Kitchen (TV series)

Kitchen (Russian: Кухня, Kukhnya) is a Russian comedy series that airs on STS. The show focuses on the comedic events that unfold in a fictional restaurant in Moscow called "Claude Monet". Since the 5th season, the comedic events are unfold on the Hotel's restaurant.

Series overview

The series is set in Moscow and mainly focuses on the young and enthusiastic Maxim "Max" Lavrov, who dreams of becoming a great cook one day so he goes to work at Moscow's most expensive restaurant - "Claude Monet", whose owner is Dmitry Nagiev, a famous Russian actor. He, as well as the entire staff of the restaurant "Claude Monet" often end up in humorous situations. The show includes other characters like Max's best friend Konstantin, his love interest (and later wife) Viktoria and his boss - the chef of the restaurant, Viktor Barinov.

Cast

• Dmitry Nazarov as Viktor Petrovich Barinov, the chef of the restaurant "Claude Monet". Although he is a highly skilled but stern cook, he has a very nasty attitude and is generally rude to everyone, including Max. He is a huge fan of the football club Spartak Moscow. He has been divorced three times and has dated Elena Sokolova, the chef of the rival restaurant, from season 1 to 2. His eldest daughter - Ekaterina began working as a cook in season 3. His beloved chefs knife is a Tojiro Flash series gyuto.
• Mark Bogatirev as Maxim "Max" Leonidovich Lavrov, the main character of the show. He is an enthusiastic young cook who came from Voronezh to Moscow in order to become a cook. In season 1 he started a relationship with Vika, the restaurant's art director but cheated on her after getting drunk and was in a relationship with Sasha, a waitress, in season 2 until Sasha cheated on him with her former boyfriend. At that end of season 3 he began dating Vika again and they married in the film "Kitchen in Paris".
• Yelena Podkaminskaya as Viktoria "Vika" Sergeevna Lavrova (née Goncharova), the art director of the restaurant, Max's girlfriend in season 1 and later his wife. Was in a brief relationship with Dmitriy Nagiev in season 3, although the relationship was mostly one-sided on his side.
• Dmitry Nagiev as himself. He is a popular Russian actor and is the owner of the restaurant "Claude Monet". He was married to Kristina, a former promotional model at the restaurant. They divorced in season 3 and she stole the money from the restaurant, leaving it on the brink of bankruptcy and Nagiev sold it but later bought it back with the help of Radion Sergeevich.
• Viktor Horiniak as Konstantin "Kostya" Konstantinovich Anisimov, is a barman at the restaurant, Max's best friend, Nastia's husband, as of season 3 and Stephan's father.
• Olga Kuzmina as Anastasia "Nastya" Stephanovna Anisimova (née Fomina), is a waitress at the restaurant, defender of animal's rights, Kostia's wife, as of season 3 and Stephan's mother.
• Sergey Lavigin as Arseniy "Senya" Andreevich Chuganin, a cook who specializes in meat, often steals things from the kitchen. He is best friends with Fedya and often plays pranks on others with him.
• Mihkail Tarabukin as Feodor "Fedya" Mikhailovich Yurchenko, a cook who specializes in fish. He is best friends with Senya and often plays pranks on others with him.
• Sergey Epishev as Lev "Leova" Semeonovich Solovyov, the sous chef, Viktor Petrovich's rights hand. He lives with his mother and suffers from stuttering. He is in love with Katya, his boss's daughter.
• Nikita Tarasov as Ludvik "Lui" Benua, a confectioner from France. His character is gay.
• Ekaterina Kuznetsova as Alexandra "Sasha" Bubnova, a waitress and Max's girlfriend in season 2. She reconciles with her former boyfriend Ilya and as a result cheats on Max. In season 3 she gets fired because of Ilya trying to get Max fired but she takes the bait instead. At the end of the season it is revealed that she is pregnant and will be getting married.
• Valeriya Fedorovich as Ekaterina "Katya" Viktorovna Semionova, Viktor Petrovich's eldest daughter and sous chef at the molecular kitchen. She has a crush on Max. She left the kitchen at the end of season 3 but is confirmed that she will return in season 4.
• Maria Gorban as Kristina Semionovna Nagieva, Nagiev's ex-wife and briefly owner of the restaurant. She steals all of the money from the restaurant in season 3 and leaves it on the verge of bankruptcy.
• Marina Mogilevskaya as Elena Pavlovna Sokolova, the chef of the rival restaurant "Arcobaleno". She was in a relationship with Viktor Petrovich from season 2 to season 3.
• Andrey Burkovsky as Ilya, a former waiter at the restaurant and Sasha's ex-boyfriend. She cheated on Max with him which eventually Max discovered and he broke up with her. Ilya was fired in season 3.
• Janil Asanbekova as Aynura Jannatbekovna Kenensarova, a cleaner from Kyrgyzstan.
• Konstantin Chipurin as Radion Sergeevich Gromov, a former homeless man who turned out to be a lost businessman in season 3. Enjoys reading and helped Nagiev buy back the restaurant in season 3.

Production

The filming began on July 2012. The show became one of the most expensive TV series in Russia, with a budget of US$200,000 per episode (about $8 million per season). The first episode aired on STS Channel on October 22, 2012.

The second season began filming on November 1, 2012 and was aired on March 25, 2013.

In summer 2013, filming for the third season began. In September 2013, the production team filmed a feature-length film named The Kitchen in Paris. The movie has been premiered in cinemas on May 1, 2014, while the third season was aired in March 3, 2014. On March, 2014 a documentary film The Kitchen. A film about the film. aired on STS.

On April 2014, filming for the fourth season began, and the first episode was aired on October 13, 2014. On May 27, 2014 the production team started to work on a feature-length film named The Kitchen in China. The production started on July 2014.

Rating

The show has been very successful in Russia and in other countries of the former Soviet Union. The show made the channel STS the number 1 channel in the "21:00-21:30", surpassing Channel 1, HTB, Russia-1 and other channels. It also holds an 8/10 rating on IMDb.