Opening of the New Bistro FKUSNO

This week I received an invitation to attend the opening event of the new bistro FKUSNO. Seeing the address, I was pleased that there would be a new potential lunch spot right in the centre. So this evening I went to check it out.

Just before 6 pm - the time stated on the invitation - I arrived at FKUSNO, where I was greeted at the door by… Normunds Rutulis, who had been invited as MC and was nervously shuffling about waiting for when the proceedings would finally begin. As it turned out, the proceedings had to be waited for more than an hour.

Once I had settled at a table I had picked out to give a reasonable view of the room, a waiter came over and first asked if I would like something to drink. Later, while bringing a glass of freshly squeezed juice, he enquired whether I did in fact have an invitation to this event. I politely showed the invitation in electronic format and the matter appeared to be resolved. Shortly after, another girl - clearly from the staff - came over, asked about the invitation again, and then explained that I was welcome to help myself to the snacks laid out on stone trays on the bar counter.

Gradually more invited guests arrived - a mixed crowd. With a girl from LETA who joined me at the table, we briefly discussed the décor of the new place. The bistro has two floors, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass walls on all sides (an exhibitionist's dream); on the ground floor, a DJ booth in the centre playing energetic - one might even say club - music. Opposite the entrance, a bar counter separates the kitchen from the dining area.

The furniture is fairly austere - something of Scandinavian simplicity: light wood, a black-and-white chequered floor, the same chequers but in red and white on the fabric of the armchair-sofas, grey fabric on the individual chairs, simple black bulbs and lamps along the walls. The interior elements that add a spark are the dandelion puff-like designer lamps on the ceiling, which look quite good in combination with the glass and metal structures, and the brightly painted wooden bar stools, which contrast with the room's otherwise muted colour palette.

I wondered how it would feel on a hot summer day, sitting behind glass like under a magnifying glass. There are, it is true, rather large air conditioning units on the ceiling, which the MC pointed out are there for customers who like to smoke a cigarette with their meal.

All the tables were generously covered (in the most literal sense) with the new menus, where one could familiarise oneself with the range of food and drinks and assess the prices - which are reasonably democratic (cold snacks around €2.50, soup of the day €3, hot snacks €3.50–€6). The most expensive items are the burgers, up to €9.60. No one here has got carried away with main courses.

When Normunds had finished his opening words - in Latvian and in strained Russian, since the last guests to arrive clearly did not understand the questions or invitations directed at them - a brief speech was given by head chef Yevgeny, who will henceforth be responsible for the visitors' gastronomic pleasure.

After an hour of watching an opening event that just couldn't seem to get going, and later listening to talk about the bistro concept while studying the gathered crowd, I simply could not get a feel for the place's concept. What exactly did its creators want to "say", and above all - who is their target audience? If it's wealthy Moscow tourists from the adjacent hotel, then the prices are unequivocally too low and the drinks range and quality "don't cut it". If it's Latvians, then the pro-Russian undertones and the aspiration towards cosmopolitan style simply won't sit well with their sensibilities. If it's city-centre office workers, then the food here is neither particularly healthy, nor vegetarian, nor substantial and homely, nor is there simply time to sit and be seen. A place for food lovers? Definitely not, as there is nothing unique about the food on offer. Certain doubts also arise about the planned wine evenings - will there really be "pearls" to be enjoyed there?

Bistro FKUSNO has set out to combine almost everything imaginable - bistro, DJ club, wine tasting evenings, smoking lounge, fast food - creating in the process the impression of a place without a defined concept, but with a generous dose of commercialism throughout. Moreover, I cannot shake - and must share - the feeling that this bistro is an appendage created by Reaton alongside its adjacent Gastronome. As if to say: if a product isn't selling, it can conveniently be turned into a snack and served up to the gullible consumer.