In the summer of 2024, Kazakhstan made its debut on the world map in a rather unexpected field — the Prix Versailles, an annual architectural award by UNESCO that tracks outstanding innovations across five continents, included Almaty's Auyl by Askar Baitassov in its top 16 most beautiful restaurants in the world.
Restaurants are one of the eight categories of the award, which also evaluates hotels, museums, airports, shopping centers, campuses, train stations, and stadiums, with 70 of the most beautiful selected from 31 countries last year.
Competing with the Kazakh restaurant were establishments from the USA, Austria, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and France. Therefore, it is unlikely that the young architects and designers from the Almaty firms NAAW and Dunie Design, who worked on the interior and exterior of the Auyl restaurant, opened in 2023 in the former summer residence of Dinmukhamed Kunayev across from the Medeu skating rink, were very upset when the Grand Prix was awarded on December 2 not to them, but to the New York-based Ilis. The diploma was presented to NAAW co-founder Elvira Bakubaeva by jury chair Sou Fujimoto, a renowned Japanese architect known for many iconic futuristic buildings in Europe and Asia.
“Auyl is located within a monument inherited from Soviet modernism, a former yurt where a high-ranking representative of the socialist republic entertained foreign guests. An experimental project in the mountainous Medeu area, the restaurant is the brainchild of architects, artists, craftsmen, designers, and creative producers. The building was originally constructed in Aktau and was later relocated to the mountains, where chef Ruslan Zakirov and the designers from NAAW and Dunie Design created breathtaking spaces around the open kitchen,” described the Kazakh nominee by American Forbes. The building is part of the hotel complex "Kazak Aul," owned by businessman Kairat Boranbaev.
Under the Shade of Kunayev
We talk with 40-year-old founder and sole owner of ABR (the company's name, registered in 2011, easily hints at Askar Baitassov Restaurants) in an office located in a two-story building with wooden stairs on Tulebaeva Street in Almaty — directly across from the very house housing Kunayev's museum. ABR rents the building (it seems Baitassov is under the strong charm of the image of the penultimate head of the Kazakh SSR, although he cannot remember him from that period due to his age). Above the creaky staircase, barely fitting on the narrow wall, hang works by Rashid Nurekeeva dedicated to the murder of Zamanbek Nurkadilov — three black pistols and a widow singer in a mourning white scarf. In the office above the desk is a well-known work by another artist, Said Atabekov, from the series "Kokpar," featuring an astronaut above riders. Baitassov has been collecting contemporary Kazakh art for many years and plans to exhibit his collection in the upcoming Museum of Contemporary Art by Nurlan Smagulov.
He mentions that he learned about his restaurant's inclusion in the prestigious list purely by chance from American Forbes: “Someone sent a link. We didn’t submit any applications, and no one asked us about anything. I don’t know their methodology, but I think they don’t just look at beauty — we worked very long and carefully on the concept, extracting meanings, history, and ensuring everything harmonized. Of course, I was pleased — it was unexpected for me because Kazakhstan is not exactly on the surface in this regard. But overall, our projects are increasingly attracting the interest of international specialists; our company is already known.”
Baitassov was not yet aware of the results of the “Versailles story” finals (we spoke on December 5): “Something flashed in the news, but I haven’t found out yet. Ten years ago, I would have been standing at the door already,” he laughs. “What once seemed like great victories now seems small. And this makes me happy as a businessman. Just a month ago, we signed a location where Coffeedelia was (the most popular café in this chain, which operated at the intersection of Kabangbay Batyr and Tulebaeva Streets for 20 years and closed in October 2024. — Ed.). I entered the site that had been waiting for ten years. The reaction: ‘Well, okay.’
Now, cafes Astra and bistro Alma will appear in that spot. The latter will also be about Kunayev, albeit indirectly. “Alma is our concept about Almaty. We opened the first bistro in MEGA Alma-Ata, the second will be in Smagulov's museum, and the third here. This is our take on modern Almaty breakfasts, so there will be kazy, conditionally. And we intend to approach each project differently. The concept here is how a café would look if Kunayev were to drink cappuccino in the mornings. We want to make it in the style in which Kunayev himself lived, in the style of his apartment — wooden cabinets, a library, old Almaty parquet.”
The Beginning
Even during his studies at KTL, Baitassov claimed he knew he would be a businessman, but had no plans for restaurants. He chose a corresponding faculty at university — marketing. The university was in Moscow, with the last semesters in the Netherlands. After graduating, Askar planned to work at McKinsey's Cologne office. However, his father, who by then had already opened a couple of beer restaurants called “Bochonok,” had other plans for his son. Thus, in 2007, Baitassov became the marketing director of the family business (where he had previously worked as a bartender during university breaks). A year later, the number of “Bochonoks” reached four.
However, simply expanding the existing beer network did not inspire the ambitious young man. “I understood that the prospects were not just limited there — they were broader, and we began experimenting with new concepts,” recalls Baitassov. The budding entrepreneur opened a fruit bar-restaurant called Fresh, focused on healthy eating. But at that time, it turned out to be irrelevant for Almaty, and after a year, the establishment was repurposed into the night club “Krysha,” which proved to be much more successful. This period of searching coincided with the years of the financial crisis. “Back then, I was very upset that the crisis came just as I was starting my entrepreneurial journey, but now I am grateful for it: new opportunities arose that I was able to take advantage of. The ‘Bochonoks’ were located in sleeping areas, and during the crisis, it became possible to pick up premises in the center, and today we are quite firmly established here,” he smiles.
His first “long-term” project was “Kofemania” on Abilay Khan Avenue, right in the very “golden square” of Almaty. Everything was financed with the working capital of the network: Baitassov only started using bank loans after separating from his father’s business. “We simply realized that we had different visions, different management systems. We sat down, talked, and each went his own way,” comments the businessman.
The management system and business concept at ABR are indeed quite original. Baitassov says it developed during the growth of the network: “Traditionally in our industry, there is a restaurateur and an investor; they come together and build something. We went the opposite way — from the very beginning, we built our own and managed it ourselves. But when the company reached a certain scale, we realized that we couldn’t manage everything directly anymore. And I began looking for partners — within the company. All our current partners have been nurtured inside the company; they are people who have worked with us for many years and built this business with me. The scheme is simple: they invest a certain amount of money, I invest a larger share, and accordingly, we are the ultimate beneficiaries of these shares.” The first project with this form of partnership was the Del Papa chain. “We handed over Del Papa to the current manager, and we tested the model on it,” explains the interlocutor.
ABR restaurants are easily recognizable by the harmony of everything with everything, even somewhat provocatively stylish, regardless of the cuisine, whether it is the French Astra, Greek Spiros, or Central Asian Jinau. “The guest should leave with the feeling that they have visited a quality place,” emphasizes Baitassov. At the same time, the average bill in the network, according to him, is not higher than the market average — the company earns on turnover. “I believe our financial indicators per point are the best in the sector. We, of course, use bank loans, but the debt level is $5–6 million, which is not much,” notes the businessman.
“We always bring all our leased properties into a beautiful state. This is a principle of our business as a whole, and I believe that ABR