Ira, hi. I looked back at the history of our interviews — we’ve done quite a few by now, but not a single one about the restaurant itself, Pegas.

Feels like I’ve talked about the restaurant so many times already, we’d just be repeating ourselves…

Let’s see. I’ve got a little journalist trick for "resetting" the conversation. Let’s try it, maybe it’ll work. Tell me — do you have any favorite actors or performers who’ve never been to Chișinău, or even to Moldova at all?

Oh, tons of them!

Pick one.

Okay, let’s say Harry Styles. I was at his concert in London two weeks ago, at Wembley Stadium.

Hmm... Who?

Look, I get that his music is super poppy, and he’s adored by girls aged 8 to 18. He was born in 1994, so yeah, you probably don’t know him. Or maybe you do. He’s also an actor — played one of the lead roles in Dunkirk and a few other films. But as a performer, he puts on such an incredible show that he’s really worth seeing. And hearing. I was completely blown away — it was pure joy. Oh! And he won a Grammy last year for Album of the Year. So who knows, maybe you’d like him too.

Perfect! That snapped you right out of the whole “we’ll just repeat ourselves” mindset. So now, imagine this: Harry Styles shows up at Pegas tonight. You’re there to greet him as the owner and want to tell him about the restaurant and serve him something delicious. Where would you start?

I wouldn’t start by telling — I’d start by asking. If he’s ended up at Pegas, first thing I’d do is ask what he likes. His food preferences. What he ate growing up, his favorite dishes, whether he prefers meat or fish, or if he’s vegan. Does he drink or not? Wine? Beer? Vodka? Cognac?

So based on your question, sounds like Pegas can cater to any guest, no matter if they’re vegan or a full-on hedonist. How would you define the cuisine at Pegas?

There was a time when “fusion” was a trendy word. Honestly, I don’t like that term, but in some ways, it does describe our food. We’ve built the restaurant around the needs of the guests who are actually here, including of course those visiting the capital. Since we’re in Moldova, even though I don’t market us as a Moldovan restaurant, key dishes from Moldovan cuisine are always on the menu.

And what could Harry Styles try if he wanted to get a taste of Moldovan cuisine at Pegas?

Well, obviously — it’d start with mămăligă. Besides that, we always have zamă (a traditional chicken soup), and the classic Moldovan platter — brined cheese, fresh vegetables. And definitely eggplant caviar, roasted peppers with cheese, and of course, Moldovan wines.

How big is your wine list?

Let’s finish the menu first, then we’ll get to the wines. It’s no secret that I have Ukrainian roots — my family’s from Western Ukraine. So both because Ukraine is nearby and because of my heritage, we also have some Ukrainian elements on the menu at Pegas. Borscht, varenyky, salo Zakarpattia-style. I don’t like to brag, but I’ll say this about the borscht — I think ours is better than in a lot of Ukrainian restaurants. Though to be fair, borscht is the kind of dish that every cook makes their own way. Everyone thinks theirs is the best — and every version is special in its own way.

Did your chef bring the borscht recipe with him? He used to work in Ukraine before Pegas, right?

No, our borscht has been with us as long as Pegas itself. The recipe is over twenty years old — it’s been on our menu since the days Pegas was just a tiny bistro with four tables. The recipe has never changed. Victor Prodanov, our chef, brought more of the spirit of what people call “Odessa cuisine.” Chișinău is close to Odessa, and we share a lot — you can even find similar old courtyards in the city center. So yes, we have touches of Odessa cuisine at the restaurant too.

What about Chișinău’s favorites — pizza and sushi?

That’s where I draw the line. We don’t have anything like standout pizza or sushi dishes. When it comes to Pegas, I made the decision a long time ago — we’re not going to compete with restaurants that specialize in pizza or sushi.

If we’re talking about “specialization,” then since the Pegas brand produces meat products, naturally, our restaurant offers more than just 3 or 4 meat options. We’re not a steakhouse — we don’t have 25 cuts of steak — but we do have a wide meat selection. It’s what we’re meant to do. Pegas is for meat lovers and connoisseurs.

