‘Chef’s Table’ Recap: Vladimir Mukhin

Seven decades of communist rule squeezed a lot of the life out of Russia’s gastronomic tradition. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned, and the Soviet Union broke apart, Russians became enamored with other foodways: American fast food, French fine dining, and the like. But, before the Bolsheviks toppled the empire in 1917, Russia had a grand cultural heritage. Chef Vladimir Mukhin of White Rabbit in Moscow stars in a just-released Season 3 episode of Chef’s Table, and he has taken it upon himself to introduce his compatriots to the dishes of Russia’s glory days. Here are some takeaways from Mukhin’s Chef’s Table episode:

• “Russians suffered 75 years, two-and-a-half generations Soviet time when people were fooled into eating this gray, urban grub,” Mukhin says as the episode opens. “I really hate that period because it destroyed Russian cuisine, and I will do whatever it takes to bring the genuine Russian taste back to the people.” The chef does not want Russian food to be thought of as dressed herring and borscht, even though he admits his brain is programmed to enjoy these sorts of dishes. Mukhin makes it clear he is on a crusade to revive his homeland’s long-forgotten recipes.

• This wasn’t always the case. A fifth-generation chef, Mukhin worked in his father’s kitchen as a young man, preparing Soviet-era classics. So, like generations of youths before him, Mukhin had to rebel against the old man. He left his small hometown of Essentuki for Moscow and became obsessed with modern techniques and food from across Europe. It wasn’t until he worked as a sous chef in France, when he collaborated on a menu with chef Christian Etienne, that Mukhin realized Russian cuisine could exist within modern cooking. “His French clients who ate it were amazed,” he says. “They loved his Russian cooking.”

• Leaving home for Moscow wasn’t easy for Mukhin. The chef went from being a big fish in a small pond to starting at the bottom on the line, and his relationship with his father was damaged. “When we stopped communicating, for me it was a tragedy,” Mukhin says. “But I loved cheating on the Russian cuisine.”

• Don’t fret: Father and son are on good terms again.

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• An example of Mukhin’s old-school, new-school hybrid: moose lip dumplings. For viewers who might feel uncool because “moose lip dumplings” don’t sound positively appetizing, here is the reaction from the chef’s own kitchen staff:

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• Once Mukhin realized he could apply modern techniques to the pre-Soviet food of Russia, he became obsessed. He’s dived into researching the old recipes and traveled throughout the country to discover different interpretations and ingredients.

• “At that moment, I had this nuclear suitcase, as they say in Russia. I went up to the 16th floor, and I decided to detonate it here.” This is the metaphor Mukhin uses to explain how he took everything he learned and applied it in the kitchen at White Rabbit.

• Russians were not as quick to embrace their county’s past when White Rabbit first opened. “We were buying oysters from the Black Sea,” Mukhin says. “They would eat them and say, ‘I’ve been to France. I was eating oysters there and they had a different taste. I want oysters like that.” It wasn’t until another Vladimir — the man in the Kremlin — fought U.S. sanctions in 2014 by banning Western imports that chefs and diners began to celebrate their local ingredients. “When they sealed the borders, we were, so to say, on the crest of the wave, because we started working with the Russian ingredients a long time ago,” the chef explains. “We were ready.”

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• Now, not only are the locals celebrating Mukhin’s food, it’s receiving accolades from beyond Russia’s borders (Chef’s Table doesn’t look to shine a light on up-and-comers, obviously). The latest edition of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants has White Rabbit slotted at No. 18. It’s the only Russian restaurant to make the cut. “Chef Vladimir Mukhin is in the vanguard of a new wave of young Russian culinary talents,” the World’s 50 Best committee declares. “Known as much for his use of local, seasonal ingredients as for his charisma, Mukhin is making international waves.”

Chef’s Table

• A Guide to the Stars of ‘Chef’s Table’ Season 3 [E]
• All Chef’s Table Coverage [E]