Restaurants for Family Lunches and Dinners

Zina is, in the truest sense, a family restaurant — a place made for warm, unhurried time with those closest to you. Part of The Chef Group, alongside Marchello and A-storia, it is rooted in a personal story: restaurateur Artyom Marchenko named the project after his grandmother, and many of the dishes emerge as understated tributes to the flavours of his childhood. Inside, the atmosphere recalls a generous, well-lived apartment rather than a conventional dining room. A sequence of rooms, carpets underfoot, mismatched plates and glasses on the tables — everything conspires to create the sense that you have come not to a restaurant, but into someone’s home. The menu takes its cues from domestic cooking, though with a restaurant kitchen’s precision quietly at work beneath the surface. Grilled vegetables arrive lacquered with unagi and miso; the bread is made from a sourdough starter that has been kept going for years. 

Laliko, a Georgian restaurant from the team behind Lia and the Aula chain, is rendered in a palette of soft beige tones. Woven shades, trees threaded through the room, and a soundtrack that slips easily from Georgian folk into jazz give the space its particular warmth. The atmosphere is animated and full-voiced — just as it should be when the table is set for abundance. Before long, the spread begins to arrive in waves: pkhali with shoti, gebzhalia with green adjika and matsoni, miniature khinkali filled with crab and dressed in beurre blanc, even khachapuri finished with black truffle. The effect is one of effortless plenty — a version of Caucasian hospitality so generous it feels almost transportive, no flights or connections required.

At Saksaul — part of the same restaurant group as Marani and The Kitchen — Eastern culinary tradition is understood in full, both in spirit and in scale. The menu ranges from Kazakh syrne served with hot baursaki to shashlik and Turkish baklava, while the open kitchen is centred around a large tandoor, from which fresh samsa and bread emerge throughout the day. The interior deserves a moment of its own. Warm light, clay vessels along the shelves, a wooden table heaped with baskets of provisions, and the steady murmur of the open kitchen together create something close to the atmosphere of an Eastern bazaar. The room is also smartly divided: one can gather around a large round table for a louder, more expansive meal, or retreat to a private room if the family discussion is likely to require a little more gravity.

In the old city, behind the glass of a veranda that recalls a winter garden, sits Lugano, a restaurant given over to Italian cooking. Light, greenery, and the unhurried spacing of the room create the sense of a small, welcome escape. The menu stays close to the familiar grammar of Italy, without unnecessary elaboration: handmade pasta, thin seafood pizza, risotto, and tiramisu to close. The wine list follows a similarly classical path, moving from northern whites to Tuscan reds. The restaurant is arranged across several rooms, which means even a louder family gathering can settle in with ease and, for the length of lunch, feel some distance from the city — and something a little closer to Naples.

A multi-level address where each floor keeps its own distinct tempo: at street level, a café with a dessert display; above it, a calmer setting for longer conversations; and on the third floor, a space devoted entirely to children. The name itself is a portmanteau — café and bellini. The format moves with ease between city café and family club: guests arrive with strollers, nannies and laptops, and the transition feels entirely natural. The children’s area, complete with a dry pool, is paid entry, but it’s well designed enough that parents can finish their coffee in peace. The kitchen stays within a recognisable European repertoire: roast beef and mushroom salad, pear and gorgonzola pizza, steaks of both meat and fish. Children are no afterthought either — soups, pasta, brightly coloured dumplings and more substantial snacks all make their own case. It is, in the end, one of those rare places where three generations can comfortably share a table — and each leave feeling the arrangement was made with them in mind.

Images: restaurant websites and social media; Yandex Maps