Chefs take inspiration for their cooking from all sorts of places, but Eugene Korolev might be the first to find it on the battlefield. The Ukrainian national, whose impressive CV includes stints at several Michelin-starred restaurants across Europe including Vendôme, Atelier Amaro and Benoit, signed up to the Ukrainian special forces in February 2022 following Russia’s invasion. Over the following 18 months, he found himself fighting on the frontlines including in the city of Kharkiv, the site of some of the fiercest fighting in the first year of the war.
Unwilling to let the war consume him, however, the chef – who opened his own restaurant in his home city of Dnipro just two months before Russian tanks began rolling into the country and who has now come to London to helm Sino, a new Notting Hill restaurant that explores the cuisine of his country through a contemporary eye - begun using his downtime between deployments to sketch pictures; food ideas for the future, after the fighting stopped.
“I was drawing dishes,” he explains. “Combinations based on flavours I tried when I was fighting in different territories.”
He recalls one time, when he found himself hiding alongside his fellow squaddies in a field as Russian drones passed overhead. “I remember being surrounded by chervil. We were laying in the grass, and I was just eating it and thinking about how it could be used in a dish.”
A restaurant rooted in history
I meet with Korolev and fellow Ukrainian Polina Sychova in a café a few doors down from Sino on All Saints Road, a short walk from Notting Hill Gate and thousands of miles away from the Ukrainian front line both literally and figuratively. Korolev eventually left the army in September 2023, and it was around that time that he came into contact with Sychova, who was putting together plans to open her own restaurant inspired by Ukraine’s food culture.
Sino, which is named after the Ukrainian word ‘сіно’ (pronounced ‘see-no’), meaning hay, a product of huge cultural significance in the country, is the third high-profile restaurant to open in London in as many years that puts Ukraine’s cuisine front and centre. First came Mriya, a ‘neo bistro’ concept that was launched in Earl’s Court in August 2022 by prominent Ukrainian chef Yurii Kovryzhenko and his partner Olga Tsybytovska after they found themselves stranded in London following Russia’s invasion. Then, earlier this year Kyiv-based restaurateurs Alex Cooper and Anna Andriienko opened Tatar Bunar in Shoreditch, which is inspired by Cooper’s hometown of Tatarbunary in southern Ukraine and celebrates the biodiversity of the Bessarabia region.
I was drawing dishes. Combinations based on flavours I tried when I was fighting in different territories
Eugene Korolev
Sychova’s drive to open a restaurant was influenced by the impact of the war. A previous career working in Kyiv as a journalist saw her covering everything from the Ukrainian revolution of 2004 to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014. However, in more recent years she found herself drawn to the world of food and hospitality, and exploring how a nation’s cuisine can become a cornerstone of its cultural profile. And while she says she has a lot of time and respect for the likes of Mriya and Tatar Bunar, she wanted to create a space that represented Ukrainian cuisine as she saw it.
“I had a different vision of how I wanted to show my heritage,” she explains. “I’m passionate about food. It’s one of the best ways we can show what Ukraine is about.”
Both Sychova and Korolev describe Sino as being rooted in the history of what Ukrainian people used to cook but adapted through a contemporary frame. “We agreed we didn’t want it to just be typical Ukrainian dishes,” says Korolev. “I wanted to take traditional flavours, ones from my childhood, but presented in a new way that shows off the modernisation of Ukrainian cuisine.”
“I also wanted people to see that it’s not scary or food they’re not familiar with,” adds Sychova. “We don’t want Sino to be a destination restaurant that people only come to once. We want to show that it’s a cuisine that can be the basis for a neighbourhood restaurant, which you visit and revisit.”
A journey of discovery
Sychova and Korolev have been working together on Sino for more than 20 months now. Having made contact, the pair begun making plans, inspired in part by the recipes and sketches jotted down by Korolev during his time in the army. An initial tasting in Lviv set the groundwork, with Korolev subsequently relocating to London to work on the project full time from November 2023, his Dnipro restaurant having closed permanently at this point.
The pair describe the process for finding the site as ‘a big discovery’. “In Ukraine you can find a site in two hours, put the money down and sign the lease,” says Korolev with a knowing smile. In London the process took a little longer. Sites in Covent Garden, including the old Frenchie site on Henrietta Street, were considered, but Sychova found herself drawn to a different milieu. “Notting Hill was the place we kept coming back to,” she says.
