Manitoba restaurant owner lends kitchen to Ukrainian refugees for serving Ukrainian cuisine
Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton Olha Mashyna, right, and her husband, Oleksandr Mashyn, have been using the kitchen at Le Goûter in Albert Beach, Man., every Monday and Tuesday for free. (Gavin Boutroy/Radio-Canada) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Being a cook might be Olha Mashyna’s destiny. After she and her family fled the war in Ukraine and moved to Winnipeg earlier this year, a chance encounter with a Manitoba restaurant owner brought her back to doing the thing she loves — serving Ukrainian cuisine. Mashyna and her husband, Oleksandr Mashyn, have been cooking and serving Ukrainian cuisine at a restaurant called Le Goûter in Albert Beach, Man., every Monday and Tuesday. The owners, who normally close the restaurant down on on those days, offered up their kitchen for Mashyna and her husband to use — free of charge. Mashyna says it’s been a way for them to gain valuable work experience and earn some income. “It’s far from our home, but it’s … experience. It’s big experience,” Mashyna told CBC. She moved to Winnipeg’s Transcona neighbourhood with her family in March. They came from a village close to Zaporizhzhia — about 10 kilometres from the front lines of the war that started when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 — where they owned two stores and ran a cafe. She said it was difficult to adjust after leaving her life behind in Ukraine. “We work hard every day. In Ukraine, we have everything. We have two apartments … two cars. We have money. We have life,” she said. “I really missed my store. It’s my love.” But as fate would have it, Mashyna met Lise Bourassa, the owner of Le Goûter, at a food handling course in April. “We started talking, and I realized we have a lot in common,” said Bourassa, who owns the restaurant in Albert Beach, on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg, with her husband. The couple also owns Saffies General Store, which is right across the street from the restaurant. “We just kind of hit it off right away,” she added. Bourassa said she and her husband were planning on closing the restaurant down for a couple nights a week anyway, since they were low on cooks. “The restaurant’s here and this is a gift that we can give them, as the community really gave to us when we first arrived,” she told CBC. Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Mashyna and Mashyn are looking for a restaurant or kitchen to rent after Le Goûter closes for the season in September. (Gavin Boutroy/Radio-Canada) Home CCTV Camera in Brampton And Mashyna’s menu — which includes perogies, cabbage rolls, borscht, meatballs and other Ukrainian staples — has been a hit so far and it is because she loves serving Ukrainian cuisine. “They always say ‘thank you’ and ‘it’s delicious,’” she said. “It’s amazing.” People even drive in from Winnipeg, about 100 kilometres to the south, to dine on the nights Mashyna works, and the food usually sells out each evening, Bourassa said. “It’s amazing how many people are coming and learning about it,” said Bourassa. Mashyna isn’t sure if she’d move back to Ukraine, since so much has been destroyed. Instead, she’s looking for a kitchen or restaurant to rent in or around Winnipeg by September, when Le Goûter closes down for the season. “I really like Canada. I see how I can work here,” she said. “It’s my destiny, maybe. I cooked in Ukraine and cooked here.” Mashyna said she’s thankful for Bourassa and her husband for helping them as much as they have. “If I need something, they help us. They always help us,” she said. Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Olena Gordiyenko and daughter Anna have been living in Winnipeg since September. Gordiyenko’s husband and son are still in Ukraine. (Alana Cole/CBC) Home CCTV Camera in Brampton In the year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, thousands of people arrived in Manitoba after leaving their homes and lives behind to flee the war. Some have already returned to Europe. Others are hoping to stay in Canada permanently. Then there are those, like Olena Gordiyenko, who are still facing uncertainty around what comes next. “Of course my heart is in Ukraine,” she said, sitting in her new apartment located near the University of Manitoba where she’s working on a one-year contract. Gordiyenko arrived in Winnipeg with her nine-year-old daughter Anna last September. A provincial spokesperson said Tuesday more than 17,200 Ukrainians have presented to Manitoba’s reception and welcoming centre since the start of the war. Roughly 13,200 provincial health cards have been issued. The federal government launched the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel program last March, which allowed Ukrainians to come to Canada quickly to work or study for up to three years. Those who want to become permanent residents may be able to apply for other programs, the government says. Gordiyenko said she wasn’t planning to leave Ukraine. She had her family, a home and a good job in Zaporizhzhia, where she’s from. “Everything was perfect and I was absolutely happy,” she said of her life in Ukraine. “Now I understand it, that I was absolutely happy because I’ve had the chance to compare.” When the war started everything changed. Gordiyenko and her family made the decision for herself and Anna to leave Ukraine, while her husband and 21-year-old son stayed behind. Though there are exceptions, men between the ages of 18 and 60 were barred from leaving Ukraine. Her son is currently finishing his university studies online. “It was very difficult to make a choice, but … this decision was made by our family together,” said Gordiyenko. “The main thing was that my daughter, now, she is safe. She is not in war, she sleeps OK, she is absolutely happy here.” Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Olena Gordiyenko and her family in Ukraine in December 2022. Gordiyenko and her daughter are living in Winnipeg, while her husband and son remain in Ukraine. (Submitted by Olena Gordiyenko ) Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Gordiyenko said her contract at the U of M where she’s
