Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Anichkov Palace was built between 1741 and 1750, with input from a slew of archi-
tects, including Rastrelli and Rossi. The palace was twice a generous gift for services
rendered: Empress Elizabeth gave it to her favourite Count Razumovsky and later
Catherine the Great presented it to Potemkin. This was also Tsar Nicholas II's favour-
ite place to stay in St Petersburg - he far preferred the cosy interiors to the vastness of
the Winter Palace.
The Anichkov Palace became the city's largest Pioneer Club headquarters after
1936 and to this day it houses more than 100 after-school clubs for over 10,000 chil-
dren. Today there's a small museum inside, but it is only open sporadically for tours.
EATING
The historic heart of St Petersburg is also its culinary heart: the range of options
is generally excellent, though you'll do better to get off Nevsky pr itself, which
tends to be pricey and of average quality (with a few notable exceptions).
INTERNA
INTERNATIONAL
TIONAL
MIX IN ST PETERSBURG €€€
noon-3pm & 7pm-midnight; Admiralteyskaya; )
A sign of the changing times,
MiX is St Petersburg's first celebrity chef restaurant, and the first Russian venture of
French cookery star Alain Ducasse. Though it's inside the new W Hotel, to one side
of St Isaac's Cathedral, it feels nothing like a hotel restaurant. It has its own entrance
from the street, several glamorous rooms surrounding an open kitchen and a huge
wine cellar. Sublime yet simple dishes tend to be French in essence with an interna-
tional or Russian edge. Service and atmosphere are both top-notch, making this one of
St Petersburg's hottest tables of the moment.
IITALIAN
ALIAN
SOUP VINO €
