The stretch of Velyka Vasylkivska Street running between Saksahanskoho and Lva Tolstoho has long been a golden mile of dining, crammed with restaurants like good old Oliva, Georgian eatery Mama Manana, and Lithuanian-inspired gastro pub Klaipeda.
And in January this glorious line-up gained a worthy addition: Fabbrica.
Fabbrica opened up in the space next door to Oliva that used to be occupied by burger restaurant Lucky Luciano. This isn’t Ukraine’s first Fabbrica: The original restaurant opened in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk in 2014 and became a success.
Fabbrica’s claim to fame is that it serves up Italian food prepared solely with Ukrainian products, at the sacrifice of some authenticity. The restaurant also aims to reduce its use of processed ingredients, instead deciding to make in-house ice cream, pasta, flour, and even limoncello – a classic liqueur that Italians drink at the end of a dinner.
The restaurant’s frontage, with a small black-and-white signboard, is easy to overlook. I only found it because my Facebook friends have been raving about Fabbrica.
And don’t expect to be greeted at the door. Visitors have to walk along a corridor, past a bar and a pasta station, then turn a corner and introduce themselves to waiters chatting idly next to a counter.
There is plenty of space inside, so even though the place is rapidly gaining popularity, one can still count on getting a table without a reservation.
The design is the simple and borderline boring wood-and-brick. The highlight is the open kitchen dominated by a huge pizza oven that looks so appealing that it practically whispers: “Order pizza, now.”
But instead I opted for a polenta with chicken and dried tomatoes (Hr 85). It did not disappoint: crispy-baked polenta topped with a creamy sauce, with pieces of chicken and spicy tomatoes.
The menu offers a range of pizzas (Hr 85-155), pasta (Hr 65-105), salads (Hr 49-72), and some basic antipasti like mozzarella with tomatoes (Hr 115), a cheese plate (Hr 110), or duck liver pate with focaccia bread (Hr 75).
Since Fabbrica sticks only to local products, there is no seafood. Instead, some classical Italian dishes have received a creative twist: There is trout pasta and chamomile panna cotta.
The menu also features many mushroom dishes, giving vegetarians some decent choices.
My friend’s pasta with trout and spinach (Hr 105) arrived in a generous serving and was good, albeit a little too greasy. For dessert, we opted for hot pumpkin pie with ricotta cheese and buckthorn sauce (Hr 55). It tasted as good as it reads.
The alcohol options look promising, too, especially the liqueur set (Hr 95) that includes limoncello, its orange brother orancello, and apple and grape liqueurs. The set is a perfect option for a company of four, or for a lonely yet adventurous drinker.
For others, there is wine and craft beer (Hr 45), courtesy of Syndicate, a famous Kyiv beer-and-grill restaurant. The corkage fee is Hr 150.
A note for teetotalers: The apple tea from the special “warm drinks” menu is highly recommended.
Those who want to try cooking up some Italian recipes at home can also buy here fresh pasta (Hr 65 for 500 grams) and flour that is milled in-house (Hr 45 for 1 kilogram).
While Fabbrica’s food leaves nothing to be desired, it still has room to improve service. Our waitress was somewhat distracted. She took too long to write down our order and forgot small things. When she disappeared for a while, we addressed her colleague, who seemed perplexed that we had dared to bother her.
Little things like that marred an otherwise perfectly good restaurant. But personally, I have a good feeling about Fabbrica: Their heart seems to be in the right place, so I’m blaming these shortcomings on the fact that they haven’t been open for long.
I’ll find out if I’m right when I return for pizza and liqueurs.
