Bulbashy 餐厅丨白俄罗斯明斯克

Interior Design Buro by Alena Bulataya designed a creative space honoring the richness of culture and elegance of the Bulbashy Restaurant for diners wanting a unique experience.

At the end of 2021, Minsk stopped being shy and demonstrated how expressive Belarusian style and exquisite Belarusian cuisine can be.

Restaurant “Bulbashy” is located in the heart of the city – in one of the old buildings of the beginning of the last century. It occupies two floors with a total area of 151 square meters.

The upper floor welcomes guests. There is a cloakroom, an improvised reception and a few tables. The lower floor is the main one. It includes a walk-through area, two halls, and a restroom.

Going down from the upper level to the main one, guests pass through floral bas-reliefs on the walls and enter a mirrored hallway with welcoming armchairs and a drawer full of homemade tinctures.

A real tree has settled in a clay tub, deer antlers flaunt above the doors leading to the restroom. All the beauties are repeatedly duplicated in the reflections of an aged mirror that covers an abundant portion of the walls.

The next room is a “Belarusian House”. The kitchen with a charismatic hood offers guests to choose treats and drinks on their own.

The walls of the hall are painted with modern Belarusian prose, and the ceiling is decorated with 300 clay jugs of local production, made by the Radoshkovichi factory.

The far hall, “Shlyakhetsky”, is designed in the castle style, the most laconic and spectacular at the same time. The central element is a family glass table, at the base of which is a tree trunk. Above it rise different beautiful lamps and a metal cage decorated with flowers. Some sections of the walls and the fireplace are lined with Volkovysk ceramic tiles, which still are made manually.

Above the solid wood panels, for the entire length of the room is located an unusual decorative 3D panel, created from three-dimensional iconic objects of the Belarusian table and interior, as if covered with a tablecloth. Among them, you can find a samovar, dishes, cutlery, and other Belarusian decorative objects. There is an abundance of crystal on all the tables and the fireplace, in the settings and decorations. It, as well as many other things in this restaurant, is produced by the Belarusian glass factory “Neman”.

An unusual storage room is located between the two halls of the lower floor. On the way back, guests can buy branded pickles or tinctures; this is a kind of in-house mini shop with goods of their own production.

Few people associate Belarusian food with modernity. The restaurant “Bulbashy” managed to combine traditions and a modern approach to the interior, cuisine and atmosphere. Local manufacturers worked on almost all materials, furniture and interior items.

About 99% of the menu consists of local products and it’s not a marketing ploy! The chef travels around Belarus a lot in search of high-quality local food. Farmers who have not yet entered a large market work for quality, not quantity.

The task of the designer and restaurant owner was to make the place give emotions, both from the interior, food and service, and from pride in their fellow countrymen who make unique and high-quality things, whether they are farmers, potters, carpenters or glassblowers.

Design: Interior Design Buro by Alena Bulataya Photography: Egor Piaskovski

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