A FEW PUBLICATIONS from over 40 years of work!
Candide, August 15, 1966:
Bearded apostle of English comfort and tobacco or Havana-colored velvets. Has a reputation for making his clients three times more money than expected and proved it by decorating the Drugstores on the Champs Elysées and Saint-Germain des Prés, the Winston Churchill pub, the Bistrot de Paris, and other pleasure spots shaped like gold mines. Has the peculiarity of dressing as if the world were populated only by color-blind people and particularly cherishes outfits that would suggest he is about to leave for Wichita province to kill a few Indians.
Paris-Match, September 21, 1968:
The secret of Slavik, “born at twenty in the basement of a department store.”
“I love romanticism and poetic madness.” This does not prevent the turnover from rising by 100% in places decorated by Slavik.
Bois d’aujourd’hui magazine, June 1969:
More than a fashion, it is truly a style born from the imagination of this so very French Slav, a prankster and enthusiast who hides so well, beneath an apparent casualness, a formidable capacity for work and a keen sense of organization. Astonishing some, scandalizing others, envied and begrudged but adored by those who know him—and first and foremost by that team of elite craftsmen who work for him with love—Slavik seeks neither to start a school nor to serve as a model for anyone.
Jean-Pierre Auclert, in ADAM 1971:
He was the one through whom scandal arrives, the abominable man of “drugs” and “pubs”: he was adored and often burned: he is terribly fashionable. But, looking closer and listening to this inspired Russian speak, one realizes that he is a madman—mad like Baudelaire and Salvador Dalí.
Denise Dubois Jallais in ELLE 1972:
The pioneer of drugstores in France. The one on the Champs Elysées is his. The one in Saint-Germain des Prés is his. His motto could be: “Five thousand customers a day in every drugstore I design and decorate.” The ultimate achievement: he has become the specialist for drugstores in London and New York. Characteristics: the silhouette of a boyar, the tastes of a sybarite, the soul of a poet, a Parisian personality.
Gault et Millau,
- In an article on Baumann Baltard, April 1979:
One day, the Pompidou Museum will eventually dedicate a major exhibition to this poetic and prankish bearded man, and a respectful Tout-Paris will bow before his immense talent.
- In the article: “The Big Eaters – Slavik: ‘If men were smarter, they would drop business lunches and invite women to lunch.'” January 1980.
Unquestionably the leading decorator in France whose name will be remembered in the history of Dining.
– In the article by Gilles Pudlowski “The 40 names that make the cuisine”:
The most Parisian Russian in Paris. Has reinvented restaurant decor and the very notion of the bistro. Loves what shocks and disturbs. Today people say: “It’s a Slavik!” He has lost his first name, a sign that he has entered into legend.
Le Point, February 23, 1981: “Francis is dead, long live Francis!” by Gault et Millau:
Francis was nothing more than a vast mess… The owner, Mr. Richard Jr., decided to close the establishment and start from scratch. Two days after the opening, which had been preceded by no drumroll, “Francis” was full and turning people away.
One of the architects of this success is unquestionably Slavik. It is fashionable, in certain circles, to turn up one’s nose when his name is mentioned. Slavik? Oh yes! The drugstores… A label—and a more than honorable one at that—which he has trouble shaking off. Yet, when he is gone, an exhibition will be dedicated to him somewhere, and it will then be recognized that he was, in the years 1960-1980, one of the few, perhaps the only one, to have understood something about what a bistro or restaurant decor should be. Of course, he sometimes repeats himself and even pastiches his own work on commission, but when given free rein, he is capable of the very best.
This is the case at “Francis” where, not without a wink, he inaugurated a sort of grand Louis XV-1900 café, bathed in a golden light, with immense chandeliers adorned with a tortoiseshell butterfly, caramel-colored lacquered walls, a profusion of mirrors, trompe l’œil woodwork in burr walnut style, and small pink lamps on the tables. The waiters wear pearl-gray jackets over long white aprons, and one would almost expect to see them dance to a Roland Petit choreography.
Claude Lebey:
- In L’Express, February 14, 1981: “At Francis: From the first drugstore at the Etoile to Baumann Baltard, by way of the Assiette au Bœuf, we are indebted to Slavik for some of the most beautiful restaurant decors created in Paris over the last fifteen years. Here, he has surpassed himself: beveled mirrors, trompe l’œil painted frames, tortoiseshell: he has perfectly understood that a restaurant is a theater.”
