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The BLUEFIN restaurant recently appeared in the centre of Lviv thanks to the efforts of refugees from Mariupol. Maryna Kondratenko is the restaurant’s owner. Earlier, she had two establishments with the same name in Mariupol but now, none of the woman’s business or apartment has left in this city – everything is ruined. Together with chef Stas and client manager Dasha, she left Mariupol on the first day of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Stas and Dasha also lost everything in Mariupol, but did not give up and reopened their BLUEFIN restaurant with friends, but this time in Lviv.
The end of May. Lviv. Ivana Fedorova street. The white colour of chestnuts, the sound of trams, smiles on the lips of passers-by, and I’m going straight to Koliivshchyny Square.
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To my left is an establishment with a brand new BLUEFIN sign. This is a restaurant of Japanese cuisine, which was opened by refugees from Mariupol – Maryna Kondratenko, chef Stas and his wife Dasha, customer service manager. I open the glazed door, and a friendly woman with glasses asks if I’m looking for something and if she can help me. At first, she is reluctant to communicate, because the orders are «burning». Indeed, the kitchen smells delicious, you can hear the chef wielding a knife, rearranging jars and plates.
Then his voice comes from the kitchen: «Maryna, ready!» Only after I assure her that our conversation will take no more than 15 minutes does the woman agree to talk to me.
This is Maryna, the owner of the institution. She opened two restaurants with the same name – BLUEFIN – in Mariupol a year ago. She said her husband’s dream was to open a sushi bar.
«He has been looking for a good chef who knows how to do roles for a long time. Through friends, we found Stas, who wanted to develop and create. We are sponsoring him, and he is already implementing his ideas, developing original plans,» – says the owner.
On February 24, they all had to leave everything in their hometown.
«Stas and I lived across the house. Now, there is a complete ruin. Our house burned down completely, Stas’ house was destroyed. He is from Donetsk and moved to Mariupol in 2014. For the second time, he flees from the «Russian peace». On the morning of February 24, we gathered and left Mariupol with three families in two cars,» – Maryna continues.
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As we speak, a tired chef in a white coat comes out of the kitchen. There is dissatisfaction on his face that I am distracting the owner. But such a reaction passes quickly, and he joins our conversation.
Until 2014, Dasha and Stas lived in Donetsk, near the airport, for which there were fights. They moved to Mariupol and settled near Azovstal. Getting to Lviv was not easy at all, Stas recalls. At first, they went to Zaporizhzhia, where their paths diverged, and finally met in Lviv again.
«It all started on February 22. It started to «knock» harder. Prior to that, it also «knocked» constantly, but far from the city. So my three families and I first got to Zaporizhzhia, and from there, my wife and I boarded a train to Lviv. Our friends stayed in Zaporizhzhia,» – he says.
Maryna says that they left Zaporizhzhia only when Russian troops detonated an explosive device at the site of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
«When the war began to get closer, and the Russian military detonated an explosive in Enerhodar on the site of the nuclear power plant, we gathered and went to Lviv. We were on the road for three days. We spent two nights on the track,» – she recalls.
Everything is new in their institution. Friends are actively preparing for its opening, which is scheduled for less than a week. New bookcases and old bicycles hang on the walls.
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The restaurant has not yet unpacked new tables and chairs. During our conversation, Maryna is called by Dasha, who, as it turned out, is now in Zaporizhzhia and asks to accept new orders. It is, so to speak, the call centre of the restaurant: it accepts and processes applications, communicates with bloggers.
«Yes, well, I’ll confirm now, thank you, Dasha!» – Maryna answers her, distracted from our conversation for a few seconds.
In Lviv, the owner of the restaurant gave them a discount for rent for two months, until they get back on their feet.
«At first, we wanted to go to Ivano-Frankivsk. It seems that they found an apartment there because of acquaintances, but while we were going there, they handed over this apartment. That’s why we came to Malekhiv near Lviv. There, Stas and Dasha found us accommodation – a small hotel, and we lived there for 15 days until we found a house in Horodok. We thought that we had to live on somehow. It is impossible to sit without work, you need to do something. So Stas found this room in Lviv, we agreed with the owner, and he gave us a good discount for two months. Then, they gradually began to buy different products. They also helped us move from Horodok to Lviv and found an apartment,» – says Maryna.
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Even casual passers-by helped. When Stas came to Lviv with his family and was looking for a place to eat, because everything was closed, the Lviv resident offered a shelter to his whole family.
«Lviv residents are wonderful, to say the least. My wife, children and I arrived in your city in the evening. We found an apartment that was rented out. In the morning, we went out to eat some soup, because we were hungry, we travelled by train for almost 20 hours. We walked down the street and met a man whom I asked where I could eat, because in the first days of the war in Lviv everything was closed. We talked on the way, and he said that he was organizing offices to shelter refugees, and offered to help. He was just a random person I met on the street,» – Stas is sincerely surprised.
According to him, their restaurant in Mariupol had its own Instagram page and website. And it helped a lot to open a business in Lviv, not from scratch. All that was needed was a room, and good people also helped, so the official opening of the establishment took place on May 31, after I took this interview.
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Stas, taking advantage of a short pause, goes on a smoke break. At that time, the customer who ordered the rolls enters the room, sits down on one of the unpacked chairs and waits for the owner to finish talking to me.
«We are currently working to order. It can be picked up from the institution yourself, and we can arrange delivery. In the case of self-pickup from Monday to Thursday, we have a 10 per cent discount, – explains Maryna. – There are a lot of orders. The people of Lviv are very supportive of us. Sometimes we don’t even have time to cook. We have a Japanese restaurant, but now we only offer rolls, sushi and udon. We also want to sell coffee, juices and drinks. Maybe we’ll get a license for alcohol a little later.»
Finally, I ask about their plans for the future, about the future of Ukraine – how the restaurant’s owner sees it.
«We will win, that’s for sure. I want us to live peacefully and prosper. I do not want to go abroad. When the opportunity arose, we refused and stayed in Ukraine. If Mariupol comes under the control of Ukraine, we plan to return. I want, of course, to go home, to the roots, but it would be nice to buy an apartment here, stay in Lviv,» – she says.
Our whole conversation lasted less than 15 minutes. Thank you for it and go outside. I see the chef smoking a cigarette, exchanging a few more phrases with him. Stas apologizes and goes to work again. Good luck to them in the new place!
Photo: Ivan Stanislavsky / Your city
Roma Tyshchenko-Lamanskyi, translated by Vitalii Holich
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