Ukrainian Chef to Open a UK Restaurant Staffed by Refugee

Read the article below.

A Ukrainian chef who now resides in London is launching a restaurant where the staff will be refugees from his home country. Famous Ukrainian chef Yurii Kovryzhenko has worked all over the world, including in South Korea, Georgia, and France. He was in London in February 2022 with his girlfriend Olga Tsybytovska when Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then, the couple has stayed in London.

Kovryzhenko and Tsybytovska began raising money for Ukraine through events with British famous chefs like Jamie Oliver, Jason Atherton, and Tom Kitchin after being unable to return home. The couple then decided to build a restaurant that might serve as a "cultural embassy" for Ukraine in the UK, complete with Ukrainian-made furniture, paintings, and traditional cuisine. The eatery will offer Ukrainian specialties including holubtsi, or cabbage rolls, and borscht, a beetroot soup. Kovryzhenko and Tsybytovska hope that by opening the restaurant in August 2022, they would inspire people to "fall in love with Ukrainian food."

Also, the couple wants to help some of the approximately 95,400 Ukrainian refugees currently residing in the UK. Since posting the jobs on social media, they claimed to have received hundreds of applications, according to The Guardian. Many of the candidates, according to Kovryzhenko, are unable to work in their typical fields, such as teaching, because their credentials are not recognized in the UK. Many applicants also have poor English language skills. According to Kovryzhenko and Tsybytovska, they chose the name Mriya for the restaurant because it is the Ukrainian word for "dream" and was motivated by the desire for peace that many Ukrainians have for their nation.