Where Fika’s chef goes for samsa — and five more hidden gems from Nikita Zakharov

I’m not drawn to food whose story eclipses its flavour. I like cooking that is simple and assured — sometimes painstaking in the making, but vivid and clean on the plate. To me, choosing the right ingredients is one of a chef’s most important responsibilities. I look for the very best and let it guide me, whether I’m refreshing the menu or developing a special. The finest local vegetables and meat, exceptional imports such as trout, Parmesan and Maldon salt, and milk, cheeses and salad greens from local farmers — all of it should be the best, from breakfast through dinner. And always alongside our bread, which I truly believe can hold its own on the world stage.

Baysat is one of Almaty’s best-known markets — and the place we go for tools and equipment for the kitchen and bar. I first came across Alat Samsa there about four years ago. I’d forgotten to eat at work, as usual, when I spotted it.

The operation is beautifully simple: two trays of samsa go into the oven and sell out almost at once; as soon as they’re gone, the next go in. The rhythm continues all day. Nothing sits waiting — each samsa reaches you straight from the oven. That first bite stopped me in my tracks. The pastry was rolled wafer-thin, then baked crisp; the filling was rich, juicy and still bubbling hot, with a generous hand given to the black pepper, onion and salt. Garlicky tomato adjika and ayran on the side — every detail exactly as it should be.

Since then, I’ve made a point of telling everyone about it, bringing chefs and visitors on their first trip to Kazakhstan here to try it. The setting is part of the pleasure: the market’s unruly bustle, traffic moving in every direction, two plastic tables and perhaps even the 39°C heat. Together, they give the place a character all its own.

At Samrun, Farkhat makes an excellent samsa in a similar style, in a small place of his own. After years working in restaurants, he went to China for further training. Then he decided it was time to open his own place. Each samsa is baked to order, with a filling that’s especially juicy. The tomato adjika is his mother’s handiwork — she makes it herself.

Outside the kitchen, I eat pretty simply, as I imagine many of us do. At home, breakfast is as uncomplicated as it gets; when I eat out, it’s often street food. What I value is quality and consistency: if I find a place that serves a perfect bowl of chicken broth with noodles, and it’s just as good every time, I’ll keep going back. I also love discovering little gems where you least expect them. In Almaty and when I travel, I make a point of venturing as far off the beaten path as I can, to see where people on modest incomes eat. Often, the food there is far better than what you’d find in a Michelin-starred restaurant — even if you’re perched on a plastic stool in a narrow passageway.

I’m often at the Green Bazaar, keeping an eye on the seasons — especially their briefest offerings: morels, asparagus, figs. I always try to make time for lunch at Kurban, the bazaar’s ashana: a generous bowl of lagman, its broth deep and full-bodied, enjoyed in the convivial company of the people who work the market.

There are grand restaurants, and then there are the places that give a city its daily rhythm, drawing families and friends to the same table, day after day. When people close to me come to visit, we invariably find our way to a shashlik house for excellent grilled meat. Dato and Smile are two I’d single out. I’d never imagined that a simple shashlik — duck, for instance — could be so complete in its own right.

Photography: Danila Rebro

To me, döner is one of the most universal foods there is; its appeal is immediate. At Attash Doner, beef and lamb turn slowly on a vast charcoal-fired spit, and each döner is generously packed with beautifully succulent meat. It is, without question, the best in Almaty.

На Тулебаева, чуть выше Толе би, спрятался мой любимый буррито в городе — в Cantina Sobremesa. Личный маст-хэв после длинной пробежки, когда нет смысла думать про калории, а хочется просто вкусно и много поесть. Море сыра, вкусный пряный фарш — и палома на кране в сопровождение. Есть также вкусные сэндвичи, а скоро обещают добавить ещё больше еды. Руки точно вкусные у повара.

Никита Захаров возглавляет кухню Fika c 2025 года. Первым проектом в Алматы было бистро Kitchen на Барибаева (2023-2024). До этого учился и работал в разных ресторанах Санкт-Петербурга, главной школой считает Animals.

English edition by Yevgeniya Yussupova