“I wanted a location that could be accessible to locals and tourists, and there’s no better place than Notting Hill. The crowd here loves food. They’re interested in it and open to discovering new cuisines, and so for Sino it’s a good place to start the journey.”
Developed as a sharing plates concept, the menu features a range of small and large dishes, with prices starting at around the £10 mark and rising to £30 for the largest options. “We want to give people the chance to try as many different dishes as possible and for me small plates is the best way to do that,” says Sychova, who adds that a party of two would be encouraged to order between four and six dishes.
We want to show that Ukrainian food is easy, simple and recognisable, while retaining its own diversity and character
Polina Sychova
Some dishes will have an air of familiarity to diners less au fait with Ukrainian gastronomy. There’s a black pudding croquette served with adjika and apple jam; beef tartare with mushroom mousse and Jerusalem artichoke; and chicken Kyiv with a wild garlic butter and bison grass mash. But here, as across the menu, there are ingredients many will not have come by; most of which have been brought over by Korolev from Ukraine.
They include smoked dry pear, a stalwart ingredient that was originally created to preserve the fruit during Ukraine’s often harsh winter months. Here used as an accompaniment to various dishes including the sauerkraut dumplings and slow-cooked pork belly, Korolev uses the product to add notes of sweetness and depth and likens its impact on a dish Korolev to that of truffle.
Arguably Sino’s signature dish is the barbecue catfish, another traditional ingredient that Korolev cooks in a sour cherry glaze and serves with fried parsley root, samphire, kovbasa (a Ukrainian sausage spiced with paprika), dried grated mussels and bell pepper sauce. “I really believe in that dish,” says Sychova. “We initially tried it when we did the tasting in Lviv, and it’s barely changed. It’s a real reflection of what we want to achieve at Sino.”
Alongside the food, a contemporary cocktail list has been created by Ukrainian mixologist Ana Reznik, formerly of top London venue A Bar with Shapes for a Name. Drinks draw inspiration from classic Ukrainian dishes and use laboratory-led techniques to create unexpected flavour pairings. Options include a buckwheat milk punch, a clear cocktail that combines the nutty, earthy flavours of buckwheat with cardamom, vanilla and aged rum; and the apple bun (pictured below), which is inspired by the famous Ukrainian dessert and blends vodka, butter and dulce de leche distillates with apple juice and vanilla cream soda.
“We want our guests to come to us with curiosity,” Sychova continues. “It’s how we’ve approached the design of our menu, and we hope we can fulfil this during their visit. We want to show that Ukrainian food is easy, simple and recognisable, while retaining its own diversity and character.”
Keeping the faith
Sino’s interior design has been overseen by Sychova. It’s a small, intimate space – the main dining room holds 30 covers – that, in a nod to the restaurant’s name, features hay motifs alongside natural textures including several different types of Ukrainian clay on the walls.
Nearly all the fixtures and fittings have been sourced directly from Ukraine. Lighting comes from lighting specialist Clayp, while crockery has been sourced from artisanal ceramics studio Saga pottery. “The craftsmanship in Ukraine has always been unbelieve, but since the war has started Ukrainian design has become a big part of our identity,” says Sychova. “People want it in their homes and in their restaurants back home, and we wanted to reflect that too.
“Working with the likes of Clayp and Saga has been one of the easiest parts of the projects. Delivery is super-fast, which is a surprise to many people. We can order something on a Sunday and it’s here by the following Friday. It’s often quicker than if we had ordered it from within the UK.”
Sychova and Korolev each see Sino as a platform for further projects including, potentially, other restaurants. “When the war is finally over, I believe Ukraine will be a number one tourist destination,” says Korolev. “Both inside the country and internationally people are learning more and more about the roots of our country, and that’s only going to continue.”
We want to show that it’s a cuisine that can be the basis for a neighbourhood restaurant, which you visit and revisit
Polina Sychova
Both speak very optimistically about the end of the war; something that feels almost at odds with the headlines on the news. “It’ll never truly be ended,” Korolev continues. “We’re always going to have this shitty neighbour that wants to destroy everything about us.
“We love freedom, to be free and feel free. That doesn’t mean to do whatever we want, but just to not be under someone who is imposing their authority on us.”
Sychova echoes this sentiment. For her, there’s plenty of reasons to have faith. “The Ukrainian nation has always been strongly opinionated about freedom,” she says, “It’s such an important part of our lives.
“Personally, I think where we are already is a really big win. Ukraine has been put on the map. It’s really sad how and the sacrifices made, but people are learning more about our country, our history and our culture. And that gives a lot of hope.”