Food Fighters of Ukraine: Meet some WCK restaurant partners
Across Ukraine over the past eight months, WCK has worked with amazing partners preparing meals for neighbors in need and refugees forced to flee home. WCK’s restaurant partners throughout the country have displayed incredible bravery to ensure families have access to nourishing meals.
WCK began to build a network of restaurants in Ukraine within days of the Russian invasion. Even before our Relief Team was able to enter Ukraine, restaurant partners were cooking meals for people fleeing the conflict or sheltering in the face of relentless attacks.
Initially, restaurant partners were identified in five cities. However, as attacks increased in Kharkiv, Kyiv, and more regions across the country, we onboarded additional restaurant partners to serve as many people as we could. Now, as our work has transitioned to more support with food kits allowing people to cook for themselves, we are reflecting on the work done so far.
Meet a few of WCK’s amazing Food Fighters and get to know the dishes that have become signs of hope.
Volodymyr—the chef of Nova Provincia in Vinnytsia—understands the comforting power of freshly baked bread. Bread is one of the most significant foods in Slavic cuisine and is seen as a symbol of prosperity. Few breads hold more regard in Ukraine than Palyanitsa. This hearth-baked wheat loaf has ancient roots and Volodymyr has a hard time imagining a meal that is not accompanied by this staple. The Nova Provincia team cooked day in and day out despite their fear because they knew their work was helping thousands of people with much-needed support.
Bread accompanies us from the beginning to the end of our life.
Chef Volodymyr
Vyacheslav is the co-founder and chef of DO’U Bakery in Odesa. Three days after the war began, Vyacheslav and his partner decided to feed Ukrainians in need. Eight months into this effort, Vyacheslav plans to cook for his community as long as the need remains. DO’U Bakery specializes in whole grain sourdough made with its 157-year-old starter. Since the war began, Palyanitsa—the traditional Ukrainian bread—has become a national symbol of unity and Vyacheslav has perfected a two-day process to make his version of this national staple.
During these hard and terrible days, we are united like never before and with food we can express our support, care, respect, and love to all Ukrainian people and everybody who is supporting us.
Chef Vyacheslav
Oleksandr is a chef from Odesa who moved to Ternopil in central Ukraine during the first weeks of the war to help prepare meals for refugees arriving from the East. Now the chef at Rebernia, Oleksandr knows that simple, delicious comfort food can be a source of hope. Because of this, he loves to prepare deruny—a Ukrainian-style potato pancake. This centuries-old dish reminds Oleksandr of childhood breakfasts with his family and he hopes the dish can elicit loving memories for everyone he serves it to.
Grated potatoes with onions and a chicken egg may seem like nothing special, but it is very tasty… This dish is important for Ukrainians…[exactly] what is needed during wartime!
Chef Oleksandr
Evgeny—a cook since his teens—is the chef of Pizza House Gangster in Zhytomyr. In his time supporting communities in need, he highlighted dishes that he feels best represent Ukrainian values. With a focus on the cuisine of western and central Ukraine, Evgeny has served banush—a porridge typical to communities on the Carpathian Mountains—with porcini mushroom; a salad of beets, beans, and prunes, seasoned with sunflower oil; and fried carp. Evgeny believes these dishes highlight the best of Ukrainian cuisine and help assert a sense of independence at a very critical time.
For us, Ukrainian food is not only a part of the soul but also a way to emphasize one’s individuality and identity.
Chef Evgeny
Oleksandr Yourz is the founder of his namesake restaurant in Odesa, Yourz Space Bistro. Ukrainian food and the culinary traditions of Odesa form the backbone of his culinary career. Alongside his team, Oleksandr turned to simple, comforting favorites that highlight the region’s best ingredients to support his community. For him, few dishes do this better than a local salad of Mikado tomato, cucumber, onion, and bryndza—a sheep’s milk cheese. The Yourz Space Bistro team bonds over this dish not just because it is a local favorite, but because cutting all the vegetables is a large undertaking that requires everyone to grab a knife and pitch in. Oleksandr recommends dipping some bread into the salad to soak up the dressing.
We put love in every meal we make and hope that we will again live in peace and goodness as before and develop Ukrainian gastronomy.
Chef Oleksandr
Gosha heads the kitchen of True Price Restaurant In Kharkiv. Cooking over an open fire is meditative for Gosha who has employed this technique regularly over the past few months. To bring joy in trying times, Gosha has been serving bograch—a Carpathian take on goulash that always features meat, vegetables, and paprika.
Natural vegetables and meat, with a piquant taste of smoke from fruit trees will bring gastronomic pleasure, which is so lacking in these difficult times.
Chef Gosha
Oksana is the chef of The Varenik in Kharkiv. Vareniki are traditional dumplings that can feature a variety of fillings that range from potato to cherry. Oksana gravitated to making dumplings because the process is communal and energizes her. Oksana says that making dumplings helps her gain a greater sense of Ukrainian history.
I am happy that I can contribute to helping my country. I feel needed, and strong, I feel the unity of caring people, and I am glad that we can go to victory together!
Chef Oksana
Victor Titov from Odesa is the chef of Chin-Chin and the brand chef of the G-Group restaurant chain, as well as co-owner of U which specializes in Ukrainian cuisine. Like Oksana, and so many other Ukranians, dumplings have been his favorite dish since childhood. Whether filled with cherries, potatoes, or meat, dumplings are staples that Victor served to thousands of people forced to flee their homes. In these difficult times, Victor wears the title of Food Fighter with pride.
To every recipe from my childhood, I would like to add a new ingredient: Peace!
Chef Victor
Igor Mezentsev is the chef of Kinoshniki in Kharkiv. For Igor, borscht was always a staple during difficult times. This soup, in all of its varieties, is common across Ukraine. Growing up on a beet farm, meat rarely featured in the borscht Igor’s mother would make him. Being creative in hard times, Igor’s mother would make a broth of smoked pears that would result in a rich borscht. The family recipe had one more secret: forget-me-nots added at the very end. That unique addition spurred Igor’s interest in exploring new ingredients.
What can I say about borscht? Everyone in Ukraine makes borscht!
Chef Igor
Another take on this soup is the green borscht with chicken prepared by Yuriy, chef of The First in Odesa. This version of borscht along side another favorite dish—corn porridge with sheep’s cheese and smoked pork ribs—allows Yuriy to highlight the produce of southern Ukraine. Dishes like these conjure memories of childhood for Yuriy and let him feel the spirit of his ancestors, the spirit of the land, and the spirit of all that is humane and good that gives people strength.
The importance of Ukrainian cuisine lies in the national heritage of my people, my state, and the world as a whole. After all, everything will eventually converge to the fact that we are all one in this world and must take care of each other.
Chef Yuriy
