At the dacha, in the style of Tim Burton’s film “Alice in Wonderland,” he takes his grandchildren on a carousel with the Cheshire Cat and the Dodo bird and treats guests to home-cooked steaks: for the July gastronomic issue, we visited the country feasts of our newsmaker friends.
The owner of the estate near the coast of the Gulf of Finland initially intended to make it unique and strictly individual - he long ago realized that he did not see himself either in the neoclassical mansions “a la Palladio”, or, especially, in the brick castles with towers and loopholes, which abundantly grew in the suburbs of St. Petersburg in the 1990s. Thus, Teplitsky built his city apartment with a transparent ceiling and a huge billiard room eighteen years ago, based on the atmosphere of the paintings of Salvador Dali.
The idea for a country residence came to Arkady Yuryevich’s mind when in 2010 he saw Tim Burton’s film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Of course, he did not set himself the task of copy-pasting a film with Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska - the house and garden are decorated based on the Hollywood blockbuster. The owner thought out the sequence and size of the rooms, their height and design himself; to develop the facades, he involved his friend, the architect Alexander Suponitsky, and the engineering and technical part of the work was carried out by professionals from numerous companies, with whom Teplitsky gained experience in the process of building shopping and entertainment complexes holding "Adamant" and its own restaurant chain Maximilian Brauhaus.
Arkady's friends and colleagues say that this house, with an area of 1,450 square meters, in which there is a lot of air and light, with huge floor-to-ceiling windows unusual for the St. Petersburg climate, is very similar to its creator - an open and hospitable man. The mixture of the real and the phantasmagoric, borrowed from Burton’s film, can be seen in everything: the marble floor in the main hall resembles a chessboard, the columns with classical capitals have metal plinths, the rounded staircase is framed on one side by ordinary railings, and on the other by glass, enormous sofas bloom on the elaborate sofas. flowers.
To create a “Wonderland” on a plot of half a hectare the businessman invited specialists from a landscape bureau, who designed the entrance area in the form of a round square with a fountain that reacts to the movements of guests, supplemented it with a platform for cocktails and a stage for concerts and celebrations, as well as a pond through which there is a path of “floating” on the water concrete slabs. Immediately behind the house there is a karaoke bar, accessed by arches made of linden trees. In the clearing in front of the facade there is a custom-made carousel with figures of the twins Tweedledum and Tweedledum, the March Hare and other Lewis Carroll characters - of course, it enjoys predictable success with Arkady's grandchildren, the children of his daughter Anna, a teacher at the Faculty of Journalism at St. Petersburg State University. And then a fairy-tale labyrinth begins: an alley of molded spherical apple trees leads to a garden with an oak tree and a transparent table for crazy tea parties, then the sandstone path narrows and rises, and the pergolas surrounding it decrease in size - you can feel for yourself what Alice experienced when took a bite of a pie with the inscription “Eat me” and turned into a giantess.
Bending down and squeezing into the neighboring garden, you find yourself in a space with brick paving, low linden trees with trimmed crowns, psychedelic mushroom lamps and crooked mirrors. Card games can be played in a classic rotunda set in the adjoining white rose garden, and the labyrinth ends with a granite chessboard with giant queens and knights surrounded by green molded arborvitae rooks and pawns. All this splendor, which gardeners from the landscape bureau come to look after several times a month, always delights the guests and brings pleasure to the customer - Teplitsky says that every morning, when he wakes up, he gets a thrill from what he sees around him.
Steak
- Release the cooled meat from the vacuum packaging and leave for a couple of hours so that it reaches room temperature.
- Then squeeze a clove of garlic onto one side of a piece 2.5–3 centimeters thick, add a piece of butter and thyme.
- Heat one frying pan to 180 degrees, and the other to 120. In the first frying pan, fry the meat for one and a half minutes on each side to seal it - a crust should form through which the juice will not flow out. And then in a second frying pan, cook the steak for 4–4.5 minutes on both sides until cooked.
