Tucked inside a nondescript glass office building, which is itself tucked between the Donbass Palace and Tequila Sushi Boom Boom – i.e. not terribly easy to find – Loft Cafe is perhaps the only restaurant in Donetsk that feels like a proper modern, hip eating establishment.  No weird Soviet kitsch, no ham sushi. The restaurant is sleek and well-lit, with … Read More

I couldn’t possibly come up with anything more interesting as a title than the actual name of this restaurant, located in central Donetsk.  There is tequila. There is sushi.  There may or may not be boom boom.  It is a mystery. When I asked the only other customer in the restaurant, he didn’t have much to say. When I looked … Read More

In downtown Donetsk, there are many restaurants that attempt to be all things to all people. Like Tequila Sushi Boom Boom (a Mexican-Sushi fusion joint), Mafia! (a hybrid pizza, sushi, and French restaurant that gives you a free shot of limoncello to start your meal), and Taba$co Country Cooking (actually, I have no idea what this is).  Avoid these places, fellow journalists. … Read More

Ukrainians have embraced coffeeshop culture: it’s a place for a warm cup, a pastry, and most importantly – wifi. (This has to be one of the most wifi-accessible countries I’ve ever been to).  But if you’ll skip past the section of syruped lattes, you’ll usually find a strange and colorful tea selection. Here they steep their tea (usually black, though I’ve … Read More

I wasn’t really familiar with Georgian cuisine – or so I thought. But after we ordered the bulk of the menu at Borjomi, a Georgian restaurant in downtown Donetsk, I realized I’d seen all these things before, in various incarnations in other countries.  While everything was new – and in Russian – it was all, somehow, familiar. Cheese-filled bread? Check. Here, … Read More