The Eliseyev Emporium is a sumptuous turn-of-the-century luxury food hall on the corner of Nevsky and Malaya Sadovaya, set inside the lavishly decorated 1903 Eliseyev Brothers building. After decades as a generic Soviet grocery shop, it was restored in the 2010s to its full Art Nouveau glory: stained glass, marble counters, a vaulted ceiling, mechanical mannequins in the windows, and a chocolate boutique that wraps every truffle in tinted foil.
The prices are aimed at the tourist market, but a chocolate-and-coffee stop here is genuinely worth it for the room. There is a small upstairs cafe and a wine and caviar bar, and the basement holds a more conventional supermarket if you need to stock up. The mechanical window displays on Nevsky — figures of milkmaids, fishermen, and tea-drinkers performing on a timer — are a city institution.