- You can use the Argentinean method, in which the meat is cooked on an inclined grate above the grill: first at the bottom, and then gradually raising it. Grapes marinated in wine will be an excellent complement to a juicy steak.
Arkady Yuryevich calls himself a gourmet, but, having visited hundreds of restaurants around the world, he still considers the main specialties of the country table to be shish kebab and steak, which he likes to make himself, although his home cook Dilya is a general professional. She cooks Uzbek dishes perfectly; she once adopted the recipes of the Odessa-Jewish table from the mother of the owner of the house, and learned Thai and Mexican cuisine from the chefs of Teplitsky’s restaurants. The vice president of the Adamant holding shared with us the most important secret great steak - don't you know it yet? Here it is: A good steak requires first and foremost good meat.
Photo: Valentin Bloch
Text: Vitaly Kotov
Style: Jane Sytenko
Stylist assistant: Anastasia Stolbneva
Makeup and hairstyle: Maria Surikova
In the 1990s, Arkady Teplitsky stood at the origins of “civilized trade” when he, together with business partners, began to transfer trade from markets and fairs to shopping and entertainment centers. The company's first shopping and entertainment complex was "Balkansky" near the Kupchino metro station; it opened its doors in 1994. Now total area commercial real estate in Adamant's portfolio is more than 1.5 million m2.
In addition to business, Arkady Teplitsky is also involved in social activities. He became one of the trustees of the World Club of St. Petersburgers, and Teplitsky was also vice-president charitable foundation"Regional Jewish Congress in St. Petersburg."
By his own admission, Arkady Teplitsky graduated from the Institute of Engineers railway transport It didn't work the first time. He was expelled from the institute, and he had to recover in order to still receive a diploma.
Arkady Teplitsky owns 22% in the Adamant holding, which is engaged in the construction and management of commercial real estate. However, this is not his only business - the entrepreneur is also developing his own chain of Maximilian Brauhaus restaurants, which, as a rule, are located in the holding complexes.
Arkady Teplitsky entered business at the age of 27, when he decided to go into trading. His first large-scale project was a fair at the Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex, in the organization of which the businessman’s current partner, Igor Leitis, was also involved. Businessmen did not stop at one fair and opened several more markets in different areas of the city.
After this, entrepreneurs decided that it was time to organize “civilized” trade in St. Petersburg, moving it from the streets to comfortable complexes. Thus, in 1992, the Adamant holding appeared, the first store of which opened at 8 Sovetskaya, 9. And the company’s first shopping and entertainment complex, “Balkansky” near the Kupchino metro station, opened its doors in 1994.
Now the total area of commercial real estate in Adamant's portfolio is more than 1.5 million m2.
He took 30th place in the “Rating of Billionaires - 2015”, his fortune was estimated at 29 billion rubles.
How the billionaire's fortune changed in 2016
The main asset of Arkady Teplitsky is 22% in the Adamant holding, largest owner commercial real estate in St. Petersburg. At the end of last year, the company put into operation the 2nd stage of the Victoria Plaza business center with an area of 46.3 thousand m2. In May 2016 - distribution center in Shushary for X5 Retail Group with an area of 28.1 thousand m2. The holding's total commercial real estate volume exceeds 1.5 million m2. There are more than 260 thousand m2 of retail real estate at the construction and design stage.
Arkady Teplitsky entered business at the age of 27 - then he decided to go into trading. His first large-scale project was a fair at the Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex, in the organization of which the businessman’s current partner, Igor Leitis (No. 30), was also involved. Teplitsky also has catering business. He develops the Maximilian Brauhaus chain.
Everyone I managed to ask about him said: “Teplitsky? A very serious person. Be careful.” Maybe they don't know him well? Didn't you ask the wrong people? Teplitsky is, first of all, a cheerful person - he sat him down at the table, joked, offered him coffee, poured him some cognac, smiled, waved his hands in pathos, suggested: “Let’s just talk.” However, his gaiety does not negate his seriousness.