Don’t forget about the vegans…

Any vegan can find several dishes here that fit their lifestyle and dietary needs. Plus, during traditional fasting periods, we offer a special meat-free menu. We don’t push it on anyone — not everyone observes fasting — but our guests should have the option.

No, we don’t bake pizza. We don’t make sushi. I’ll go further — we don’t even offer hookah. That’s not my approach. I believe in choosing your direction and sticking with it. That said, we do have pretty much everything most guests might want. Like fish? We’ve got fish. Pasta? We have several kinds. We’re not an Italian restaurant, but yes, we serve pasta.

Sounds like that’s at least partly because you personally love Italian cuisine…

I love Mediterranean cuisine most of all, so naturally Italian food is close to my heart. But I enjoy experimenting with flavors. So if our chef gets inspired and creates an Asian-style salad, I’m all for it.

Coming back to where we started, I’d sum it up like this — almost every guest can find a dish at Pegas that matches their taste.

Add to that three or four seasonal updates a year, plus special holiday menus. Generations may change, but Olivier salad and shuba (herring under a fur coat) on New Year’s — that’s sacred.

One more thing I wanted to ask. As someone with a sweet tooth, I noticed Pegas was one of the first restaurants in Moldova to bring in a dedicated pastry chef alongside the head chef.

That’s still unusual for Moldova. In most serious restaurants, those roles are always separate. We’re already on our second pastry chef. He’s brought his own style to our dessert menu. We’ve kept Kyiv Cake and Napoleon on the menu, but with a modern twist. As a restaurant, we never buy in tarts or profiteroles — we make everything in-house. And don’t forget, our banquet hall is quite popular. That means there’s always demand for custom cakes — whatever ingredients or design people can dream up.

Pegas is over twenty years old now. Your chef has been with you nearly ten. How do you keep that innovative spirit alive in the kitchen?

A restaurant reflects the mindset of its owners and its chef. Both Viktor and I always want to discover and try something new. He also goes for training nearly every year. His latest trip was to the Basque Country, to the San Sebastián Culinary School. There aren’t many schools in the world with as many Michelin-starred alumni as that one.

Of course, not everything he learns there can be implemented in Chișinău — our biggest limitation is the limited variety of ingredients. But he never comes back from training without something new to try.

I was just about to wrap up when I realized — we haven’t even touched on the Pegas wine list…

We’ve been working on our wine list for a long time, and we do it thoughtfully. That reflects my own relationship with alcohol. When I’m at other restaurants, I can live with something not being quite right with the food. But if they don’t have wine I like — that’s a dealbreaker. And I’m not talking about some rare or outlandishly expensive bottles. Every wine we offer at Pegas is purchased in Moldova. It’s all about choosing carefully. And I’m willing to sacrifice some profit margin to make sure every guest can find something they like to drink.

How many wines are on the list?

117. Our sommelier selects the local wines. I can confidently say that any Moldovan winemaker has a chance of being featured on our shelf — as long as we enjoy their wine at tasting. Even if it’s not yet a well-known label, we’re ready to be the first to introduce it to the market. We also have a solid selection of international wines. But we don’t just add them for show, to tick off “France” or “Italy” on the list. They’re always quality wines. For us, the quality matters more than the brand name. That’s why we serve Ruinart champagne, not Moët & Chandon.

It’s been a while since we did such a detailed “tour” of Pegas. Sometimes it’s worth doing — we get used to seeing familiar things from just one angle and forget to step back and see the full picture. Let me try to sum up Pegas in my own words… Got it, though it’s probably not Michelin critic lingo: Pegas is a “living” restaurant. Same location, always evolving.

Let me add something from myself, as a restaurateur. It’s kind of terrifying, but I’ve been in the restaurant business for more than half my life now. At some point, I stopped trying to cram three or four Michelin-starred spots into every overseas trip. I got saturated with fancy food. And I came back to simple human joy. Like eating a plain avocado somewhere in Mexico — and realizing nothing else will ever taste like that again. The simplest flavors are the ones you remember forever.