Veselka in New York: how the legendary restaurant of Ukrainian cuisine survives quarantine

The famous restaurant of Ukrainian cuisine Veselka reopened its doors to visitors. But can a limited mode of operation save the legendary institution in New York? This is stated in the video of the publication "Voice of America".

For almost 66 years, Veselka Restaurant has been offering New Yorkers Ukrainian cuisine.

In the first weeks after the introduction of quarantine, people stopped ordering food with delivery and take-away. Therefore, the management made a difficult decision - to close the institution.

Now the restaurant is hosting guests again, but in a limited mode.

The chef of the restaurant Dmitry Martsenyuk has been working here for 10 years. He said that a lot has changed over the past two months. “We employ about 90 people, we work around the clock,” he said. “It was a very strange feeling when such a huge car like Veselka stopped.”

Adapting to new conditions, a new menu was created, which included the best dishes of the restaurant. On May 5, the institution reopened its doors for visitors. The first day of work was very successful, as many people came.

Today, the restaurant continues to cook for New Yorkers. The only thing that has changed is that employees are forced to take care not only regarding sanitary, but also epidemiological standards, working in masks and gloves.

The coronavirus has made its own adjustments to everyone's everyday life - only one client can be inside near the cash register.

Since Veselka is currently working in a limited mode, only some items are available on the menu: borsch, chicken soup and mushroom yushka, cabbage rolls. Also, potato pancakes are prepared every three hours, and out of ten types of dumplings, only five are available.

The co-owner of the establishment, Jason Burchard, said that the decision to close it was not easy for the management. “I am very proud that we have opened and serve our homemade Ukrainian cuisine to our regular customers,” he said.

On the subject: Selected products that used to be sold only to restaurants are now available to New Yorkers.

He confirmed that the institution is currently operating in a limited mode, and expressed the hope that this will change soon. The restaurant will start operating normally, when the authorities allow the restaurant business to resume work. Obviously, at first the number of places for visitors in institutions will be reduced so that people can maintain a social distance. According to him, business will be able to return to normal operation only when scientists create a vaccine against COVID-19.

To preserve the restaurant, its owners have already applied for federal aid. “It would be a great support for us. Then the government will pay us to get our workers back, ”said Tom Burchard, co-owner of the restaurant. He noted that they have already agreed on a loan, but the funds themselves have not yet been provided. “I've heard there are more agreed requests than money,” Tom added.

The landlord of the institution, a public organization, allowed the owners to temporarily not pay the rent. This allows the restaurant to survive in such a difficult time.

Despite the crisis, the restaurant is trying to develop new services. For example, shipping has recently been organized to all 50 states. Anyone can place an order online, on the Veselka website. “We started doing this before the pandemic,” explained Jason Burchard. "Now we are developing this direction and delivering four days a week."

An active leadership position can help the restaurant survive. However, its owners are afraid of new rules for the work of public catering establishments. Indeed, among the options considered by the authorities, there is also a reduction in jobs in restaurants by up to 25%. If this happens, it will be extremely difficult for the business to survive.