{"id":52705,"date":"2025-07-18T13:26:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T12:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/?p=52705"},"modified":"2025-07-17T13:34:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T12:34:08","slug":"pub-is-a-toast-to-in-betweenness-and-belonging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/pub-is-a-toast-to-in-betweenness-and-belonging\/","title":{"rendered":"Pub is: A Toast to In-Betweenness and Belonging"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Varvara Burtseva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Meet Suckin\u2019 Diesel: the most authentic Irish pub in Moscow. Across the hall stands its older brother, Ye Olde Shed\u2014an English pub with a unique selection of imported and locally brewed cider (over 20 taps!). These pubs are brothers in a quite literal sense: they share the same owners, building, team, and regulars. Suckin\u2019 Diesel opened in spring 2022, Ye Olde Shed\u2014in the thick of the pandemic. Today, the elder pub is celebrating its fifth anniversary, and with that as an excuse, I want to recall the January celebration of Burns Night. Why do both pubs attract a constantly growing community of British culture fans and expats? How do their regulars imagine the British pub\u2014traditional and modern? It\u2019s January 25th, and as guests gather for the festivities, I\u2019m getting ready to bombard them with questions\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo: Varvara Burtseva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Having finished my conversation with Mikhail, the pub\u2019s founder, I mentally sort through the information I\u2019ve gathered, all the while examining the wall d\u00e9cor. Among the regulars, a legend long circulated that the entire interior of Suckin\u2019 Diesel was bought from a bankrupt pub somewhere in the British countryside. Alas, it\u2019s just a legend: the furniture really did arrive in Moscow straight from Ireland in a 40-foot container, but it was custom-ordered. Does it matter that all that much? Let\u2019s find out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As my gaze glides over cups, engravings, and books, I accidentally make eye contact with a young man at the bar. Judging by his expression, it\u2019s his first time here. \u201cI had no idea places like this existed,\u201d he says. \u201cA friend told me about it.\u201d He then enthusiastically shares what he just learned from the bartender: all the furniture here is from Ireland! Well, yes, the modular wooden counters from Ol Irish Pubs company do their job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, this very bric-\u00e0-brac, full of quirky homeliness, is the first thing expat James mentions when asked what\u2019s authentic about Suckin\u2019 Diesel. Next on his list is the food: \u201cThere are so many dishes here you\u2019d never find in English or Irish pubs in Moscow.\u201d I get it! I reach for the menu to refresh my memory. Haggis, fish and chips, salt beef, Scotch egg, steak and kidney pie, pickled quail eggs, and \u201ctoad in the hole\u201d\u2026 I glance at my friend: she\u2019s demolishing that very \u201ctoad\u201d with an expression of pure bliss. No doubt, it was worth the long wait at the bar. More and more guests are arriving by the minute, and there are no waiters in the pub. That\u2019s a matter of principle.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo: Varvara Burtseva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Back in the early days of Suckin\u2019 Diesel, there were heated debates about food: should a real pub even serve it? One argument: \u201cOtherwise we won\u2019t survive\u2014our people can\u2019t go without food.\u201d Another: \u201cYou have to educate the customer.\u201d The result was a compromise: a perfectly curated menu of authentic (or slightly adapted) dishes, but no restaurant service. Every pub-goer knows there have never been and never will be waiters here; you order at the bar, and you get your beer right there and then. Co-founder Fyodor aptly defines a pub as \u201ca place for conversation.\u201d So, beyond the atmosphere and quality product, a real pub gives visitors a chance to be independent: you study the menu yourself, order yourself, carry it yourself (and spill it yourself, too). Most importantly, you choose where to sit, whom to chat with, and whether to talk at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo: Varvara Burtseva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo: Varvara Burtseva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At this point, I\u2019m distracted by the first guests in kilts. Today, wearing national dress earns you a free pint. I\u2019d like to believe that at least half of these Highlanders were just nonchalantly swaying in a metro carriage or striding down Lesnaya past the packed Depo in regular jeans and hoodies\u2026 Or maybe they were greeting people on the street, bringing genuine community spirit to a January night in the city. Meanwhile, showing off your kilt in a crowded space proves tricky: you have to dodge not just people with drinks, but dancers, too.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo: Varvara Burtseva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

