Welcome back to Good Taste, your weekly menu of food culture in the Bay Area. Tune in every Tuesday to treat yourself to something special.
The best decision was made yesterday when I ordered lunch from Pushkin (40 Belden Place), the only Ukrainian restaurant in San Francisco. I honestly lamented to myself that I hadn’t been eating this wonderful food since it opened in 2017 and plan to put it in regular rotation.
Pushkin’s co-owner Sergey Shukalo told KTVU that the restaurant has seen more local support in the last week, but also received social media threats online during that time. He is from Ukraine and still has friends and immediate family there. Some have left, while others have sought shelter from the Russian warfare in their neighborhoods.
Seeing that story was the impetus for my lunch order, and I hope this one could inspire you to take a similar action. I danced around my house letting out “mmm” after almost every bite of cabbage and bacon vereniki, which are potato dumplings in a paprika dough. I also ordered borsch, the beet and beef soup that is Ukraine’s most recognizable dish, and syrniki, cheese pancakes topped with berry jam and sour cream. The restaurant uses local and organic meats (Marin Sun Farms and Petaluma Poultry) and ingredients, and you can taste the quality. I inhaled a dozen dumplings at lightning speed, and I will happily do it again soon.
If you want to stock up on Pushkin’s borsch, pelmeni, vareniki, piroshki, meatballs, and dessert, Pushkin offers a frozen dumpling store that delivers to San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties each week. You’ll also find their frozen offerings as part of the menu for third-party delivery apps in San Francisco. The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating available.
Earlier today, Chronicle reporter Janelle Bitker wrote about how Bay Area chefs are finding ways to #CookForUkraine, including a March 12 fundraiser at the Archery that’s being organized by Anna Voloshyna, a Ukrainian chef in San Francisco who will release her first cookbook later this year on Rizzoli Books. There’s also #BakeForUkraine, an international participatory effort from the founders of Bakers Against Racism.
If you’d like to make a contribution that will be used for food aid to Ukrainian refugees in Poland, Romania, Moldova, and other locations, consider donating directly to World Central Kitchen.
Read more about food at Tamara’s site California Eating.
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