PROFILE

Vladimir Mukhin (born 15 March 1983) – Russian chef who pioneered the culinary trend known as Modern Russian Cuisine.
Brand-Chef of the WRF restaurant group. Chef of the White Rabbit restaurant.

Vladimir was born and raised in Essentuki, South of Russia, and became a 5th generation cook. He started his culinary career as a line cook when he turned 12 at his father’s restaurant; there he began to learn about basic gastronomic techniques.

It was Vladimir’s father who taught him how to prepare traditional Russian cuisine as well as provide him with his own recipes and the recipes of Vladimir’s grandparents.

In 2000 Vladimir joined the team of the "Red Square, 1" restaurant, headed by the famous chef Alexander Filin, President of the National Guild of Chefs. Together they opened “Buloshnaya” cafe in 2003, and one year later Vladimir was put in sole charge of the kitchen, becoming the youngest chef of the National Guild of Chefs.
In 2004 Vladimir graduated from Plekhanov University of Economics (Moscow) as an “engineer-technologist of public catering" and took internship at the well-established restaurants La Barone (France), El Celler de Can Roca (Spain), Khajimi (Japan), Can Gobany (Spain).
He returned to Moscow and opened restaurants “Zhitnaya, 10” and “Windsor” before finally landing a job at the “White Rabbit” restaurant in 2012.
In the 2010s the “White Rabbit” menu featured a combination of traditional Russian and European recipes - nothing original or special. Vladimir meticulously collected unique knowledge, techniques, ingredients, and recipes while intensively exploring Russian regions and created the new gastronomic movement called Modern Russian Cuisine. He established a thoughtful relationship with the produce and producers of Russia and started to offer familiar flavors using unexpected combinations of Russian ingredients. Taste of his dishes is bold and prominent.
Being also a gifted storyteller, Vladimir transformed the usual dining experience at his chef’s table to a real edutainment. His remarkable approach to cooking and his personality changed the perception of Russian cuisine worldwide making him the most famous and trustworthy Russian cuisine ambassador. In 2017 Vladimir was featured in the Netflix documentary Chef’s Table.
To reach a wider audience and deliver his message, in 2017 Vladimir became the co-founder of IKRA (the Russian word for caviar), the first Russian international gastronomy festival and platform which showcases diverse and rich Russian food landscape through series of inspirational fine dining and educational events.

AWARDS
2013　　The Best young Chef of Russia and Vice-champion of international competition of young Chefs St. Pellegrino Cooking Cup.
2014　　The White Rabbit restaurant became one of the 100 best restaurants according The World’s 50 Best restaurant list.
2015　　The White Rabbit restaurant and chef Vladimir Mukhin hit the 23rd place in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
　　Mukhin was the first who rose to 23rd in the ranking of The World's 50 Best Restaurants and also deserved a separate award Highest New Entry - “for the most impressive breakthrough of the year and the highest place among those restaurants that were in the top 50 time".
　　For the Russian restaurant it was the absolute achievement.
2016　　The White Rabbit Restaurant took the 18th place in the prestigious international rating The World's 50 Best Restaurants and became the main Moscow’s gastronomic attraction.
2017　　The restaurant was awarded with 4 cook's caps by Gault & Millau, while the Chef of White Rabbit Vladimir Mukhin was awarded as the Chef Legend.
2018　　The White Rabbit climbed up to the 15th place in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants listing.
Vladimir also took the 10th place as a Chef in Best Chefs Awards.