Zoom cafe on Gorokhova opened again

In mid -November, the Zoom cafe on Gorokhova was closed after checking Rospotrebnadzor. The reason was the complaint of the St. Petersburg activist Timur Bulatov, who considered that the LGBT Cinofillet “BOK ON BOK” would take place there. However, the event was held online in the Zoom program.

On November 25, the cafe earned after a break in eleven days. The owner of the cafe Pavel Steinlukht told in detail the “paper” as he sought to open the institution.

Pavel Steinlukht

The owner of the cafe Zoom

- Cafe Zoom on Gorokhova has been working for 16 years, we are included in the guide to the city, and on sites with reviews they give high marks. During this time, we had no complaints from either the neighbors or from the auditing bodies.

It all started on October 28, when representatives of various bodies began to come to our cafe - from district police officers and operatives to the PEP. They appeared in almost a day, and each time they examined or requested all kinds of documents. To our question about what is the basis for verification, some talked about the deputy request, which was allegedly sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Russia. Unfortunately, they refused to show the document to us, they only claimed that he was from Mr. Milonov.

Later, Milonov accused me of lying - he said that he had not complained about the cafe. I already apologized and apologize to him, but, unfortunately, no intelligible information from law enforcement, except for these words, at that moment, and now I have not received. I went to the 28th police department and wrote an official request for materials that became the basis for so many checks, but they refused to provide them.

We were asked by constituent documents, lease agreement, alcohol license and even contracts and accounts with counterparties. According to the police, this was done because of the suspicion that we will hold the LGBT festival "BOC ON BOK". Like all my employees, I said that we are not related to this event, we have no materials, and the room itself is not adapted to film festivities - we have low vaulted ceilings, the cafe is on the basement.

During these checks, one of the police officers showed us a screenshot of the screen, which can be seen by a telegram channel or a chat in WhatsApp. It was said that part of the meetings of the LGBT-Kinofilia "Bok O Bok" will be held in Zoom. Apparently, someone decided that Zoom from the message is not a service, but our cafe. I cannot find another logical explanation and for all this time no one gave it to us.

We called on the police for common sense, asked to transfer to our colleagues to stop nightmare. Because when two or three people in the form with batons come to the cafe, guests and employees feel uncomfortable. Every policeman told us that he sees that everything is in order and that we are not planning anything, and that he would definitely report it, but then the next policeman came, and it all started from the beginning. The last such contact was somewhere in November 11.

On November 13, in the region of 16:30, ten police officers entered the cafe with weapons, along with them were employees of Rospotrebnadzor. An important point: in front of them, literally in five minutes, about ten people without masks and gloves went into the cafe (they looked not at all like Zoom's guests), they simultaneously made a small order and sat close enough to each other. They did not respond to the proposal to observe the distance. When the police entered, these people began to actively calculate, and one of these strange guests ordered 510 rubles, but gave only 500. The waiter asked where the missing money, to which the man replied that he was given only 500. As a result, 10 rubles paid for him one of the police officers (the Person of the Ministry of Internal Affairs refused to comment on the situation. We said: “We comment on the facts, and not the Brede” and not the Brede. - approx .

We again asked what was the reason for the visit to us. This time we were shown a statement by a certain Timur Bulatov . I did not know about him until that moment, it turned out, this is an activist who opens against LGBT. It was written in his appeal that a mass event with the participation of minors and a violation of security standards during the pandemic will be held in the Zoom cafe.

In my understanding, if there is an application about the event, the police come and fixes the availability or absence of an event, and then should leave. And here the interdepartmental check began, although we, of course, were found any film festival.

Rospotrebnadzor recorded violations from us: not marked cutting boards and mop, the absence of a lamp movement magazine and supposedly a small number of masks in stock. It is important to note that the employees carried out the inspection without the participation of the chef and the manager. And these violations were enough for the department to draw up an act and close us “before the court decision” (as the press service of the city’s courts reports , there were other violations in the cafe, for example, there was no stock of personal protective equipment and disinfectants, and visitors at the bar did not comply with the distance-approx. “Papers” ).

I know that Rospotrebnadzor and some committees go to check the catering for compliance with security standards, draw up acts, but then the institution receives either a warning or a fine, but I did not hear someone to be immediately closed. Moreover, we have the basic norms of covid security in place, waiters in masks and gloves, we move the quartzing lamp between the halls, there is marking on the floor, sanitizers are everywhere. We are not covid descendants. But in our case, almost immediately a man with a printer appeared, an act was printed on the spot, we and our guests were asked to retire, sealed the cash register and the front door.

See also that St. Petersburg restaurateurs think about a new restrictive measure for catering establishments - they should be closed at 23:00.