Victor Tymchyshyn: “Ukraine needs a system that will give an objective value of restaurants”

- Victor, you are one of the most famous chefs in Ukraine, brand Device Café. What is the main concept of your cuisine?
 
- The main concept is “The little bit of everything, but only the best”. This is reflected in the choice of dishes in the menu, in their quality, feeding, in service. We work with healthy food and products of excellent quality only.
 
Quality is the basis for other components of the restaurant’s business. Of course, there are laws of macroeconomics, the Ukrainian reality, which affects the restaurant. The main principle for Ukraine based on the position: “What guest requests that we sell him". I think this is not the correct position. But this is reality and we have to reckon with it.
 
In fact, we have an unsophisticated consumer who is accustomed to a set of mandatory components of the menu. But situation slowly is changing. More and more guests ask to gastronomic highlights.
 
- You are an active member of the Kiev Association of Chefs. Is it any help for you in your career?
 
- It’s rather a hobby, unfortunately. The professional development of chefs is a big problem in Ukraine. The owners of restaurants haven’t understood yet that investment in training of chefs has an economical advantageous. 
 
At «Device cafe» I have the opportunity to develop and this is encouraged – in this, perhaps, the secret of good cooking of our restaurant. But my situation is rather the exception than the rule. Of course, there is minimal improvement, but basically the chef is equivalent to an ordinary employee of the restaurant, as a result suffers restaurant’s culture. It’s impossible to understand the essence of the restaurant, hadn't worked at the kitchen. Many restaurateurs doesn’t understand this in Ukraine still.
 
- As we know, Ukraine has no classification system of chefs’ skills. Soviet levels system remained, in fact, only in specialized schools, and nobody have interest of professional grooving of chefs after that. Do we need any system of assessing the level of skill modern’s Ukrainian chefs, perhaps similar to some Western analogues?
 
- This is the problem of restaurants in general, not a cook. Most of investors in Ukraine aren’t chefs. In Europe there is a system according to which the co-founder of the restaurant should be the person with the education of a cook. It will be perfect to have such law in Ukraine, but we haven’t it yet. That’s why there is a lot of chaos, a lot of institutions that don’t match the name of "restaurant".
 
Ukraine needs a system that will offer an objective evaluation of restaurants - it's favorable primarily to customers in order to not be deceived by the beautiful signboard and high-sounding title "restaurant". This system should be our own, adapted: Ukraine can’t claim for a Michelin star - too many criteria are impossible economically in Ukraine.
 
The restaurant in our country can’t afford two days off, for example, he wouldn’t survive in competition, and our guests aren’t prepared to such work.
 
- You have dishes of different cuisines in the Device café. Do you adapt the national cuisine of other countries to the tastes of Ukrainian consumers or try to reproduce the authentic taste?
 
- We adapt the tastes. We have no choice. We have our own culture, national experience, which can’t be discounted. We have been in the gastronomic journey through the Cote d’Azur recently in a variety of excellent French restaurants. But what is served there, it would be inappropriate in Ukraine. The public wouldn’t understand me as a chef.
 
This is connected with the restaurant culture. Visiting the restaurant – it’s like going to the theater; it’s not reduced to satisfying the hunger. In Europe it has been understood long time ago, in Ukraine, this attitude is just beginning to form. It’s important that the guest have understood and listened at the restaurant to what it advises. To make a dinner an ensemble with unique nuances, and not a cacophony of flavors, we should offer not just a wide selection, but also train how to do correct choice. Sometimes you have to be categorical, refuse the client, but it's the price of forming a restaurant's culture.
 
- Do you consider European restaurant trends? How they fit with the tastes of the Ukrainian public? How often our public is not "eating" hits that came from the West?
 
- The Ukrainian market is dictating its terms the restaurant business, which often differ from European influences. This is the problem of whole post-Soviet space, where restaurant's culture is undeveloped. In the «Device café», we try to accustom our guests to a good and quality cuisine. But often the guests do not fit this concept. This is manifested in a combination of dishes, and in choosing drinks. I think that today the task of the restaurant is not just to cater to the client in everything, but turn his dinner into food culture, turn a visit to a restaurant in the gastronomic feast.
 
Many of the things I do intuitively – it helps to work. But the main thing is to do all qualitatively, this is key; no matter what are you focused on European or Ukrainian public. 
 
Make a meal an unforgettable experience, to turn it into a developed culture is the main task of «Device café». 
 
-  The next year is strategically important for Ukraine in connection with EURO 2012. What are you going to please foreign guests? Will be changed the proposal of cuisine  in the run-up of Euro championship?
 
- I don’t think that Euro will radically change the situation with restaurants in Ukraine - it's not so long event. Every foreigner will be interested in Ukrainian cuisine, task of restaurants is to present it in its diversity.
 
Ukrainian menu of «Device café», that exists now, well thought out, balanced and harmonious, so we won’t change something cardinally. We will surprise our guests by the taste and quality of our dishes.
 
- You are the founder and inspirer of a new direction in the Ukrainian cuisine - Ukrainian Fashion Food, that was supported by the leadership of the Kiev Association of Chefs. How did you do such innovation and what is the main idea of it?
 
-  I was born and live in Ukraine and I love its cuisine. It’s as good as European. Ukrainian Fashion Food showed that it’s not only delicious and varied, but  high cuisine also. More and more cooks and guests understand it. This project was conceived as a kind of push to advertise and promote not risotto and pasta, but authentic cuisine.
 
- Some time passed from the start of Ukrainian Fashion Food’s. Perhaps it’s already possible to calculate the intermediate results? What has been realized and what aspects need of some efforts? And what are the prospects for development of the idea, if we evaluate its status today?
 
- I didn’t expect that around the Ukrainian Fashion Food will be such boom. The result shows that guest wants good Ukrainian cuisine, not French, for example.
 
Ukrainian Fashion Food conveyed to our audience that Ukrainian cuisine - a high cuisine, which is no worse than the European, neither in taste nor in the style of serving. If we take the dumplings, it's small portions, thin crust, lots of toppings, elegant design of the dish. This is stylish, elegant and, most importantly, tasty dish.
 
Interest to the project - it’s one more proof that the visitor is looking for unusual experiments and waiting for new products. While these people are few, most of the orders just popular dishes, but the percentage increases and it pleased me.
 
- As we know, now meals from Ukrainian Fashion Food you can taste only by pre-ordering the tasting. Will be this situation change, are you going to put them into the main menu?
 
- Yes, we are planning to put some dishes of new cuisine to the main menu. I think every guest will be able to try them in January. 
 
 
Interviewed by Natalya Tykhovod