Ukrainian chef opens restaurant serving refugees in London

The famous chef Yuriy Kowryschenko has been committed to serving dishes from his native land on a global scale, serving as a "culinary ambassador" for Ukraine for many years now.

According to Kovryzhenko, Ukrainian food has many similarities to British life, including a reluctance to introduce "aggressive spices" and devotion to pork, dill and horseradish.

Since they became available on numerous social media channels to advertise for employees, they have been bombarded with requests from Ukrainian refugees in London desperate for work.

The pair have since been in town. Although they have not had an extended stay in London arranged they both say they feel very happy to be where they are and have been overwhelmed by the flood of help and support they have received.

Many are, though, barely speaking English while some are still expecting their official documents, which is proving to be an tedious process.

The couple hope the restaurant will prove a rallying point for Ukrainian and other refugees in London and plan to use part of the ground floor as a mixed-use area on Friday and Saturday nights.

Although the couple says they've learned not to plan too far ahead, they hope to return to Ukraine when it is safe and possibly go ahead with the opening of another Mriya there.