- In the magazine Restauration, March 8, 1991, author of the ‘Petit Lebey des bistrots parisiens’, collection director at Robert Laffont, specialized journalist collaborating with several media outlets, Claude Lebey is considered the inventor of a true charter for the Parisian bistro, for which he defined the criteria for decor, service, and menu:
It is essential above all that there be a perfect match between the decor and the services offered. One must therefore decide on the type of cuisine before thinking about the decor. This is what Slavik, one of the most talented specialized decorators of our time, understood very well. When he creates an “old-fashioned” bistro, it is the Bistrot de Paris or the Petit Mâchon; when he creates a contemporary decor, it is the exceptional success of the Jules Verne at the Eiffel Tower. Another basic principle is to think of the customer’s comfort… smells… The quality of lighting is essential. Halogen spots, if poorly used, can give a harsh light in the evening that is dreadful for the face. For restaurants of a certain class, one might prefer small lamps with shades placed on each table. Whenever possible, round tables should be chosen, as they are more convivial, along with armchairs more comfortable than the chairs that should be reserved, like banquettes, for brasseries or bistros where rubbing elbows is accepted and sometimes desired to create the atmosphere… One should be wary of decorators who lack experience in restaurant decor, even—and perhaps especially—if they are geniuses. Not only do they not know the technical and operational constraints, but furthermore, they hardly accept being told about them… A contemporary decor is one of the most difficult to succeed in, to avoid the coldness inherent in this style and the materials used… One might have believed that a beautiful decor was reserved for luxury restaurants; this is not true. Whatever the level of the restaurant, the decor is an essential element of success… Chains have understood the importance of decor, which is often more refined than the plate… Finally, tell yourself that a decorator of talent and notoriety is no more expensive than an unknown one, contrary to the generally held idea.
Le Quotidien de Paris, March 23, 1984:
One day a book will have to be written about Slavik’s decors and the cuisine practiced within them. Here, it is that of Guy-Pierre Baumann for Baumann Marbeuf.
Philippe Couderc, Minute:
- October 16, 1982: “This leads me to look into the case of this ‘Assiette au Bœuf’ and ‘Bistrot de la Gare’ chain which, for seven years, has been putting together a nice success. It began with an idea that must be credited to Slavik, the decorator. He was the first to understand that creating a pretty decor for inexpensive restaurants was not a ruinous investment but terribly profitable thereafter. No more neon tubes, plastic tables in more or less fake wood, the canteen style. He invented ‘Maxim’s’ for the nearly poor. The second idea was to entrust the menu design to Michel Oliver.”
- 1985: In an article on the Presbourg “To be devoured, but especially with the eyes”: “This time, it’s decided, I’m going to produce a color album on the theme of the Slavik style: because once again, this devil of a decorator has invented a new setting for a restaurant without ceasing to copy himself without plagiarizing. He must be on his umpteenth creation across the world, having drawn inspiration from all eras to create his manner.”
- 1986 regarding Forza I Matti: “This time, it’s decided: I’m writing a book-album dedicated to this devil of a decorator that is Slavik. For nearly twenty years now that he has been inventing restaurant decors that never look like any other (except, exceptionally, themselves), this represents a significant body of work in this style of creation.”
Jacqueline Saulnier, Marie-Claire, March 1984
The Jules Verne: Slavik offers us a breath of daring beauty there, proving that he is one of the leading decorators of our time.
M-A.P. LE FIGAROSCOPE MARCH 28, 1990
SLAVIK: A NAME THAT HAS BECOME AS CLASSIC AS THESE DECORS – IS SLAVIK A DECORATOR?
Yes, if one judges by the impressive number of restaurant decors he has signed; no, if one listens to him speak. For he who defines himself as an “advisor – recommender” is above all a storyteller. And these stories, which this devil of a man invents, are ours, yours, theirs, those that resemble us, you, them, with all the misery and glory generated by the simple act of feeding oneself.
“The mouth and the backside, with tablecloths that prefigure bedsheets, where the everyday is brought down to the almost futile but necessary… Clients (restaurateurs) are always afraid of doing too much. But nothing is too much in life! You have to be standing on the accelerator and never on the brake…” Verbal excess for an elegance of soul, extraordinary lucidity and human generosity, a talent with complex and contradictory facets have carried this man’s work along a path where one loves to get lost.
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