How a drab Soviet metropolis became Central Asia’s capital of cool

Several cities around the globe have reinvented themselves in recent years, but none more successfully than Almaty.

Since the collapse of the USSR, Kazakhstan’s largest city (population 2.2 million and growing) has evolved from a drab, run-of-the-mill Soviet metropolis into the urban star of Central Asia.

Along the way, the city has developed one of the world’s most beautiful metro systems, grown into a thriving banking and finance center, complemented its vintage bazaars with luxury boutiques and modern shopping malls and reshaped its traditional gastronomy into a nouvelle cuisine that’s drawing raves from foodies around the world.

Almaty is also evolving into the cultural and artistic hub of Central Asia. It’s already got several world-class museums (including a “secret” underground collection that doesn’t even have a name) and a dazzling new cultural center slated to open early next year.

“It’s an incredibly livable city,” says long-time American resident Dennis Keen, a historic preservation advocate and founder of Walking Almaty.

“Green and clean. You don’t need a car. The public transit here is fantastic. And it’s very much the center of contemporary art and dining in Central Asia.”

Keen adds that whenever he tells someone back home that he lives in Kazakhstan, “Borat” inevitably comes up. The movie’s title character doesn’t paint a very flattering portrait of the Central Asian nation. But nowadays one is tempted to think that if Borat visited Almaty now, he would say, “Very nice!”

Although people have lived in the region for thousands of years, most were nomads who roamed the vast steppes between China and Europe. An ancient city flourished nearby during medieval times — a waystation on the Silk Road — but had disappeared by the time the Russian Empire conquered the region in the mid-19th century.

A fort established by tsarist troops to bolster the Russian occupation, it evolved into a small city with a grid system of north-south and east-west streets and abundant trees. The Russians also constructed the ornate onion-domed Ascension Cathedral, one of the city’s architectural icons. Otherwise, there are few relics of the tsarist era in present times.

A few years after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the national capital was moved to Astana. Losing that revered status was a wake-up call for the city. Rather than sulk about the snub, the leaders and residents of Almaty found common ground to reinvent the city if for no other reason than to prove that it was still superior to Astana.

“It’s now a city of entrepreneurs and artists,” says Jama Nurkalieva, director of the new Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture. She thinks the national capital relocation liberated Almaty to do its own thing.

“This freedom brought here this unique spirit of creativity, possibilities, reflection, debate. So no wonder we have the largest artistic scene in the region and a megalopolis economy. So many businesses big and small. This is the place to be for many creative people, and not only artists.”

Chefs have also taken up the challenge of creating something thoroughly new with roots in Kazakhstan’s past. They call it neo nomad cuisine, a fusion of modern cooking techniques and presentation with heirloom ingredients used by the nomadic people who continue to inhabit the grasslands around Almaty.

“We find inspiration in traditional nomad techniques like smoking or cooking meat over an open flame or burying the meats in and cooking over hot stones,” says Sat Nurmash, general manager of the city’s upscale Auyl Restaurant.

But that’s where the similarities end. Marinated with special herbs and spices, and cooked slowly over a low flame, it takes two days to prepare the meats served as main courses. Portions are small and every plate a tiny work of art.

Among the dishes on Auyl’s seven-course tasting menu are dungan noodles with spicy duck, horse meat samosas, beshbarmak with smoked brisket and lamb shank, cold chalop (sour horse milk) soup, and lamb tongues with pomegranate.

Other purveyors of neo nomad cooking include Tör Restaurant inside the Glass Cube on Esentai Square and Tarih Restaurant near Dynamo Stadium. Meanwhile, Auyl is also drawing raves for its yurt-inspired design, chosen as one of 16 finalists in the Prix Versailles World’s Most Beautiful Restaurants” competition.

Yet not everything is 21st century. Founded in 1868, the colossal Zeleny Bazaar (Green Market) is filled with stalls selling delicious fresh fruits, kurt (sour cheese balls), shubat (camel’s milk), and other local delicacies. There’s an entire section for different types of horse meat, including surprisingly tasty sausages.

Those seeking a more in-depth nomad experience can find it right outside Almaty.

In the snowcapped Tien Shan Mountains east of the city, Kolsai Lakes National Park offers yurt accommodation in private camps near Lower Kolsai Lake and horseback treks with nomad guides to remote Kaindy Lake and its eerie ghost forest.

