Ukraine’s “culinary ambassador” Yurii Kovryzhenko and his partner Olga Tsybytovska are opening a restaurant near London’s Earl’s Court. The 39-year-old top chef was stranded in Great Britain when the war in Ukraine broke out, where he originally only intended to stay for two weeks . Since then he has raised thousands of euros for his home country.
His new restaurant, a neo-bistro called Mriya (Ukrainian for “dream”), is intended to create jobs for Ukrainian refugees and also serve as an exhibition space for Ukrainian art and culture.
Kovryzhenko will be in Mriya serve his signature dishes, which are shaped by traditional Ukrainian cuisine, with the focus, of course, on the national dish borscht, which Russia and Ukraine have been fighting over for a long time. Last week, the Ukrainian way of preparing beetroot soup was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
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