We have a hundred times more Georgian restaurants than Ukrainian ones. Where did we go wrong?

I lost a lot of money, tons of nerves, and a decade of my life trying to be someone I’m not, just to please people I don’t actually need.

Now I’m 37, and as scheduled, I’m asking myself key questions: "Who am I?", "Where did I come from?", and "Where am I going?".

In part of these answers, I realized that I want to develop Ukrainian cuisine. I also understood that Ukrainian gastronomy, much like I once did, wants to skip many stages of development and jump straight into fine dining, neo-bistro, and grab all the stars.

As a result, we have literally a hundred times more Georgian restaurants than Ukrainian ones. And those Ukrainian restaurants that do exist are either too expensive or feature chef's reflections that nobody needs, like beaver meatballs on a pillow of foam made from Carpathian vurd.

On one hand, we, the restaurateurs, are caught up in our own complexes and attempts to skip important stages. On the other hand, guests who don’t want to eat what they "could make at home" end up with a mess.

I’ve thought long and hard about where we went wrong and if there’s anything we can do about it.

My answer is simple: we need to return to the basics. We should create Ukrainian home-style restaurants, trattorias, if you will. We need to learn how to make amazing dumplings and fantastic borscht. It should be simple, affordable, and delicious. And we should infuse our food with care, rather than just service.

It’s a tough road, but this truth gives me an immense amount of energy, as if I’m returning home after a long journey.