Restaurateur Nina Gudkova: biography and photos

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

30-year-old businesswoman Nina Gudkova cooks herself, sets the price for her wonderful desserts and is not afraid of failure.

Nina was born on January 27, 1983, she is not married, as work takes her whole life. Her children are cafe-pastry shops, fashionable places in the capital. Nina Gudkova and Pavel Kostorenko are the "parents" of well-known establishments in the capital. They are Friends forever company, I love cake, Breakfast Cafe, Brownie Cafe and Conversation.

Looking at the girl, it's hard to believe that the restaurateur Nina Gudkova is a fan of desserts. She cooks them herself, spending her days at the kitchen counter. The key features of her sweet masterpieces are the originality of the recipe, large portions and an incredible amount of fresh berries. Any dish is very tasty, in the cafe, according to guests' reviews, you want to come back again and again.

Education, career

The biography of Nina Gudkova did not develop quite the way she planned. She alwaysI wanted to open my own cafe, but she did not burn with the idea of becoming a cook or a confectioner at all.

It is known about her education that she received the speci alty "restaurant business manager" at the Moscow Academy of Tourism. After the girl went to gain experience in the capital's restaurants.

Her parents expected her to be a brilliant economist, but Nina Gudkova went her own way and chose a career as a restaurateur. Parents were not delighted, but, looking ahead, we note that they allocated funds to Nina to open her own institution. The amount of several million rubles opened the way for Nina to the world of the Moscow confectionery business.

After high school (we are talking about the biography of restaurateur Nina Gudkova), she devoted herself entirely to gaining experience in the capital's restaurants. In an effort to learn all the ins and outs of this business, she worked as a manager, accountant and merchandiser - she wanted to learn everything. Together with their friend Pavel Kostorenko, an economist, they ventured into the stormy waves of the restaurant business in Moscow and started their own business.

The story of Nina Gudkova is one of the brightest examples of success, and, in principle, may well serve as a manual for beginner businessmen. The technologies of her success are not classified, although, perhaps, this is not enough: few people manage to boast their own restaurant chain by the age of 30, the character of a person is also important.

Nina admits that she doesn't consider her job a job, it's her way of life. thinkonly - you take it away from a person, and what will he be left with? But for now, for her, this is the whole world in which she experiences joy and sadness, where both calmness and utter chaos reign. But Nina admits that she even gets tired with great pleasure, because she loves madly what she does.

Looking at her, it's hard to believe that the girl runs several restaurants.

Secrets of success

Self-confidence - she does not take it. Already at the age of 15, Nina realized that she wanted to open a coffee shop, and unlike many dreamers, she brought her idea to 100% implementation. Designed to be done.

Having received a professional education and gained experience in the capital's institutions, at the age of 25 she realized that the knowledge she received was enough to open her own business.

The money saved was not enough, she turned to her parents and borrowed a certain amount. Together with her friend Pavel Kostorenko, in 2008 she opened the first Friends Forever cafe in Moscow - an establishment in the format of an American coffee house. Parents were all waiting for the girl to "play enough" and get a "normal" job as an economist or lawyer. But Nina is not one of those who obey, and her parents reconciled themselves - it turned out to be a futile task to stop their daughter. In addition, Nina's grandmother, after tasting delicious desserts, pronounced a verdict that she could be proud of her granddaughter.

It cannot be said that success was long in coming. A year later, entrepreneurs opened a second restaurant, then a third. In total, Nina andPaul, there are seven establishments.

Nina barely eats her desserts. This is surprising, but she, who madly likes to invent cakes and pastries, cookies and other goodies, except for apples, does not really need anything. Perhaps Nina is watching her figure.

Nina Gudkova, completely devoted to her work, still does not forget about herself. If you want to go to the cinema or to Paris, she will definitely find time for this.

Projects

In 2010, Gudkova and Kosterenko tried themselves in a radically different format, different from the confectionery - the Favorite Pub beer was opened. This was followed by an "American dessert lab" called I Love Cake.

