If there’s one institution in Ukraine that hasn’t been affected by the massive decommunization efforts of the past decade, it’s the Soviet-era canteens, or “strobayas” as they are commonly called in Russian.
An invention of Vladimir Lenin, the founding father of the Soviet Union, strovaya (called idarnya in Ukrainian) was meant to “liberate” women from the kitchen by giving them control over scarce resources and the freedom to pursue industrial occupations. was aimed at.
Strobaya was everywhere in the Soviet Union, and the recipes were standardized and distributed throughout the union, so from Kiev to Tashkent to Vladivostok, eating at Strobaya was almost the same experience.
Ukrainian buffet-style chain Puzata Hata (meaning “pot-bellied house” in Ukrainian) fuses the ever-popular stlovaya throughout the Soviet Union with Ukrainian comfort food beloved by locals. was born.
Kyiv-Donbass Development Group opened its first restaurant Puzata Khata on October 16, 2003 in the historic Bessarapka district of central Kyiv, where it is still located today.
The décor transported diners to an idealized 19th-century Ukrainian village, where affordable traditional Ukrainian cuisine was served buffet-style.
Olga Nasonova, a Ukrainian restaurant expert and co-founder of the National Restaurant Association of Ukraine, told the Kyiv Independent that the style was very similar to the high-end restaurants that were popular in Kiev at the time.
In its first six years, the chain grew rapidly and by 2009 had opened 37 restaurants in 14 cities. The largest food chain in the country was on a growth trajectory comparable to McDonald’s Ukraine, which is one of them.
By tapping into the nostalgia of the Soviet era common to older generations, the desire for quick and affordable food conveniently located near work or home, and the general desire for familiar flavors. The brand has been able to maintain its appeal widely.
“Puzata grouper has always been popular in Ukraine, because the menu is based on the country’s deep traditions of home-cooked cooking, the dishes are made from cheap local ingredients, and the excellent nutritional benefits of the food are enjoyed since childhood. Because it is ingrained in us (Ukrainians),” Nasonova said. .
The chain’s origin story is also emblematic of business in Ukraine in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The two brothers who own the chain pivoted their business in the 1990s, stumbling through organized crime between Kiev, New York and Israel. Until he became an entrepreneur caught up in various political events in post-independence Ukraine.
“Doing business in Ukraine has always been difficult, which is why many of the owners of large companies have diverse backgrounds,” says Nasonova.
The storied brothers behind the buffet line
When Puzata Hata first opened, it was managed by the real estate conglomerate Kyiv-Donbass Development Group. The group was founded in 1994, when Puzata Hata owner Vyacheslav Konstantinovsky and his twin brother Oleksandr were still living in New York City’s Brighton Beach and working as security guards for organized crime bosses. did.
Their first partners were the influential Jewish Odessin Alexander Levin and the notorious banking tycoon Viktor Toporov. The duo would later be accused of siphoning public funds from Ukraine’s state budget.
The Konstantinovsky brothers returned to Ukraine in 1997. It was then that they began to combine their years of catering experience in Kiev and Israel, their nostalgia for Strovaya, and their time in New York during the golden age of American fast food buffets. Recipes that will help you bring Puzata Khata to life.
In 2004, just as the chain was taking off, the Konstantinovsky brothers are said to have returned to work as security guards. This time it’s Viktor Yushchenko, a pro-Western candidate of the Orange Revolution and later the third president of Ukraine.
According to partner Viktor Topov, the Konstantinovskiy brothers took control of Puzata Hata from the beginning in 2006, shortly after Odesan international crime boss Semyon Mogilevich orchestrated a murder attempt on their lives. It is said that he began to take control of the situation.
Then the global financial crisis occurred. By 2010, the combined losses from the economic downturn and the swine flu outbreak forced the company into highly public and controversial bankruptcy proceedings. As a result, the Puzata Hata chain became fully owned by the Konstantinovsky brothers.
Even though the restaurant needed attention again, Vyacheslav Konstantinovsky was there when EuroMaidan started in late 2013. In early 2014, he joined the Kiev-1 volunteer battalion, where he spent two months in the ATO zone. By November, Konstantinovsky was sworn into the Ukrainian parliament representing Kiev’s 220th district. Meanwhile, his younger brother Oleksandr continued to concentrate on running the Puzata Kata chain.
The line moves forward
Currently, very little information has been published about Puzhata Katha. There is no “About Us” or “Our Story” section, which is typical of successful consumer brands.
The most readily available information about career opportunities is on Vnutri, a Ukrainian employer review site. There, dozens of people claim the company forces employees to take half of their payments in cash to avoid reporting their tax liability.
The chain currently employs more than 3,500 people at 36 locations in six cities. More than half are in Kyiv. The menu includes more than 300 of his dishes, which rotate monthly, with a focus on Ukrainian home cooking from around the country and international dishes such as teriyaki noodles.
Nasonova said: “Many Ukrainians believe that a complete meal is soups, salads, hot dishes and drinks, and eating sandwiches is harmful. It’s how it works.”
Although Puzata Hata retains some features of the Soviet-era Strovaya era, the company has made a conscious effort to avoid Soviet-era nostalgia.
This is different from similar restaurant concepts such as Russia’s Strovaya 57 and Varenichnaya No. 1, which have become widely popular in Moscow by featuring deliberately strict servers and Soviet propaganda posters. It’s a complete contrast.
Instead, Puzata Khata enjoys a loyal fan base looking for an easy way to enjoy instantly recognizable Ukrainian cuisine.
“This is a restaurant for eating, not for relaxing or meeting friends,” Nasonova points out.
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