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Trendy high-tech-style bar fits well with the minimalist interior of DIO boutique-cafe. Courtesy photo The DIO boutique cafe opened last winter and still remains among the most unique eateries in Kyiv.

Just recently, the restaurant hired a new French chef, Alain Renier, who once managed the kitchen of Imperia at Premier Palace. Now he’s experimenting at DIO, inventing dishes for the new menu and giving us another reason to write about the place.

The cafe occupies only a part of DIO. The other half is a store selling furniture and decor elements, silverware and other beautiful things for your home from world-famous brands.

So, what does a cafe have in common with a furniture shop, you might ask? It’s simple. Items from the collection sold at the store make up the interior of DIO Cafe and are used for serving as well. For example, tables hidden under white tablecloths are actually from Belgian brand JNL, made from a rare kind of red wood; the bar furniture and props for bags are by designer Philippe Starck. Everything, from the vases and chandeliers to silverware and china, is designer-made, bearing names like Hermes, Bernardaut, Odiot, Royal de Campaign, and Moroso. Tables are laid with sets from Gaia&Gino that were presented at the Milan Furniture Fair 2008 and created by designers Arik Levy, Jaime Hayon and Constantin Boym. If you like what you see, you can purchase any of the items at the cafe, including the plate you’re eating from.

The arrival of Renier didn’t merely mean changes to the menu. In line with its uniform design approach, DIO is making conceptual changes to the menu as well.

Until mid-November the restaurant will operate in so-called “tasting” mode, meaning that you’ll be offered small samples of five to seven different dishes from the chef’s menu (Hr 250 to Hr 350), allowing you to get the overall idea of Renier’s cooking. The sommelier can recommend wines to accompany the food – five sample glasses will cost you Hr 100.

Among the dishes created by Monsieur Renier especially for DIO Cafe you will find tiger prawns in ginger broth with Romaine lettuce (Hr 187); duck fillet baked at low temperature with cream polenta, dried apricots and figs (Hr 141); scallops with chorizo sausage and pumpkin garnish (Hr 68).

The rest of the menu includes dishes like chicken with avocado seasoned with a citrus mint sauce (Hr 84); chicken soup with ginger and coconut milk (Hr 39); grilled foie-graswith bits of exotic fruit (Hr 170); Indostan salmon escallop and Basmati rice (Hr 120) and orange creme brulee (Hr 75).

The dishes are not only a pleasure for your palate, but for your eyes as well – a designer presentation is a part of the cafe’s concept. The food doesn’t arrive on plates – at least not the usual kind of plates – but on trays of glass and china.

From mid-November,DIO Cafe will start the so-called European serving format. It means that between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. guests will be offered a lunch menu, and between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. it’s tapas-time, which means you’ll be treated to appetizers with any of the drinks you order. There is an extensive bar menu to choose from. Apart from a wide selection of wines and hard alcohol, there is an impressive list of cocktails, including Italian Spritzer (Hr 78), London Cooler (Hr 78), Mojito Parisian (Hr 59) and Ginger Cosmopolitan (Hr 51). After tapas-time is over, it’s finally time to dine.

By the way, a new collection of crystal designer goods from Lalique is now exhibited at DIO, which gives you another reason to check out the original boutique-cafe.


DIO Cafe (85-87 Chervonoarmiyska, 529-2055). Open 11 a.m. till 11 p.m.

English menu: Yes

English-speaking staff: Yes

Average meal: Hr 400