25 Years Ago Today I Closed My Pizza Place in St. Petersburg, Russia
Problems getting cheese, theft from employees, and the Mafia kept coming in for tea
The mafia guy, a captain in the infamous Tambov group, had started frequenting my “cafe,” this is what it was called by the official “Soviet” regulations which were still in effect then, about three months after I opened.
He always ordered one green tea, and a not-so-sweet cake, and entertained me with rather enlightened conversations.
“I would like my boys to be able to come here and make this sort of a club.” He had worked this phrase into nearly every conversation but it was never pushy. It was just a kind suggestion, even a sign of respect for my quite uniquely-designed bar/pizza joint.
His boys, though, were from a local boxing club he owned. I confirmed that they could certainly come and then I lied to him. I told him that the cafe couldn’t be made a “club,” according to the terms of my lease.
I was located on the grounds of the St. Petersburg Sports University called “Lesgaft.” It’s where many of Russia’s Olympic athletes study and train and in 1997 a lot of the young mafia hitmen.
