LoginThe Hungry Duck
The Hungry Duck was a legendary Moscow bar of the 1990s. At the peak of its popularity, "the Duck", as it was known, was an icon of Moscow hedonism, an unbridled, sexual, and sometimes violent venue. The Duck's "Ladies Night" was exceptionally popular, bringing in as many as 920 women in a single night. The patrons of the Duck were uninhibited, free to dance upon the bar and remove their clothing. The Duck was founded and owned by Canadian Doug Steele, and "business partners" from the Republic of Kalmykia.
Doug remarked on how the Duck's environment came to be: "A lot of the things that became Hungry Duck trademarks started out as simple adjustments to the small space the club gave people to dance in. The whole dancing-on-the-bartop thing began at a Pepsi Foods corporate party shortly after we opened. They'd been drinking and wanted to dance. That's what's so great about Russians: they're not as self-conscious and inhibited as Westerners. My philosophy was just to let them do what they want, see where it went, because it was clear that the customers knew exactly how to enjoy themselves if only given the chance. My only job was to market it. After word got out that customers not only got away with dancing on the furniture but were actually encouraged, others started doing it too. From there, it just snowballed." The Hungry Duck LLC, recently announced that the Hungry Duck Bar & Grill will reopen at a new location in Moscow on June 22, 2012. The original Hungry Duck was operated from 1995 to 1999 by owner/manager Douglas Steele (Halifax, Canada) and was one of the most famous and popular bars in Moscow. Rolling Stone magazine at the time called it, "One of the hottest bars in the world".
Mr. Steele, with his business partner Daniel Jordan (Boston, USA), has recently teamed-up with bar, restaurant and entertainment company, Highland Group LLC (Moscow, Russia) to reopen the Hungry Duck. The original Hungry Duck was famous for its wild and creative theme parties, bar-top dancing, originating the Monday night "Countdown" and its infamous, Ladies Night, each Tuesday. Guests were welcomed and encouraged to leave behind their inhibitions and just have fun, hence the official slogan for the Hungry Duck, "GO NUTS".
Doug remarked on how the Duck's environment came to be: "A lot of the things that became Hungry Duck trademarks started out as simple adjustments to the small space the club gave people to dance in. The whole dancing-on-the-bartop thing began at a Pepsi Foods corporate party shortly after we opened. They'd been drinking and wanted to dance. That's what's so great about Russians: they're not as self-conscious and inhibited as Westerners. My philosophy was just to let them do what they want, see where it went, because it was clear that the customers knew exactly how to enjoy themselves if only given the chance. My only job was to market it. After word got out that customers not only got away with dancing on the furniture but were actually encouraged, others started doing it too. From there, it just snowballed." The Hungry Duck LLC, recently announced that the Hungry Duck Bar & Grill will reopen at a new location in Moscow on June 22, 2012. The original Hungry Duck was operated from 1995 to 1999 by owner/manager Douglas Steele (Halifax, Canada) and was one of the most famous and popular bars in Moscow. Rolling Stone magazine at the time called it, "One of the hottest bars in the world".
Mr. Steele, with his business partner Daniel Jordan (Boston, USA), has recently teamed-up with bar, restaurant and entertainment company, Highland Group LLC (Moscow, Russia) to reopen the Hungry Duck. The original Hungry Duck was famous for its wild and creative theme parties, bar-top dancing, originating the Monday night "Countdown" and its infamous, Ladies Night, each Tuesday. Guests were welcomed and encouraged to leave behind their inhibitions and just have fun, hence the official slogan for the Hungry Duck, "GO NUTS".
Tags:
My tags:
Add tags