– I don’t think that I’m serious in the usual sense of the word. For me, “serious” means: burdened with worries, drowned in many plans and, probably, will hardly be able to enjoy life anymore. I know a lot of such people, they evoke unconditional respect in me: as a rule, these are hard-working people, very committed and successful. But behind the seriousness of their affairs and intentions, it seems to me that they miss the gaiety and joy of life, they forget how good it is sometimes to have fun, or even to make a hooligan. Therefore, when they say: “A serious man,” I imagine a stern figure in a suit and tie. I'm still not like that.
- What is it?
– I have by large degrees freedom. I can sometimes allow myself to take unplanned steps. Although, as a rule, the more serious a person is, the more obligations he has, the higher position he occupies, the less freedom he has.
– Was your youth hectic?
– An ordinary youth of the eighties: I entered LIIZhT, I was successfully expelled from it, I recovered and eventually received the specialty of a civil engineer.
– What do you like to remember about your childhood?
– I know what I don’t like: about how I was forced to study music. I didn't really like school because I had to travel to get there. In general, my parents are very cheerful people; noisy groups always gathered at our house. Therefore, from my youth it became a custom that I was more interested in communicating not with people my own age, but with those who were older.
– They say that people who go through difficulties in their youth later become very successful in business...
– In my case, these were the difficulties of an entire generation and the entire country. We were all hungry and when the opportunity arose, we all rushed to realize ourselves. My difficulties at that time were similar to the problems of an ordinary young man of that time: there was always little money, and they could even draft me into the army.
– How did your business start?
- I was very lucky. At some point, all my friends from the institute went into business at once. When each of us succeeded in our business, we met and merged into a single company. So my current partners are also my institute comrades. This greatly helped us stay afloat. Friendship supported me in difficult times. I started by casting candles as part of a cooperative.
– Why do you respect people?
“I respect you more for what you’ve done.” I am convinced that behind a person there should be not so much words and behavior, but rather deeds and actions that a person has performed in his life.
– What is work for you?
– This is a way of life and a game. Some people have already earned a modest income for the rest of their lives. But at the same time, we see - and this is the most amazing human trait - that no one can stop. It seems like everything is there – an apartment, a car, an income, but the person doesn’t have enough. Because after a certain level, business turns into a game.
Just like in a casino: success - failure, turned away - didn’t turn away, bet as much or more, guessed right - didn’t guess - people get pleasure not from the result, but from the game. This is a person’s eternal desire for victory and success. When a financially successful person says that he works twelve hours a day, the normal question arises: “Why?” And there can only be one answer: it's a game.
- Is everyone really playing?
– This is especially developed in a man. He always has a winner’s complex: “I must win!” No one can answer the question for me: what difference does it make whether a person has ten million dollars or fifty? This has practically no effect on the standard of living: you can buy the same cars, go to the same restaurants, live in good houses and the best hotels. But the one who has ten will say that he needs twenty-five, and when they appear, he will say that he needs fifty, and so on... Whether this is good or bad, I don’t know, but it is so.
– Are you ready to risk everything in this game?
- No. I'm not exactly passionate. I love to play, but I don’t want to start over - and this is the answer to the question why I will never become rich. Those who can put everything on the line become wealthy. I don't want to take too much risk. My life suits me, I don’t need to be five times richer. I read a lot, travel a lot, and value my freedom. You know, it often happens that it is not business that is our slave, but we become slaves to our business. Any further growth could limit freedom.
- So you have already achieved everything?
– No, of course, and in no case do I want to stop, but I will work within the framework that I have set for myself. I don't think you should spend your life proving that you can get richer.
– Are you ever scared in life? And if so, how do you deal with fear?
– As one of my comrades says: “You only have to fear the wrath of the Lord.”
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