Crowned by the Louvre-like glass pyramid, the eclectic Abilkhan Kasteev State Art Museum is the nation’s primary showcase of Kazakh creations, from paintings and sculptures to decorative arts like carpets, jewelry and woodwork.

Other good collections include the Ihlas Museum of Folk Musical Instruments (in a Russian-style wooden mansion built in 1908) and the ethnographic artifacts of the Almaty Museum.

The city’s most intriguing collection is a “secret museum” that doesn’t even have a formal name. Adding to its mystique is the fact that it’s underground in both a literal and figurative sense — located in the basement of the French House, a luxury shopping arcade on Furmanov Avenue fronted by a replica of the Eiffel Tower.

The owner of the private collection is also a mystery, said to be a local oligarch who’s both an avid collector and intensely proud of his hometown. There’s no admission fee, but reservations are mandatory. And to snag a ticket, you need to know someone with the closely guarded phone number or email address to make that reservation. A local guide (who also wants to remain anonymous) calls it “Kazakhstan’s most important collection of native art and artifacts.”

Dozens of rooms showcase an amazing array of items from ancient torture devices, medieval (male) chastity belts and nomad fashion to early radios and televisions, Soviet-era posters and cosmonaut mementos. There are also rooms with Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Buddhist artifacts that originated in Kazakhstan. The museum caretaker follows you around the entire time making sure you don’t take photos or touch anything.

The soon-to-open Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture is also funded by a local entrepreneur and businessman who doesn’t mind if his name is public knowledge (Kairat Boranbayev) and wants everyone to visit an institution he envisions as the best of its kind in Central Asia.

Located in a restored Soviet-era Tselinny Cinema, a glass-fronted, postmodern structure built in 1964, the center will host a wide range of contemporary music, dance, film, fine art and theater as well as research projects, education and publishing.

“Our artistic strategy is based on the symbiosis between two motifs we call Here and Now,” says Jama Nurkalieva.

“Here is about a physical space where various formats or events are happening. Now is based on the research projects that are occurring in the moment and continuously in the future to create an intellectual space enhanced by engagements with artists, theorists and intellectuals from various disciplinary, cultural, social and ideological perspectives. Now serves as a tool for the realization of the Here programming.”

The city’s public spaces also host a wide array of art. The Almaty Metro is renowned for its elaborately decorated stations, in particular Zhibek Zholy with its Wonders of the Ancient World mosaic, the colorful stained-glass apple tree at Almaly and the traditional Kazakh wedding scene at Auezov.

American resident Keen has devoted much of the last decade to uncovering and preserving much of the Soviet-era public art that’s been neglected — and in many cases painted or plastered over — since independence.

One of his walking tours features masterpieces of Socialist Modernist architecture like the Arasan bathhouse, spa and wellness center, as well as Hotel Otrar reliefs and murals, and the Academy of Science mosaics and stained glass.

“Some of this architecture and art is off the beaten path,” says Keen, “in a city that many people already consider off the beaten path. But it’s one of the things that makes Almaty special.”

Turkish Airlines flies nonstop two-to-three times daily between Almaty and Istanbul, with connections to multiple European, African and Middle Eastern cities.

Air Astana offers domestic service to numerous cities across Kazakhstan, plus daily flights to Beijing, Seoul, New Delhi and Bangkok.

Located on the upper floors of a 30-story skyscraper at the Esentai Mall, the Ritz-Carlton Almaty delivers modern luxury and killer city views.

Within walking distance of Ascension Cathedral, the Green Market, and Arasan Baths, the Renion Park Hotel delivers mid-range comforts and service at bargain prices.

Or take a time trip back to Soviet days at the centrally-located Hotel Otrar with its vintage architecture and mural-covered dining room.

Renowned for its cutting-edge neo nomad cuisine, Auyl restaurant in the Medeu Valley south of the city is also a design-savvy feast for the eyes.

The seven branches of Lanzhou, a noodle house, and the upscale Sandyq Restaurant beside the Novotel City Center are popular spots for traditional Kazakhstani cuisine.

Almaty also offers eats from around the former Soviet empire like the Georgian kachapuri at Darejani restaurant or the borscht, beef cheeks and other Russian delicacies at Mar’ina Roshcha, both of them near the southwest corner of the Ascension Cathedral park.