Where the Chefs Eat: Olia Hercules’ tastiest secrets in London and Ukraine

While Olia has made East London her home with photographer husband, Joe Woodhouse, and their two sons, Wilf and Sasha, it is clear when we speak that Ukraine pulses through Olia’s veins, that it will always be her home, no matter how much current events transform it on the surface. Her book brings to life the “territories” and statistics we hear of every day, the images of war we see flashing on our news screens. Through her descriptions of the food, the music, the history, the gardens, the cultural makeup and the very moving family history she weaves into her recipes, Ukraine comes to life. As she so eloquently writes, “I am writing this story without knowing its end: it belongs long before I was born and will continue long after I die. I am writing this story to help myself heal and to make you understand. I am writing this story of my ancestors, as well as my own story, which is a microcosm of the story of Ukraine, of its people and of the land itself, where I was born, where I was formed.”

Here, Olia shares some of her favourite London restaurants for Ukrainian food, as well as two that are still operating in Ukraine, despite the war, for journalists and those who have managed to return. “I really wanted to give love to those still working.”

Mriya Bistro, Earl’s CourtAnia Smoliakova

Mriya Bistro, Earl’s Court, London

This first appeared in West London in 2022 and they’ve had several reincarnations since then, but I love what they have become now. I would say that they offer modern interpretations of Ukrainian classics, but with a big accent on fire cooking and chargrilling. They call it a ‘low intervention approach,’ but what I love is that they don’t mess about with anything too much. It’s beautiful but simple, which is my favourite type of food, to be honest, so it tastes like food your grandma – your Babusia – made, but it looks elegant, modern and Instagrammable. They do a very good version of Ukrainian dumplings, and they taste just as they should; they don’t mess around with the recipe too much. They do some in winter that are filled with potato and delicious pork scratchings and loads of chives, and they often have it filled with rabbit meat, which I absolutely love; I don’t eat enough of it here. In the summer, they have a dessert version, which is filled with sour cherries and their sauce. In winter, I go for a beef borscht, a dish that is part of our DNA. They serve it with a traditional Ukrainian garlic bread soaked in herbs and they do delicious vegetarian options like nettle soup, for example.

Address: Mriya Bistro, 275 Old Brompton Road, London SW5 9JA
Website: mriyaneobistro.com

Shvili Shvili Winebar, Kharkiv

Pavlo and Olia, who set this up, are absolute heroes for staying open because this is constantly being bombarded. Olia has gone to Vietnam but she’s doing all the GM stuff from there, while Pavlo and the rest of the team are still running this place on the ground in Kharkiv. There are lots of Georgian and Ukrainian-inspired dishes and it’s very eclectic, with a big Georgian wine list including cocktails; they’re just a fountain of creativity on all fronts. One of the main guys involved with the restaurant is also a horticulturalist, growing things like heritage wheat and okra, artichoke, and asparagus. They do a fish solyanka (soup), inspired by an old 19th-century menu that Pavlo discovered in Kiev and recreated. The one he makes uses prawns. Smoked fish, fermented gherkins (with their brine) and sauteed onions and carrots. Sometimes, their morning starts with putting ballistic tape on their windows. Can you imagine? Yet they’re still so upbeat and determined to keep operating. There is so much humour and life in everything they do, despite the most awful backdrop. As soon as I’m able to go, this is the first city and the first place I’m going to go and visit.