To Ukraine & Back
PRESERVING IDENTITY THROUGH FOOD
WRITTEN BY: Joanne Levine
Over centuries, Russia has tried to suffocate Ukrainian culture—its food, art, and language. But since the Maidan Revolution of 2014 when Ukrainians took to the streets to protest against the pro-Russian government, the simple everyday beet soup, borscht, became a powerful symbol for when Ukrainian national identity was under threat.
Whether borscht is served in Kyiv or Washington, DC, Ukrainians now proudly call it their own. There isn’t one version—-and restaurants and homes across the globe put their own touches on the delicacy.
Here in DC, restaurant owner Ruslan Falkov, the former chief of staff to Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova, remembers when the Russians rolled into Ukraine on February 24, 2022. His first instinct, he says, was to return home to serve in the army.
“My wife and the ambassador talked me out of it,” he says. “They said I could be much more useful here.” These days, Falkov has become a self-appointed cultural ambassador.
Just one year after the Russia-Ukraine war began, Falkov opened Ruta, the DMV’s only Ukrainian restaurant, on Capitol Hill. In 2024, he added an outpost in Bethesda.
Falkov brings much of his homeland to Ruta, named for a flower unique to Ukraine. The recipes, the wines, 53 employees, and much of what goes into his restaurants are sourced from Ukraine or Ukrainians. Even the coffee is roasted by Ukrainians who now live in Lewiston, Maine. “I’m very particular about my beans,” he says.
Falkov’s roots feed his determination. He was born in Crimea, which has been occupied by the Russians since 2014. Bringing Ukrainian food to the U.S. is Falkov’s way of preserving a heritage that is as rich and vibrant as it is besieged. “We do this because Putin wants to destroy us and our culture,” he says.
Ruta’s menu includes classic dishes with a twist. For example, varenyky—Ukrainian dumplings—are stuffed with pumpkin instead of potato. Braised meat is served on polenta instead of a stew. “When we prepared our first menu, the hardest part for me was to make it simple and to make it short, because we got so many dishes that we wanted to include, so it was very hard to delete some of them from the menu.”
What Falkov did put on the menu has earned broad accolades and includes an award-winning layered honey cake.
Yevhen Klopotenko is the owner of 100 Rokiv Tomu Vpered (100 years back to the future) in Kyiv. His celebrity extends to a YouTube show with nearly half a million subscribers, and he has exported his restaurants to Europe.
Klopotenko says that during Soviet times, all things Ukrainian vanished. So now they rebuild. “If you want to understand a nation, you need to listen to the language and try the food.” He calls himself a “culinary independence fighter.” Klopotenko led the charge in 2020 for borscht to be recognized officially as belonging to Ukraine. This, too, was an act of defiance. The chef ’s wish was granted right after the Russian invasion in 2022, when UNESCO declared borscht to be part of Ukraine’s “intangible cultural heritage.”
Kyiv is a foodie town that could rival Copenhagen and Paris—an amazing accomplishment on its own but astonishing in a city that on a nightly basis comes under attack from Russian drones and missiles. Alarms blare throughout what should be its people’s resting hours, making sleep deprivation brutal collateral damage of this war. And yet, at daybreak, the endeavor to create exquisite food starts anew.
Plates include elevated Ukrainian classics such as borscht, dumplings, and vegetable dips. Dining rooms range from the casual and hip to formal, white glove service. Almost all the ingredients are locally sourced from Ukraine’s rich soil.
Waiters, chefs, and hosts are all foot soldiers in Kyiv’s food scene. Restaurants are packed, despite air raids and curfews. Or maybe even because of them. In any restaurant, turning out excellent food and service is like a ballet. But in a war zone, this dance is nothing short of miraculous.
Borscht is central to the menu as it is in so many of Kyiv’s top restaurants, vibrant proof that Ukrainians have freed themselves from the shackles of their Soviet occupiers’ dull taste buds.
A sense of mission, urgency, and identity emerges from today’s Ukrainian restaurants no matter where they are.
“Food is the identity of a nation. We are fighting not only for our territory and our people, but we are fighting for our identity.”
—Yevhen Klopotenko, Ukraine’s most famous chef
Ruta’s Falkov hasn’t returned home since the war began, but he is very much in touch with his motherland. He puts on as many fundraising events as possible to celebrate Ukrainian culture and give back while nurturing his two restaurants. “At first, I thought, ‘How can we celebrate when our country is at war?’” Falkov says.“But then I realized that’s exactly what Putin wants.”
He even hosted a tasting featuring Yevhen Klopotenko. Of course, borscht was served. “Food comes with genes,” Falkov says.“You know what your mother, what your grandmother used to cook, and you want to cook it again. You want to taste it again.”
Reporting from Ukraine was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Women on the Ground: Reporting from Ukraine’s Unseen Frontlines Initiative in partnership with the Howard G. Buett Foundation.