Boris Fyodorovich Godunov was a close adviser of Ivan IV (the Dread or the Terrible). After Ivan's death, he became a regent and guided Fyodor (Ivan's the Terrible son) who was feeble in the mind and a virtual recluse. After Fyodor's death and the suspicious death of the last Rurik heir, nine year old heir apparent, Dmitry Rurik, Boris became the first non-Rurikid Tsar.

Godunov was the first tsar to import foreign teachers on a great scale, the first to send young Russians abroad to be educated, and the first to allow Lutheran churches to be built in Russia. Having won the Russo-Swedish War (1590-1595), he saw the necessity of establishing a Baltic seaboard, and attempted to obtain Livonia by diplomatic means. He cultivated friendly relations with the Scandinavians, in order to intermarry if possible with foreign royal houses, so as to increase the power of his own dynasty.

Ultimately however, he was not able to create a new dynasty or establish an era of peace and prosperity. The end of his reign saw Russia descending into the Time of Troubles, a period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between the end of the founding dynasty of Rurik and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613.

Godunov`s life was the subject of two of the greatest works of Russian art, a drama by the famous Romantic poet and writer, Alexander Pushkin and the opera by Romantic composer Modest Mussogorsky. It is interesting that the drama by Pushkin was not approved for performance by censors until 1816, as authorities of Tsarist Russia frowned upon any play containing criticism of the higher echelons of power. The world premiere of the uncensored Boris Godunov was given at Princeton University in the United States.

The Godunov Restaurant is located in Teatralnaya Square in front of the Bolshoi Theater, close to the Metropol Hotel and Red Square. The premises used to serve as the monastery refectory chambers of the Zaikonospassky Monastery of the 17th century. Stylized furniture and decoration elements are reminders of that day and create the unique atmosphere of the old days. It is designed in the boyar fashion. Under the vaults of old chambers there are oak tables and heavy chairs with high carved backs. The walls of the restaurant are decorated with ornaments and frescoes, wall lamps are shaped as candlesticks with burning candles. In the restaurant there are four halls, which are the red hall, the green hall, the yellow hall, and the VIP-hall. The guests of the restaurants appreciate the atmosphere of ancient Russian feasts. The waiters wear national costumes and serve traditional Russian meals and drinks. The public is entertained by folk songs and dances.