LYNN — As the Phinix Lounge nears its third anniversary of providing international cuisine in a variety of ways, owner Mikhail “Chef Misha” Rakhunov discussed his passion for the art of cooking and bringing people together.
Rakhunov moved to Lynn in 1991 from Russia when it was part of the Soviet Union.
He said he got into cooking when he was around 14 years old.
“After high school, I went to the Soviet Union’s special culinary arts institute for five years,” he said.
Following his time at the institute, he joined the Soviet Army for two years, where he was head chef, cooking for thousands of people at a time.
“In the Soviet Union, you have two choices. You must go into the army. If you don’t go into the army, you go to jail,” Rakhunov said.
Rakhunov chose Lynn as the place for him to settle in the United States because his brother was there already. He worked multiple jobs in different fields, including in construction and in information technology as a programmer. Eventually, he returned to the kitchen at a few restaurants around the area.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, Rakhunov said that he noticed people were looking for a place where they could go to host small gatherings and bring friends and family together without having to cook for themselves.
That, and his lifelong dream of owning a restaurant, inspired him to open the Phinix Lounge at 56 Central Square.
Rakhunov said he also noticed live music was missing at restaurants in the United States.
“When I grew up in the former Soviet Union, Russia, we’d go to restaurants, and they’d have no spaces just for eating, the space was for like, a social club. Each restaurant in Russia, they have live music,” Rakhunov said.
The restaurant is open Friday nights for live music and dinner, Saturday nights for dinner, and Sundays from mid-morning to afternoon for brunch.
Rakhunov said that he likes to promote local artists, and encouraged any musician in the area to come and play. There is no cost to play and Rakhunov provides the musicians with dinner and drinks.
Every Friday and Saturday night, Rakhunov offers a chef special. This Friday, the special will be cheese ravioli with pesto sauce and chicken meatballs.
“Everything is homemade,” Rakhunov said.
He also said that he gets as many ingredients as he can from local farmers’ markets.
As a chef and restaurant owner, Rakhunov said he likes to provide people with different dishes from many cultures.
“When I cooked in the Soviet Union, we didn’t have a lot of ingredients. Before the Soviet Union, Russia had a big culinary arts tradition. They had big, good dishes. But in the Soviet Union, it was tough to find good ingredients,” Rakhunov said.
He added that in the United States, people can find any kind of ingredient there is, at any price, from every part of the world.
Due to that abundance, Rakhunov’s menu features an array of dishes from around the world.
During the weekdays, the restaurant offers catering, home deliveries, and cooking classes. People can also reserve the space for events.
The space is able to hold small parties and recently hosted a wedding party of 15 people.
He also recently catered a wedding with 260 people, at which Rakhunov said he did 90% of the cooking himself.
When it comes to the art of cooking, Rakhunov said that all he wants to do is create and share those creations with those around him, which is why he offers the cooking classes.
“If you take some different vegetables, fruits, meats, and separately, it’s just a vegetable, just meat, just fruit. But, if you cook it all together, it’s a meal,” he said. “I try to introduce people to different cuisines.”
For more information on the Phinix Lounge, people can visit its website at www.phinixlounge.com.
