Produkty

St. Petersburg, FL, USA

About

Produkty, Fontanka, 17 (Metro: Nevsky Prospect; Mayakovskaya; Ploshchad Vosstaniya), [74]. Cafe-bar "Produkty" (Russian for "groceries", don't bother trying to google this bar) was opened in the fall of 2011 by Lisa Izvozchikova, a St. Petersburg-born designer and best known as the former bosslady of another very popular DJ cafe-bar "Stirka" on Kazanskaya ulitsa. The space is modest in size, but being one of the rare cafe-bars in St. Petersburg located above basement-level, boasts views of the Fontanka and features local DJs as well as more "amateur" music lovers spinning their favorite tunes, sipping cocktails and occasionally dancing and even singing along if the mood strikes them. "Produkty" features a carefully thought-out range of alcohol - all the makings of any classic cocktail as well as a delicious and dry cider "St. Anton", grog, milkshakes with berries, a homemade hot ginger tea, as well as freshly squeezed orange juice. The food is mainly vegetarian, and the offerings include couscous and sandwiches. The design concept of the bar was conceived by the proprietor, who is also a designer. All the furniture was brought from Berlin: the leatherette-upholstered bar, massive leather armchairs, round bar stools from the 1970s, chairs taken from GDR kindergartens and schools, typewriters and a Wurlitzer jukebox that only accepts Deutschmark (don't worry! you can buy the necessary Deutschmark tokens at the bar). It has been written that Produkty is a bar straight out of the GDR, but this is hard to confirm, since there were no bars in the GDR. In any case, the classic hipster-reference to East Germany is not completely lost when it comes to describing the style and clientele of Produkty.