Issue1 TasteBound compressed - Flipbook - Page 34
been front and centre, becoming cultural
markers, ways to better understand a country
in peril and a means of connecting with
– and supporting – those in need.
After World War II, new work permit
schemes allowed Ukrainians to move to the
UK, with many settling in east London and
Essex and taking on roles in the greenhouses
around the Lea Valley. Existing restaurants
such as Dnister, in Leyton, which opened in
2005, and Albina, which launched in 2007,
are gaining greater, well-deserved recognition.
And there has been a new wave. First,
it was the high-profile bistro Mriya, which
opened in Earl’s Court in 2022, not long after
the war with Russia broke out. At the helm
is Olga Tsybytovska, who has used Mriya
as a platform to better showcase her
country’s food in the capital.
‘It looks like we are witnessing a new
global trend evolve,’ she says. ‘Many of
today’s popular cuisines were once little
known – it seems the time has come for
diners to discover something new.
‘The more Ukrainian restaurants there are,
the more visibility our cuisine gets. That is
our common goal: to make it popular all over
Food news
‘You’ll never
taste the same
borscht twice’
32
On borscht
and
belonging
Josh Barrie on how Ukrainian chefs are
using food to forge community, preserve
heritage and find hope in a new home
ritain is a little more blue and yellow these
days – London most of all. There are
sunflowers on walls, trident emblems
– tryzub – and bright purple bowls of
borscht warming on stovetops. The
influx of Ukrainian restaurants here is
bittersweet, a silver lining. As war broke
out in 2022, a light shone on a lesser-known European country.
Food and drink is so often a lens through which to examine
something bigger. In recent years, Ukrainian restaurants have
B
TA S T E B O U N D
the world, and London is a very favourable
place to do that. I’m grateful that our heritage
is being represented. There should be more
and more new venues to show the whole
beauty and diversity of our food. And you’ll
never taste the same borscht twice.’
Another recent opening is Tatar Bunar,
a project in Shoreditch from restaurateurs
Alex Cooper and Anna Andriienko. On
the menu are traditional dishes alongside
modern iterations of old classics, from pork
dumplings to stuffed cabbage; barbecued
catfish to skewers of cod, rabbit and lamb.
Over in Notting Hill, fellow Ukrainians Polina
Sychova and chef Eugene Korolev launched
Sino (pronounced ‘see-no’) in May. Their
dishes include aubergine marinated with dill,
fennel and garlic, Jerusalem artichokes with
lovage, and a Ukrainian sausage, or kovbasa,
spiced with paprika and served alongside
dried, grated mussels and pepper sauce.
From terror, it is hoped, comes refuge,
and each of these restaurants is a welcome
sight in London. We all hope for peace.
And our prediction is that these Ukrainian
restaurants will continue to tempt our
palates far beyond that longed-for day.
