For the past
couple of weeks since the war has started in Ukraine,
It has been very difficult for the staff.
The volume of our business significantly increased. On an average day before
Usually the manager shift is somewhere close to 8 hours, 9 hours.
These days, most of us are working
ten to twelve hour days.
It's very hard to be Ukrainian and not living in Ukraine.
So you have to be physically present over here and still go to the job
and do your job.
But your mind is elsewhere.
My name is Vitalii Desiatnychenko
I'm 30 years old. I'm Ukrainian.
And I work at Veselka Restaurant as a front of the house manager.
Veselka started as a small coffee
shop in 1954 by a Ukrainian immigrant
Now Veselka is definitely the biggest
and the most popular Ukrainian restaurant in New York City.
Originally I'm from Kiev, Ukraine.
I came to New York in the fall of 2012.
Growing up in Ukraine was much different from living over here.
I'm the only kid in the family. My parents
were taking really good care of me.
I got some decent education.
I did not have much to worry about, even though we were not coming from money.
As soon as I graduated college, I got my bachelor's degree in economics,
and then anywhere I go, I'd get a job that would pay me $300, $400, $500.
So I decided to look for opportunities in a different country.
I started at Veselka
as a busser and a part-time delivery person.
Over the almost ten years I've been there, I went through every single position
in the front of the house, and I ended up working as a manager.
Working as a manager at Veselka means that you might not be doing anything
at this particular given time, or you might be doing everything
at the same time.
Some of the job responsibilities are overseeing the place, overseeing
the dining service, overseeing the takeout, greeting and meeting guests.
Follow me this way, please.
Helping them to sit down,
making sure that they are enjoying their meal, making sure they leave happy
and then just manage the staff. Some days are nice and quiet.
Everything goes well, nice and smooth.
Some days are very busy.
When we used to be open 24/7 we would be really busy.
People would be coming in from bars, restaurants, clubs, 4:00 in the morning
or 5:00 in the morning. We would still have a line outside.
And now it's different.
As the pandemic started, we unfortunately had to close the overnight hours.
We had to close for dine-in service for some time. During the pandemic
when we closed, we had a very small crew
and I actually worked for three months straight, I worked at the grill.
I was making sandwiches, cooking eggs.
Also, as we reopened, we were only open for takeout for a certain period of time.
We lost some of the staff.
Vladimir Putin announcing late last night that military operations
have begun inside of Ukraine.
For the first couple of days after the war started,
I was doing nothing but checking news on my phone, trying to call my parents,
trying to hear if they were okay. I was not getting any sleep.
I was not getting any food.
I just couldn't rest. And my mind was
My mind was in Ukraine.
Even though I was physically present over here.
When the war started
my mom had to go to the small village where my grandmother lives.
My grandmother is 83 years old.
She has problems with blood pressure. At the same time
my dad is staying home for now.
I call them during the day before they go to sleep
and then I call them before I go to sleep,
that's when they wake up in Ukraine,
Hello, can you hear me well?
Glory to Ukraine!
And the only question I have every time is the same question.
Are you guys okay?
That's the only thing I need to hear.
I don't care about prices for gas.
I don't care about anything else.
I just want to hear that they are okay.
And that's it.
Glory to the heroes. Bye.
I was just back home in Kiev in January.
It was my 30th birthday.
I had a very good time with my family.
I spent most of the time with them.
I saw some of my friends.
I have a feeling that that was the last time
I had the chance to see my family for a very uncertain period of time.
And I'm really glad I made that decision
A couple of days into the war, the owner of Veselka
decided that all the funds coming from the borscht sales
at Veselka will be donated to the need of the Ukrainian army.
So now, obviously,
every borscht we sell in-house or take out
The funds will be transferred to the Ukrainian government for the army needs.
We worked out the list of materials and things
that the Ukrainian people need right now, such as flashlights,
batteries and medical supplies.
We printed out a lot of pieces of paper, saying, hey, if you're dining with us,
if you're just coming by,
if you're willing to help the Ukrainian army, you can bring these items.
And I was really surprised about how people picked up on this idea.
And people have been bringing things constantly, every day,
nonstop.
Almost every day
we have a line that, we're getting full around 10:00 in the morning
and then there's a line
standing out there all day from 10:00 in the morning to 10:00 at night.
Before the war started in Ukraine, we would normally serve 600
to 700 guests on a weekday.
Now the number can go as high as 1,200 to 1,500.
So the weekday volume of business has doubled.
Veselka has become a place where people can just come in and gather
together. Where people are looking for support from other people.
And they can share their thoughts.
Other people are trying to show their support
to Ukraine and a lot of people just want to show that they actually care.
I was very surprised by the response of the New York community. It has been great.
I never expected anything like this.
Over the past nine and a half years
that I spent at Veselka, Veselka has become my second home.
Unfortunately, I don't have a family in the U.S.
so people that work at Veselka have become, people have become my
my American family.
And then I just treat the business as my own business and always try to do
what works the best for business because I just care about it.