They\u2019re performing Irish dances right in the aisle, weaving between tables. It\u2019s hard to tell if they\u2019re professionals or just seasoned amateurs: their moves are precise, but nothing feels staged. People are simply enjoying themselves, so they dance. Why not? Drop in on a weekday and you\u2019ll hear classic Brit-rock and Brit-pop, but tonight it\u2019s live, fiery folk: fiddle, flute, guitar, bodhr\u00e1n. By the way, a pint at Suckin\u2019 Diesel isn\u2019t just for kilts: it\u2019s a common barter for the folk jam sessions that are a staple of the pub\u2019s music program. \u201cIt\u2019s a very traditional thing for Ireland,\u201d Mikhail says knowingly.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo: Varvara Burtseva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I seize the moment to ask how this place began. \u201cWith Mini Coopers,\u201d he says. Seeing my puzzled look, he explains: \u201cIn 2009, my friends and I drove our Minis to a brand festival at Silverstone. When it ended, we had time to spare, so we drove around Scotland, taking the smallest roads, avoiding highways and big routes. We crossed all of Scotland in 5\u20137 days. Then we rented a minibus and spent two weeks in Ireland. The routine was: wake up, have breakfast, drive. At noon the pubs open\u2014we stop at the first one we see. Everyone gets a pint, the driver a half-pint. Then on to the next pub\u2026 All day. In the evening, we would have a party. It was a blast! And we wanted to create something like that here, infused with the spirit of Scotland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo: Varvara Burtseva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

All I can say is: the plan seems to have worked. Regulars scan the room for familiar faces, wave, hug. More and more empty glasses appear on tables, and a stack of paper cups grows by the stage\u2014they were just used for a pint-drinking contest. We\u2019re truly at the epicenter of good-natured revelry, befitting the pub\u2019s name (\u201csuckin\u2019 diesel\u201d means \u201ceverything\u2019s grand!\u201d, a wink to native speakers and a jolt to Russian linguistic intuition as it evokes a well-known curse word).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo: Varvara Burtseva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What else becomes obvious when you watch closely: a place made for the soul and with soul touches something deeply personal in people. No wonder Suckin\u2019 Diesel, conceived as a \u201clocal pub,\u201d a cozy third place for an after-work pint, has witnessed all sorts of transformations. Asked about memorable stories with regulars, Mikhail and Fyodor list: new friendships, weddings, divorces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, senior bartender (and more) Yura tells me about his own transformation: \u201cIn almost three years here, I\u2019ve gone from a guy who didn\u2019t drink beer to head bartender. I\u2019ve learned about cider, beer, and spirits\u2014we do regular tastings, because the pub always hired people with no experience and trained them from scratch. Recently I became the resident sound engineer for all our events and the SMM manager. I\u2019m also designing our merch line (so far just hoodies and T-shirts, strictly made to order).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo from Suckin\u2019 Diesel’s archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You can sense the vibrant backstage life in these stories. And the respect and affection the Suckin\u2019 Diesel team has for each other! I ask Fyodor how they learned the right recipes for authentic English dishes. \u201cThe right way to cook? Just do everything with soul, like Artyom and his kitchen team do.\u201d Meanwhile, chef Artyom admits he came here because he was \u201ctired of the pretentiousness\u201d after working in Michelin-starred restaurants and wanted \u201cto give people simple, tasty emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there\u2019s plenty of those emotions to go around: when a team is this passionate, their fire keeps the warmth alive, drawing in all kinds of people. Some stumble in by chance, like the young man I spoke to earlier. Others cross the city on purpose, because it\u2019s just that good here. At the window table, an IT guy, a philologist, and a biker meet; at the bar, conversations spark on any topic\u2014simple pleasures, a warm approach to life, to each other. And a dash of playful immersion in another culture, but with total sincerity.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo: Varvara Burtseva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And now\u2014the sound of bagpipes! The procession circles the tables and ends up on stage, where a voice rings out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
 Great chieftain o the puddin’-race!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I look around at everyone gathered: pure delight on their faces. They\u2019ve completely forgotten about Moscow\u2014their favorite portal to another world has opened once again. All it took was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n