Focusing on Ukrainian cuisine is not something new for Kyiv restaurants. But a new venue is taking a fresh look at it.
Kanapa, a Ukrainian word meaning “sofa,” opened on May 29 and occupies the first floor of an
early 20th-century wooden mansion on Andriyivsky Uzviz. What is less
traditional are the methods with which dishes are created: a combination of tradition
and molecular gastronomy.
The venue is co-owned by Oleh Skrypka, the frontman of Vopli Vidopliasova, a folksy rock band, and successful restaurateur Dmitry Borisov. Borisov is known in Kyiv for his popular restaurants and pubs,
including GastroRock, Ohota Na Ovets, Pivbar Beer & Beef and Foodtourist,
while this is Skrypka’s first venture into the restaurant business.
While Kanapa offers a menu of traditional
Ukrainian food, the more thrilling dishes are its molecular sets. According to
Borisov, molecular gastronomy is quite new for Ukrainians. The main idea of
this avant-garde cuisine is to make a new form or a new taste, using special
techniques, and to investigate the chemical reasons behind the transformation
of ingredients. For example, transforming a traditional herring salad into a
small mousse-like mass, which still tastes like a genuine herring salad.
Herring salad, as well as some other
traditional food, is included in Kanapa’s molecular degustation sets. These
come in two sizes and are offered at Hr 598 and Hr 998.
“We clearly understand that we are on the path
of development of Ukrainian gastronomy and that the majority of visitors are
not ready for the molecular sour cream, applied as foam,” Borisov says. “That’s
why we also made a classical Ukrainian menu.”
But Kanapa’s classical menu isn’t so
straightforward. It includes prerevolutionary Ukrainian recipes which took
Borisov and Skrypka a year and a half to find.
“Our food is not only about borsch (beet soup) and
varenyky (potato dumplings),” says Borisov. “In the 19th century Ukrainian bourgeois ate hare
kidneys, black caviar, wet starlet, truffle and asparagus. And that was
Ukrainian gastronomy. That’s why I said to my friend (Skrypka), ‘Oleh, let’s do
this!’”
Kanapa has six halls, including a white French
hall, a room with a fireplace, a small lounge room, a terrace, a large hall
with a bar and a VIP room. According to Borisov, Ukrainian bands will be performing in one of Kanapa’s halls. Also, the restaurateur promises, Kanapa will have a
souvenir and gastronomy shop.
The restaurant’s design is rather simple and natural:
guests are obliged to sit on red-seated chairs; tables are wooden. Early 19th-century music fits nicely with the relaxed atmosphere of
the restaurant. Waiters are trained to explain the details of both traditional
and molecular menus.
For newcomers Borisov advises to start with a set of seven or 14 courses. Sets include appetizers, main dishes, meat
and fish steaks, vegetables and delicious desserts. To wash the food down, one
may try fresh drinks made of nettle, juniper, fir cone and natural maple syrup.
While pricey, Kanapa is a terrific place to show
off your foreign friends traditional Ukrainian cuisine with a modern twist.
As for Ukrainian guests, they may want to try the meals enjoyed by their
bourgeois ancestors.
Kanapa
19 Andriivskyi
Uzviz
(044)-425-4548, 068-044-3050, 050-287-2708
Working hours: from 10 a. m. till the last customer goes.
