Naming for Savras
A horse coat color name that became a restaurant’s title
In 2022, Anna and Kirill Egorov approached LINII. The couple was planning to open a restaurant in the very heart of Moscow — in the historic Egyptian House on Bolshaya Dmitrovka. The conceptual foundation for the future establishment was not a trendy hero product or the cuisine of a specific region, but the theme of horses. Anna has been involved in equestrian sports since childhood, and together with her husband, she works to revive the indigenous Russian Vyatka horse breed. In this project, horses are not a marketing gimmick — they are a living part of life.
Naming cafes and restaurants is one of the most exciting projects in our practice. It requires immersion not only in gastronomy but also in culture, history, and sometimes an entire world of metaphors. Anna and Kirill’s project was doubly unconventional.
The naming process unfolded over several stages. After a briefing with the clients, we immersed ourselves in the theme: equestrian sports, horse breeds, coat colors, horse tack, mythology, heraldry, phraseology — everything even remotely connected to horses in Russian and global culture. At the same time, we studied the gastronomic context: which metaphors were already taken, what works in restaurant naming, and what turns into a cliché.
In the end, over 150 options were developed.
"Savrasy" is a Russian word denoting a horse coat color: light bay with a dark mane, tail, and legs. This particular coat was typical of the Vyatka breed — the very horses that were harnessed to coach and postal troikas and which the restaurant owners are now breeding.
The word also has a second layer — phraseological. "Savras bez uzdy" (Savras without a bridle) is an old Moscow expression for a society rake, a libertine, someone who lives for their own pleasure. Such crowds frequented Stoleshnikov Lane and Bolshaya Dmitrovka for centuries.
The Latin-alphabet spelling adds a final touch. The word is easy to pronounce in Russian, but visually fits right in alongside the names of fashion houses that inspired the interior concept. It is short, resonant, memorable at first hearing — and yet does not fully explain itself, leaving room for a story that can be told over dinner.
