Ukrainian restaurateur Igor Sukhomlyn rarely announces the opening of his future restaurants. But whenever he starts a new eatery, it doesn’t go unnoticed.
All of his restaurants have become popular among Ukrainians and foreigners, who favor their extraordinary food, exquisite service and sophisticated interior décor.
Sukhomlyn and business partner Valeriy Galperin co-own 23 restaurants in Ukraine, including popular venues in Kyiv. Each employs a different concept, including the Fish and Pussycat sushi bar and his Baluvana Halya chain with traditional Ukrainian food.
“I am experimenting. Each of our places is an experiment,” Sukhomlyn told the Kyiv Post.
The restaurateur is expanding: his latest, Fishkultura (Fish Culture), opened in December 2019, a month after Sukhomlyn founded the wine bistro Forever Young.
Even though his venues are often packed with visitors, Sukhomlyn says there is always room for improvement.
Chashka Espresso Bar, perhaps his best-known establishment, is set to re-open in February after closing for renovation, and Mimosa Brooklyn Pizza, which was partially destroyed by fire at the end of 2019, will reopen in April.
“The whole restaurant business is not just a business, it’s more of a lifestyle. But it makes you happy and anxious equally,” Sukhomlyn says.
A former janitor
Sukhomlyn held a number of jobs before opening his first venue in his hometown of Chernihiv, a city of over 287,000 located some 140 kilometers northeast of Kyiv.
He worked as a janitor and watchman in a kindergarten and a lathe operator. He co-founded an advertising company and even served as a member of the Chernihiv City Council. But there was something that bothered Sukhomlyn — he couldn’t find a decent restaurant in Chernihiv.
“At that time, everything was boring and dull. There was no culture of eating out at all,” Sukhomlyn says.
So in 2007, he co-founded his first restaurant, Velurov, which started the greatest adventure of his life. “I didn’t plan that for sure,” Sukhomlyn adds.
Eventually, Velurov became a hot spot. It is still in business, 13 years. Later, Sukhomlyn opened the bar Varenik’s and a cozy café called Sharlotka.
But in 2010, after spending a year in Moscow and traveling to New York City, Sukhomlyn was amazed by the coffee shops there and decided to bring the concepts to Ukraine. “That was how Chashka appeared,” Sukhomlyn says smiling.
Café culture in Ukraine
Today, Chashka is legendary in Kyiv and Chernihiv alike. But it was quite different in the beginning.
The first two venues opened in Chernihiv in 2011. Initially, Chashka had Japanese sushi rolls and Turkish lavash with cheese on the menu and served “horrible coffee,” Sukhomlyn says. But the service and the menu got better and, in 2012, he opened the first Chashka Espresso Bar in Kyiv.
Inspired by the cafes depicted in the U.S. TV series “Friends” and “Sex and the City,” Sukhomlyn tried to recreate the New York atmosphere. “I truly believed in that and we did it,” he says.
Chashka stood out with its stylish minimalist interior design, “Friends”-themed bright couches and posters of New York streets.
The service was different as well. It tried to introduce American standards and was the first venue in Kyiv where waiters treated customers more like friends, greeting them and making jokes while remaining extremely polite and always ready to recommend something on the menu.
“The service that we offered was unique for Ukraine,” Sukhomlyn says of the place favored by creative youth.
“I didn’t even know the word ‘hipster’ back then,” Sukhomlyn laughs. “I came from Chernihiv where hipsters did not exist, but somehow they became constant visitors to Chashka as soon as it opened.”
Chashka served “alternative coffee” like Raf espresso or a flat white. Some of Ukraine’s best baristas like Slava Babych, the first Ukrainian barista to win an international coffee making championship, worked at Chashka.
According to Sukhomlyn, it was the turning point for Ukrainian gastronomic culture. People started to eat out more often. They were ready to spend more money on better food, service and atmosphere. Additionally, people became curious about restaurant owners and wanted to know who was behind their favorite venues.
“Chashka had a face. It was me,” Sukhomlyn says.
A waiter serves food to the customers of the Fishkultura restaurant on Jan. 28, 2020 in Kyiv. Fishkultura is the latest eatery of Ukrainian star restaurateur Igor Sukhomlyn. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
Places to eat, meet
Now Sukhomlyn calls himself a “citizen of Bessarabka,” the busy square in central Kyiv. “Kyiv is quite an energetic city and all its dynamism is concentrated on Bessarabka.”
He runs four restaurants in the area, including Chashka, the first to settle there. The second was Mimosa Brooklyn Pizza in 2017. When creating Mimosa, Sukhomlyn was inspired by Brooklyn, where he saw Italian-Americans making savory pizzas.
The “pizza from Brooklyn” became a hit and received a Salt award as the opening of the year. It offers 12 types of pizzas for all tastes and budgets, including the all-time favorite Margherita for Hr 199 ($8) and pepperoni for Hr 215 ($8.60).
Although Sukhomlyn says he was devastated when he had to temporarily close the venue after the December fire that almost destroyed it, he promises to open Mimosa again in April 2020.
In September 2018, Sukhomlyn brought some “Californian sun” to Kyiv with the Fish and Pussycat restaurant, serving sushi and other raw fish dishes. The restaurant is known for its crunchy sushi rolls, poke salads, tuna sashimi and chefs dressed up in uniforms adorned with pictures of cute cats.
Fish and Pussycat’s neighbor, the wine bistro Forever Young, opened in 2019. The concept is chic yet simple: Sukhomlyn aimed to create a place reminiscent of Amsterdam or Copenhagen.
Forever Young doesn’t stick to one particular cuisine. Instead, it offers a varied menu paired with wines from all over the world. “This place is about wine and meat,” the restaurateur says.
Fishkultura, Sukhomlyn’s latest venue, was inspired by the New Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx. Located in the Pechersk neighborhood, it offers “great fish with a simple presentation,” Sukhomlyn says.
Despite Sukhomlyn’s passion for bringing new flavors to Ukraine, he is also known for developing Ukrainian cuisine. Sukhomlyn’s Baluvana Halya chain serves traditional Ukrainian dishes like varenyky and borscht at reasonable prices and has locations in six cities, including Zhytomyr, Cherkasy and Dnipro.
“I want people to get excited about Ukrainian food,” Sukhomlyn says. “Chernihiv differs from Lviv, and Lviv definitely differs from Dnipro. But I know one thing — all people love varenyky.”
The teacher
Sukhomlyn also shares his knowledge and seeks to inspire others in the business. In 2012, the restaurateur established an educational campaign called “Restopraktiki” that features lectures and workshops led by successful Ukrainian restaurateurs.
“I believe that in this business you just have to inspire others and be inspired all the time,” Sukhomlyn says.
Sukhomlyn tries to keep concepts secret until the opening. That way, he said, he gets more authentic feedback from visitors. “When they have no expectations, they perceive the atmosphere and food more clearly,” Sukhomlyn says.
“And even though it is so tough to keep everything in secret, I always try to surprise them.”
