This is Good Taste, your Bay Area food tipsheet. This week, learn about some tasty local efforts to support Ukraine relief efforts through cooking, baking, and creating.
Charles Chocolates has created limited edition boxes ($24 and $44) of its popular chocolate covered fleur de sel caramels with the colors of the Ukrainian flag as a fundraiser for World Central Kitchen, which is providing fresh food and hot meals in Ukraine and beyond. These are a beautiful gift for yourself and others; it’s taking willpower not to eat the one I bought for a friend before I have the chance to give it to them.
After a few years off, the Borsch Mobile is back in business and has hit the road with creative new additions to the menu, like a Ukrainian take on a burrito with meat and potatoes. While the truck’s locations vary, owner Igor Teplitsky announced that he’ll donate half of the proceeds from Friday appearances at Off The Grid Fort Mason Center to WCK.
Serious philanthropists, please take note: at press time, there were two spots left for the WCK fundraising dinner at the new Russian restaurant Birch & Rye on Apr. 13. The event is a collaboration with the new restaurant’s chef, Anya El-Wattar, and international culinary luminary Dominique Crenn from Atelier Crenn et al. Reservations run from $2,500-$10,000 per person.
Anna Voloshyna, a Ukrainian chef living in San Francisco who will soon release her first cookbook, will host the second and third installment of her live streamed and hands-on virtual cooking classes on Tastemade to benefit organizations helping Ukraine, including UNICEF and WCK. Classes take place on April 16 and May 14 and cost $35, with the option to add additional donations.
If you’re looking for somewhere additional to donate, Pushkin, which is SF’s only brick and mortar Ukrainian restaurant, links to a fundraiser for the Ukrainian Army via an account at National Bank of Ukraine. Read more about the delicious Pushkin in Good Taste.
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