One of the nice things about Moscow is that it is the oldest city I have ever lived in (that is, if one were not to count my dozen or so extended visits to Kyoto as actually “living” there). That means, almost every street corner, if you bother checking, has some kind of history.
I had almost forgotten but last night’s restaurant has some kind of claim to fame. I didn't understand too well what my Inessa was reading to me at the time, but I made up for it by doing some Google-powered sleuthing.
Seven Fridays stands on a distinguished piece of pre-revolutionary property. It was actually there where the A. Rallet & Co. factory was located. The owner of the oldest Russian perfumery was Moscow-born perfumer Ernest Beaux, who went on later to create in his Parisian exile the scent Chanel No. 5 in 1920. There are a lot of urban legends related to the creation: one says Beaux was experimenting with fatty aldehydes and had prepared several samples, and Coco Chanel chose the fifth one. Another said that it was Beaux's assistant who left ten times more aldehyde in the preparation than necessary, which ended up enhancing and fixing the scent. Coco loved it, and although Beaux realised it was a mistake he didn't dare say anything to her. If this were true it would make Chanel No. 5 one of the most wildly successful blunders in commercial history. The official version, though, goes like this: Beaux put over 80 ingredients in a small square bottle. He included it among samples he presented to the French couturière, numbered 1 to 5 and 20 to 24. She chose the fifth, retained its name after her lucky number and launched it on 5 May 1921.
How ironic, Karl Marx and Chanel No. 5 born on the same day.
I had almost forgotten but last night’s restaurant has some kind of claim to fame. I didn't understand too well what my Inessa was reading to me at the time, but I made up for it by doing some Google-powered sleuthing.
Seven Fridays stands on a distinguished piece of pre-revolutionary property. It was actually there where the A. Rallet & Co. factory was located. The owner of the oldest Russian perfumery was Moscow-born perfumer Ernest Beaux, who went on later to create in his Parisian exile the scent Chanel No. 5 in 1920. There are a lot of urban legends related to the creation: one says Beaux was experimenting with fatty aldehydes and had prepared several samples, and Coco Chanel chose the fifth one. Another said that it was Beaux's assistant who left ten times more aldehyde in the preparation than necessary, which ended up enhancing and fixing the scent. Coco loved it, and although Beaux realised it was a mistake he didn't dare say anything to her. If this were true it would make Chanel No. 5 one of the most wildly successful blunders in commercial history. The official version, though, goes like this: Beaux put over 80 ingredients in a small square bottle. He included it among samples he presented to the French couturière, numbered 1 to 5 and 20 to 24. She chose the fifth, retained its name after her lucky number and launched it on 5 May 1921.
How ironic, Karl Marx and Chanel No. 5 born on the same day.
