Being a cook dinner may be Olha Mashyna’s future.
After she and her household fled the warfare in Ukraine and moved to Winnipeg earlier this yr, an opportunity encounter with a Manitoba restaurant proprietor introduced her again to doing the factor she loves — serving Ukrainian delicacies.
Mashyna and her husband, Oleksandr Mashyn, have been cooking and promoting Ukrainian meals at a restaurant known as Le Goûter in Albert Seaside, Man., each Monday and Tuesday.
The homeowners, who usually shut the restaurant down on on these days, provided up their kitchen for Mashyna and her husband to make use of — freed from cost.
Mashyna says it’s been a approach for them to achieve priceless work expertise and earn some earnings.
“It’s removed from our residence, nevertheless it’s … expertise. It’s huge expertise,” Mashyna instructed CBC.
She moved to Winnipeg’s Transcona neighbourhood along with her household in March.
They got here from a village near Zaporizhzhia — about 10 kilometres from the entrance strains of the warfare that began when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 — the place they owned two shops and ran a restaurant.
She mentioned it was troublesome to regulate after leaving her life behind in Ukraine.
“We work onerous each day. In Ukraine, we’ve every thing. We’ve got two residences … two vehicles. We’ve got cash. We’ve got life,” she mentioned.
“I actually missed my retailer. It’s my love.”
However as destiny would have it, Mashyna met Lise Bourassa, the proprietor of Le Goûter, at a meals dealing with course in April.
“We began speaking, and I spotted we’ve loads in widespread,” mentioned Bourassa, who owns the restaurant in Albert Seaside, on the japanese shore of Lake Winnipeg, along with her husband. The couple additionally owns Saffies Normal Retailer, which is correct throughout the road from the restaurant.
“We simply form of hit it off immediately,” she added.
Bourassa mentioned she and her husband have been planning on closing the restaurant down for a pair nights every week anyway, since they have been low on cooks.
“The restaurant’s right here and this can be a reward that we may give them, because the group actually gave to us after we first arrived,” she instructed CBC.
And Mashyna’s menu — which incorporates perogies, cabbage rolls, borscht, meatballs and different Ukrainian staples — has been successful thus far.
“They at all times say ‘thanks’ and ‘it’s scrumptious,’” she mentioned. “It’s superb.”
Individuals even drive in from Winnipeg, about 100 kilometres to the south, to dine on the nights Mashyna works, and the meals normally sells out every night, Bourassa mentioned.
“It’s superb how many individuals are coming and studying about it,” mentioned Bourassa.
Mashyna isn’t certain if she’d transfer again to Ukraine, since a lot has been destroyed. As a substitute, she’s on the lookout for a kitchen or restaurant to lease in or round Winnipeg by September, when Le Goûter closes down for the season.
“I actually like Canada. I see how I can work right here,” she mentioned. “It’s my future, perhaps. I cooked in Ukraine and cooked right here.”
Mashyna mentioned she’s grateful for Bourassa and her husband for serving to them as a lot as they’ve.
“If I want one thing, they assist us. They at all times assist us,” she mentioned.