Sochi's Celebrity Chef

Martial Simonneau the owner and head chef at Brigantina Cafe and Brasserie, took time this week to talk to me about his restaurant, his service ethos and the arc of his life from Normandy through Nice, Paris and Moscow to Sochi, where the Brigantina is the only French-owned and operated restaurant in the city center. Martial learned about the restaurant business from his parents' restaurant in Normandy.  He lived in Nice and and later in Paris, where he worked at the famous De la Paix Cafe for several years.  Eventually, Martial was hired to run the kitchen at a casino in Moscow.  In 2002, he came to Sochi to manage a restaurant in Krasnaya Polyana, where he worked for several years.  After this, he detoured to Yekaterinburg to run a casino.  Two years ago, drawn by the promise of Sochi, he moved back and opened Brigantina Cafe and Brasserie next to the seaport. His son, Bastien, a graduate of business school in Paris, has come to Sochi to help.  Martial and Bastien have opened a second cafe, Napoleon, a few blocks away on Vorovskovo Ulitsa, where they offer French baked goods. Theirs are the only locations in Sochi where one can buy a genuine French croissant.

The Brigantina, as evidenced by the photo, appeals to celebrities and political leaders visiting Sochi and is noted for offering the best and most consistent cuisine in Sochi.  Martial and Bastien are ever present, seeing to the needs of diners and assuring that all runs smoothly.   Martiall's ethic of attention to detail and, above all, the customer, is reflected in the well-trained staff.  I asked Martial, who was recently profiled in Forbes Russia, about his experiences with restaurant ownership in Sochi.  Martial said, with a laugh. that "in Russia everything is difficult, but nothing is impossible."  Martial and Bastien are planning to expand their operation to include other kinds of food service, including a bar/ cafe that will be designed to appeal to the underserved professional clientele seeking a place after work and in the evenings.  

Specialities at Brigantina include steak frites, mussels, escargot, oysters from France and live crab flow in from Canada.  The menu also offers several pasta and pizza selections and the wine list ranges from inexpensive local offerings to several very expensive Bordeaux wines.  The Brigantina stays open 24/7 and has both indoor and outdoor dining areas.