Rebuilding community through cooking
The journey of Ukraine’s Kitchen
Just over a year since their first pop-up at Cook County Saloon, Ukraine’s Kitchen has become a cultural anchor for the Ukrainian newcomer community.
“Jorgia and I have both quit our day jobs. We just keep growing, we had an amazing Christmas. … They’ve served our varenyky at hotel arts in Calgary, the Moose Hotel in Banff,” says Janice Krissa-Moore, reflecting on the success of Ukraine’s Kitchen this past year.
“To see our food being served in these places is amazing.”
Janice and her daughter Jorgia are co-founders of Ukraine's Kitchen, a frozen food and catering business staffed entirely by newcomers who’ve fled the war in Ukraine.
After doing some “couch surfing” between multiple commercial kitchens through 2023, the business now has a long-term home on Fort Road. Upon walking in, you’ll see that Ukraine’s Kitchen lives up to its name: The ovens, appliances, refrigerators, and prep areas are all in open view, attended to by ladies chatting and singing in Ukrainian as they go about preparing the food.
This isn’t the first such effort by the Krissa-Moores, who are themselves third- and fourth-generation Ukrainians. In fact, the Kitchen was born out of the Free Store for Ukrainian Newcomers, their other ongoing endeavour that provides free essential goods for Ukrainians fleeing the war with Russia.
The origins of the Free Store date back to well before Russia’s all-out invasion in 2022. In 2018, Janice was working as an associate producer for an independent film, They Who Surround Us, which portrays a Ukrainian immigrant in Alberta. To gain a deeper understanding of the country and its people, Janice and Jorgia visited Ukraine. There, they saw a nation already locked into a small-scale conflict with Russia.
“We originally went to do research about Ukrainians leaving due to war [in the] 30s and 40s. … It was hard, because we came to research something that was supposed to be history, and we realized it was still ongoing,” Janice explains.
Having some friends in the region, Janice and Jorgia decided they needed to lend a hand. Upon reaching out for support back home, they received a plethora of donations — mostly clothes, since many had to flee with little more than a small suitcase.
Things escalated very quickly upon Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022. With tens of thousands of refugees fleeing to Canada — including, at the outset, 30 a day to Edmonton alone — Janice and Jorgia upscaled their charitable efforts and officially launched the Free Store. It soon evolved into something greater than a charity: In their words, it became a shared space where newcomers could come together, reflect, and rebuild their shattered community in a new land.
“These people became friends and family. Whenever something was happening in Ukraine, they would come together and relate to each other with their shared experience,” says Janice.
Launching the Kitchen
On top of having this supportive space, the newcomers were comforted by the warm reception from Albertans and Edmontonians, a reflection of the deep Ukrainian roots in this region. They also noticed that Ukrainian cuisine is a widely beloved staple here. Eventually, some of the newcomers pitched the idea of starting a kitchen for Ukrainian cuisine. Janice and Jorgia figured it was worth a try. They launched a website, immediately received 18 orders, and set up shop with chef Matthew Potts at Cook County Saloon for a temporary pop-up engagement.
“Then the media came. They loved our story,” explains Jorgia. “Suddenly, we were in deep, $30,000 of orders within 24 hours. We didn’t know how we were going to get there.”
The steep increase in demand posed a new challenge: To keep this food initiative going, they would need their own long-term commercial kitchen. Things looked uncertain for a while, but this was no longer simply a joyous distraction for the newcomers. Ukraine’s Kitchen now played a stabilizing role in their lives, providing the paycheques for their rent and much-needed work hours for their immigration status.
In their hour of need, Scott Kelly, owner of a kitchen supply store called Butchers & Packers Supplies, offered a helping hand. Ukraine’s Kitchen now officially sits on the right-hand side of this business on Fort Road. The stability allows Ukraine’s Kitchen to both fulfill catering orders and serve hot, fresh food to curious foodies who come in to shop for kitchen supplies.
A fresh taste of Ukraine
The food offered by Ukraine’s Kitchen closely reflects the journey of the newcomers who staff it. Forced to put their lives back together in a new land, they’ve strived to replicate the modern, authentic Ukrainian food experience, which is quite different from what most Albertans are used to. Many Ukrainian foods familiar to us are hybridized spins on older dishes, or mislabelled entirely. For example, varenyky, Janice clarified, is essentially what we commonly refer to as pierogi — an important distinction because pierogies are, in fact, Polish.
“[The staff] is always saying, ‘This one is like my grandmother’s recipe, but slightly different.’ Language evolves, and so does food,” Janice explains. She sees this as a key piece of their mission: cascading a refreshed understanding of Ukrainian culture through our region.
To help realize this, Janice and Jorgia sought out Edmonton chef Brad Smoliak, who’s been lending a hand with the new location in a mentorship role. Even with his own Ukrainian background and decades of culinary experience, he says this experience has taught him a great deal about modern Ukrainian cuisine, and he sees a lot of potential in it.
“It’s going to be the new [Italian food], if you ask me,” says Smoliak. “The country itself has growing regions that are very different from west to east, north to south, and the foods incorporate that a lot more than I ever thought. It’s been very interesting for me to learn about.”
On that note, Janice and Jorgia have big things in mind for the future. They’re aiming to open a full sit-down dining location in June. If that proves to be a success, the possibilities are endless.
Whatever the outcome, Ukraine’s Kitchen functions as an important anchor for the rapidly growing Ukrainian community in Edmonton, as well as a vehicle for preserving and advancing their culture.
Janice remembers how important this mission is with a memory from their original pop-up at Cook County Saloon. Chef Matthew Potts, who is Indigenous, remarked how nice it was to hear the girls singing in the kitchen: “I don’t know my language because it was taken away from me… “I will do anything I can to make sure this language doesn’t get taken away from them.”
Hayden Koch is a writer based in Edmonton, Alberta. His lifelong passion for storytelling led to him studying Communications and Journalism at MacEwan University. Originally from southern Alberta, Hayden is a relative newcomer to this city—he enjoys connecting with the community through his writing.
UKRAINE’S KITCHEN
12225 Fort Road
877.807.2198
Ukraineskitchen.ca
Open Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm and Saturday, 11 am to 3 pm
Hot Lunch on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 11 am to 2 pm
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