Alexander Andreyev, Probka, Moscow
Until the last moment there were many guests in the restaurant, we adopted all the sanitary measures according to the Ministry of Health even before the Moscow mayor told us to do so. And now, that’s it, a “vacation”. The term is not clear, at best.
I am prepared to think about myself, my family, about how to survive all this and get back with the new energy.
After this turmoil ends the public support will go to those favourite places who survive the mishap. I think Probka will be even stronger: as a team, and as a restaurant. Changes in salaries are unavoidable, though, and we are looking at the upcoming enormous competition in the market.
The situation also shows that a sommelier as a “bridge” between the wine and the end-consumer might disappear entirely, it might well be transformed into a call center voice. The skyrocketed currency exchange rate doesn’t help. We will have to rebuild what we had or start all over again.
This will probably won’t end till June. All the May events has been cancelled. And the situation is probably worse than we perceive: a zero can be safely added to the numbers of infected. I am also worried about the problems this for small artisanal producers, they might not be able to survive this.
On the positive side, we have more free time. For the family, and for wine-related training, for learning languages. We must use this time to the fullest. I have got books about Champagne, but no Champagne at home.
