Soviet Nostalgia

If you are over 30, you are bound to balk at the sight of the scarlet sign 'USSR Café-Bar.' Lyudmila, the café's owner (who asked for her surname to be omitted), was the first in Russia to give such a name to her enterprise when it began in 2001. Seven years ago, as an employee of the Ministry for Emergency Situations, she had a salary of $100, so it was her friends who lent her the $25,000 needed to open a café in the VDNH District of Moscow. This sufficed to buy kitchen equipment and redesign the interior in typical Soviet style. Here you can see the slogan "Soviet woman, you must learn to read and write" hanging above the tables, as well as portraits of Soviet leaders, while burgundy curtains frame a stage reminiscent of Soviet culture clubs.