According to Nina, desserts are an inexhaustible number of recipes, a category in which there is no "ceiling", they can be invented all the time. The main thing is not to stop learning.

Nina's know-how - glass showcases-refrigerators for desserts. The confectioner admits that at first her masterpieces melted in them, but then, having improved the system, everything began to work normally. Here are Nina and Pavel's projects:

1. I Love Cake.
2. Favorite Pub.
3. Friends Forever.
4. Conversation (American Cafe).
5. Breakfast Cafe (breakfast all day).
6. Friendly pizza (pizza delivery service).
7. Brickstone beer.

According to Nina, the secret to the success of the project was to discard everything that does not make sense and gets in the way. Having started a business, Nina was responsible for the ongoing internal processes, and Pasha was responsible for relations with the extern althe world. Plus they had an accountant who provided reporting. No one else was involved - eminent chefs and PR agents did not work in a team, according to Nina, there was nothing to coordinate with them, they managed on their own. The menu was written a week before the opening. Nina confesses that she hasn't had a rest for many years, but since work is her life, she would not know what to do on vacation.

To many who suffer from snobbery, it might seem strange at first glance, unprofessional and not very difficult to make desserts that can be easily made at home. Nina explains that the format of the establishment is precisely in simplicity, the main thing here is the taste and high quality of products. She asks the question: will all cafes be ready to sell for 450 rubles a huge piece of fresh cake weighing half a kilo, generously decorated with fresh berries? Nina emphasizes that these are homemade desserts, and the comments that "I cook such a cake every day in my kitchen" is a compliment for their establishment, which means that their cakes are popular.

I won't cook eclairs

Nina is a very principled person. If a visitor comes to her and is surprised that there are no eclairs on the menu, Nina will be happy to report that such establishments as Volkonsky and Coffee House are located very close - literally around the corner, and that she - Nina - will not cook eclairs. Her passion is fresh berries, which are plentiful in her desserts.

The average price of a piece of Nina Gudkova's berry cake is 450 rubles. Prices are high - maybebe, but in institutions - a full house, somewhere the management even had to limit the time spent at the tables. Nina does not smoke or sell strong alcohol (the establishments have a family format), there is no opportunity to play board games here, and there are no discounts either. Perhaps such conditions are not for everyone, but Nina is sure that any visitor can be brought up.

Start

In 2008, Nina and Pavel, having invested 7 million rubles, opened Freinds Forever. Three of them went to rent, and two weeks later property prices collapsed. This was the first test, and then others followed - the beginning of 2009 was marked by a fatal shortage of customers who began to save on visiting cafes.

They went to the trick to create for their establishment a certain veil of "American pathos": they positioned themselves not as the owners of the establishment, but as a brand chef and brand manager. Snobs-contractors were happy. Nina became the face of the cafe, regular customers loved her and always turned to her with personal requests - to cook with this or that ingredient, or without it.

Some figures and plans

Brownie's 110 sq. m in Maly Kozikhinsky Lane cost Kosterenko and Gudkova 600 thousand rubles a month, another 800 thousand rubles were spent on staff salaries - 10 cooks, 8 waiters, 2 managers, a cleaner and a dishwasher work here in two shifts. This staff also works in other business cafes. The salary of Nina and Pavel themselves is 40,000 rubles a month each. Purchaseproducts for desserts and the main menu costs about 1 million rubles a month. Each product group has its own supplier.

The annual total turnover of Nina and Pavel's establishments is estimated by Forbes at over 300 million rubles. According to experts, the business of Kosterenko and Gudkova is worth about $30–32 million.

Restaurateurs are going to go beyond the borders of Russia - a certain company from Dubai is interested in acquiring a franchise. Kosterenko and Gudkova are planning to open outlets in Seoul and New York as well. The guys see no point in working in the regions of Russia.