Restaurants in Ukraine: How Businesses Adapt to War Conditions

In the context of war, the Ukrainian restaurant industry is encountering a multitude of challenges; however, this does not hinder its growth and adaptation to new realities. Despite the rising competition, new cuisines, concepts, and formats, the basic behavior of guests remains constant—they continue to seek familiar tastes. This has become a starting point for business owners who are striving to create successful projects. This topic was discussed in an interview between Svitlana Mironova, co-founder of LaFamiglia Restaurants, and Alex Cooper, one of Ukraine's most prominent restaurateurs, whose establishment, Tatar Bunar in London, has made its way into the Michelin guide.

In his interview, Alex Cooper shared his thoughts on what constitutes a guest's experience in a restaurant, the importance of food quality, and how he managed to build a successful project in Kyiv—the restaurant Selam. He noted that he believes food quality is often overrated in the context of a restaurant's popularity. 'You can make it quality at some level. But people will still eat the conventional Caesar, the standard chicken, the typical lobster, anything. There are hundreds of popular recipes,' Cooper explained.

Svitlana Mironova emphasized during their conversation that she has seen numerous restaurants with fantastic concepts but half-empty halls, and conversely, establishments with poor concepts enjoying great popularity. 'Can such a great, delicious cuisine survive today without marketing? And conversely, can hype save bad food?' she asked. Cooper agreed that the primary task of restaurateurs is to utilize an enhanced product as an element in creating a unique experience that distinguishes their establishment from others.

'Food quality has been greatly overrated. Why has it been overrated? Because very few people understand food. People still want carbonara with cream,' Cooper noted. He emphasized that in his projects, the focus is not only on the cuisine but also on the emotions that the guest should experience. 'A person comes to me and pays 1000 hryvnias, or 2000 hryvnias, or 500 hryvnias. And for that 500 hryvnias, I have to transport them into a certain state. I need to project that state in my mind as a marketer,' the restaurateur added.

Cooper describes his concept as a holistic system, where he creates the establishment as an immersive theater, with the guest as the sole audience member. 'I place them in an environment where they feel this positive emotion. It's as if they are inside an immersive theater,' he explained. For Cooper, the atmosphere of the establishment is the primary criterion for success. He does not attempt to replicate successful formats but seeks out untapped niches, as there are already dominant players with extensive experience in classic categories.

Cooper also pointed out that it is important to combine the search for unfilled niches with personal experience and feelings. The restaurant Selam, according to him, arose from the idea of creating a space that would incorporate elements of Crimean Tatar culture without imposing it. 'I want people to start getting acquainted with the culture, but not to force it upon them. It should be interesting for them,' he emphasized. This approach, he claims, creates uniqueness: not to display the culture but to allow it to be experienced through space, music, light, and details.