GO! Issue 3: February 12 - March 4, 2004

   Streetwise

Ploshchad Gagarina

   Drinking & Dancing

Koko Night Action Club Koko purports to offer entertainment by way of interactive shows. On the night I dropped in, this show was essentially a greasy pony-tailed master of ceremonies badgering awkward provincial students onto the stage for some truly uninspired dance contests.

Gogol The good news is that you don’t have to bring your own skates; the even better news is that the prices will make you leap for joy.

Fabrique After hosting several pre-opening parties, the Fabrique nightclub made its final, full-fledged debut last month. A certain level of success would seem to be guaranteed, since its location — two basement floors of the Moscow State University of Design and Technology, not far from the recently-opened and unbelievably trendy club First — makes it a good refuge for those turned back at First’s door.

Jet Set The recently closed trendy dance facility attempts resurrection as a democratic DJ Bar. Once a top-flight club, Jet Set has never really been everyone's cup of tea — partly because of its ridiculously snobbish face-control policy and partly because of its stuffy crowdedness — so when the venue died peacefully a year ago, not everybody mourned its passing.

   Restaurants

Fine dining at a price If the name “Snobs” is not enough, the last letter of the logo should be enough to tell you that a night out here is not going to be cheap: It’s cross-hatched to look like a currency symbol.

Hard Rock Cafe A decade or so after the T-shirt got here, the Hard Rock Cafe got to Moscow late last year. I wasn’t too keen on going at first, having seen the old building gutted before it was built and never having been that excited about Paul McCartney’s socks or whatever they put on the wall.

Arkhitektor Arkhitektor, once a restaurant for the patrons of the Moscow House of Architects and now a semi-exclusive new-look eatery for well-heeled creative types, is prolific restaurateur Anton Tabakov’s latest contribution to the capital’s restaurant scene.

Tao, Antica Trattoria da Millio and Zhar-Ptitsa A couple of minutes’ walk from Belorusskaya metro station and Tverskaya Ulitsa, China, Italy and Russia share common borders (but have separate entrances).

El Inka Opened earlier this winter in place of the Bulldog restaurant, refurbished El Inka has an unmistakably Incan feel. The music sets the tone as you enter; one of the paintings shows the scene of a ritual goat sacrifice, while Inca masks stare from the walls.