With the explosive energy of a bottle of bubbly, 40-year-old American Alex Roy stands out wherever he is – including the spacious, sunny terrace of his favorite restaurant, the French-Japanese fusion establishment Concord.
Roy always seems ready to cheerfully boil over, but he does so even more when he’s discussing his new idea, which might be described as an experiment in inter-city decadence: to organize parties that take place in cities across the former Soviet Union, with participants actually traveling as they celebrate. The venture he’s created to carry out his plan is called Champagne House. (Visit www.champagnehouse.com).
“I was partying so much myself,” Roy said, speaking about his life in Ukraine, “that I decided to make it my business.”
Currently, Roy’s in the process of organizing the extravagantly (and a bit intimidatingly) named “Air-Land-Sea Superparty,” set for October 18. Over the course of this weekend-long bash, some 200 to 300 guests will fly out of Kyiv, land in Simferopol and party in Yalta on the coast before returning the next day. It’s a massive undertaking. But Roy’s used to dealing with large numbers of people.
Born in India into a Hindu family that numbered 40 (including first cousins, that is), Roy was still a toddler when he and his family emigrated to the United States and settled in Buffalo, New York.
Sipping on a cup of Strength of Jojoba (oriental herb) tea (Hr 12), Roy talked about his early motivations for joining the partying jet-set.
“I felt very lonely [in Buffalo],” Roy recalled. “I guess it influenced my psychology, and that’s why I always want to be surrounded with people, to have parties.
“In the USA, people are very lonely; they all work, and a party is a great way for them to meet,” he added.
Eventually Roy became a professional electronics engineer in Boston and California; he’d graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in computer science from Connecticut State University in 1986. But he was restless by nature, and his work made him even more that way, so he decided to begin living part time in Odessa in April 1997, and obtained a business visa for the first time in 2000.
“Spending time there was like a party for me. I met a lot of women, and in 1997 I met a girl whom I married,” he said.
Roy’s marriage eventually ended. He continued working in Boston for a local telecom provider during the winters, and even gained experience there in engineering large cruise ship parties for some 400 to 500 people. But every summer, he returned to Odessa, and often made trips down to Yalta and other spots in Crimea, where he quickly came to enjoy the laid-back lifestyle – and the parties.
As he began to talk, Roy munched on a cold appetizer: veal tartar and quail eggs with fresh slices of ginger drizzled with a spicy udgeen sauce (Hr 38). The dish was rounded out by black bread, free of charge.
“I want to provide top-notch Western service,” he said. “My idea is that people are coming with their tickets onboard the aircraft, and we take care of them completely,” Roy added, hardly finishing a sentence before beginning another one.
“Russian and Ukrainians love parting – unlike Americans, who stay sober even when partying, and are much too worried about tomorrow, about their jobs and their mortgages.
“And there are a lot of people who have money in Ukraine and who want to spend it.”
When it comes to Ukrainians who like to spend their money, Roy has a lot of experience. On Sept. 6 he held a party for some 300 revelers in Sevastopol, which is where he lives when he’s not in Kyiv for business. Eventually, Roy and his co-partners – two St. Petersburg deejays, DJ Stuff and DJ Shury – hope to develop a multi-city party that would bring together revelers from St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kyiv in a location like Yalta. But eventually everyone would board a large cruise liner for a party at sea.
Guests will leave from Boryspil airport early on a Saturday, party that night at the Yalta nightclub Apelsin (Orange), which Roy considers one of “Yalta’s coolest nightclubs,” and return by plane to Kyiv the very next day.
Roy has enthusiasm in abundance and an appetite to match, which was useful when he set himself to a light, but luxurious, hot appetizer of smoked salmon and pancakes with cream cheese mousse (Hr 64).
So far, the only problem Roy has faced has been securing the rental of two Boeing 737s for party-eager socialites. He’s negotiating for the best price with different local airlines.
“Yalta is not the only potential destination,” Roy said. “There are other places in Crimea to have parties. We’ll have to rent the yachts and boats in other countries, as there are only old Soviet-style boats with benches for babushkas available, and we want ours to be the most ‘shykarnaya.’”
Those thinking that airplane food and extravagant don’t match will be in for a surprise. Along with drinks on the flight (and at the party itself), the food will be catered with the same sophistication with which Concord serves it.
“In doing parties, I want to share Crimea with my friends,” Roy said emphatically. “I’ve lived in Paris and in Germany, but I feel at home in Ukraine.”
“In the USA, it’s all business,” Roy went on, “but Ukraine has soul; that’s why I’m here. I feel like I’m at home.”
Concord
Donbass Business Center
(42/4 Pushkinska, 229-5512).
Open daily from 12 p.m.
till the last client.
