Dining Q&A: Svetlana Lustina, Owner of Dacha and Chocolate

Everyone knows that Chocolate is where the wildest nights in Beijing go down. If you don’t have stories of your own, then you’ve certainly heard tales. The same crew recently opened Dacha, which captured our pick for Most Unique Concept in this year’s Reader Restaurant Awards. Who’s the brilliant mind behind these ventures? Meet Svetlana Lustina.

What is one of the first things you crave to eat when you return to your hometown?
I was born in the Russian Far East. One of the most famous things about this region is the king crabs which are huge and very tasty. My family knows that whenever I come back home, a fresh home-cooked king crab is a must for dinner.

Is there anything you won’t eat?
I spent all my childhood in a village next to the sea, so we would eat fresh fish, caviar and various seafood. But at the same time, there were a lot of frogs jumping all around so I have never thought of frogs as food.

What is one of your reoccurring food cravings?
It’s bread! A lot of people don’t eat bread anymore because it’s such a caloric product. But according to Russian tradition, bread is the stuff of life. So, for me, borsch without bread is like Chinese food without tea.

If you could only eat one dish for the rest of your life what would it be?
If there were only one food in the world, I hope it would be foie gras. There are a lot of recipes that call for it, and every chef has his own secrets for preparing it so I would never tire of it.

What’s your ideal breakfast?
My ideal breakfast is a breakfast in bed – served beautifully with rose buds and the tasty aroma of fresh coffee. After 12 years in Beijing, what still excites you most about being here? Chinese parks still excite me the most. They are so beautiful, calm and full of their own atmosphere. I like watching people of all ages dancing and doing sports.

What are the newest ideas that you have?
A lot of friends of mine and customers of my restaurants have moved to other Chinese cities now. They say that they miss Dacha very much, so especially for them, I’m planning to open a network of Dacha Art-restaurants in some other big Chinese cities.

Make a night of it at Dacha with dinner and an evening show.

Photo: Sui