Tsar’s Hunt), became the first post-Soviet Russian restaurant. In the same year it served the famous dinner to the two presidents — Boris Yeltsin and Jacques Chirac. The restaurant became a business card of the city turning the interest back to Russian food.

Arkady Novikov: “Intuition often substituted marketing back then… The customer turnover in Tsarskaya Okhota was so large that we had to shut down and change everything. A wheel cart with snacks, the buffet, was one of the solutions to the serving problem.

In 1996 this special style was offered to the masses: the restaurant Yolki-Palki was opened. It was the first modestly priced restaurant based on Russian style. Today Yolki-Palki is the largest Russian chain of affordable restaurants serving traditional food.

Arkady Novikov: “I asked every waiter — what would you like to try in a restaurant? Why would you go there? What haven’t you seen anywhere yet? What they told me became the restaurant.”

The opening of Beloye Solntse Pustyni (“The White Sun of the Desert”) in 1997 made popular a new restaurant genre — theme-based and nostalgic eateries. In 2002 with the opening of Biscuit another trend was born: stylish lounge restaurants. Further to come were Vogue-cafe, Galereya and Vesna (Spring).

Arkady Novikov: “How do I know what kind of restaurant to open? Anyone can say what to add when tasting a soup, salt or pepper. Same with me, I just roughly sense when and what restaurant to open. When I start making mistakes, adding too much or too little salt, that’ll be it.”

All in all since 1992 and in partnership with different restaurateurs and investors, Arkady Novikov has created over 30 various restaurants. Among them are Tsarskaya Okhota, Sirena, Uzbekistan, Syr (Cheese), Market, Vanil, Vogue-cafe, Galereya, Cantinetta Antinori, Biscuit, China Club, Barashka, original medium-priced chain restaurants Yolki-Palki, Malenkaya Yaponia (Little Japan), Pyat Zviozd (Five Stars), Sushi Vesla, Kish-Mish, Yolki-Palki po….

Arkady Novikov: “People come to a Novikov restaurant firstly, and they choose according to the food and service after all.”

In 2003 Arkady Novikov created his own greenhouse farm Agronom in Gorki—10 (Rubliovskoye shosse). In 2005 he grew and promoted organic production under the brand NOVIKOV.

Arkady Novikov: "An exquisite dish starts with quality ingredients, that may accord or conflict with each other. Essential accents are the sauce, cooking time and beautiful serving. Only a top-level chef can bring it all together.”

In the summer 2005 Arkady Novikov became a presenter in a new intellectual reality show «The Candidate», a joint project of TV channel TNT and TV company Junior TV. The project is a replica of the American show «The Apprentice» with Donald Trump, first released in January 2004 and it gained the highest ratings straightaway. In the Russian version of the show 16 candidates were competing for the right to be hired as a top manager in the Arkady Novikov Group, with an annual contract of 15 million roubles. The winner was announced in November 2005.

Arkady Novikov: "I need an intelligent, decent person, with strong organizational skills. A good manager is a specialist who takes the right decisions.”

Arkady Novikov is one of the founders and a member of the board of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers. He was given the National Award “Hospitality 2004″ in the nomination “For Personal Contribution in the Development of Hospitality Industry”. Arkady was also voted GQ Man of the Year as “Restaurateur of the Year”.

Arkady Novikov: “I am often asked whether I’m going to expand my company. I always tell myself, ‘Enough. Stop’ But I can’t stop!”