Yurii Kovryzhenko

 Yurii Kovryzhenko is a celebrity chef, an ambassador of Ukrainian cuisine worldwide, a TV presenter and a person who is simply in love with food.

Yurii has two degrees: an artist-sculptor and an international diplomat. As a student, he simultaneously worked in restaurants, overcoming the path from a waiter to a general manager position. Later, he left his job in restaurants and opened his sculpture studio.

In 2008, during the global financial crisis, he felt an urgent need for global changes, but he didn’t know exactly which ones. “I am a Zen Buddhist. So I decided to go to a French monastery, to my master, to look for myself. There I got to the kitchen. I got there without much expectation because I just had to do something - France is one of the most expensive countries.” In the kitchen, Yurii Kovryzhenko peeled vegetables, made preparations, and within a year, he started working in a hot shop. When he returned to Ukraine, he could no longer imagine his life without a professional kitchen.

When Yurii became a chef, he realized that despite his experience and practice, he needed more theory.

Thus began his travels in Europe and studies at the best culinary schools: “Ferrandi”, “Basque Culinary Center”, “Ecole Ritz Escoffier”, “IFSE”, “International Academy of Italian Cuisine”. “An artist without ambition is not capable of creating a masterpiece”, - believes Yurii, - “and every artist wants to be recognized”.

Chef’s portfolio includes three restaurants of Ukrainian cuisine, which he opened abroad - Trypillia (Seoul, Korea), Kobzar (Tbilisi, Georgia) and Mriya (London, Great Britain). Also, Yurii Kovryzhenko has been cooperating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for 12 years and travels the world, engaged in culinary diplomacy. He has cooked borsch in more than 30 countries of the world!

Despite Yurii’s stay abroad, he actively draws attention to Ukraine, raising funds and promoting Ukrainian cuisine. He has raised more than £500,000 for Ukraine through charitable gastronomic events in London, including a collaborative dinner with star chef Jamie Oliver, as well as dinner with Michelin-starred chefs Jason Atherton, Tom Brown, Tom Kitchen and Tom Sellers.

He is sure that after the victory, guests from all over the world will flock to Ukraine to get to know it and its people better. Also, in his opinion, the country will face a new national cuisine development involving small farms and farmer growth. “The future of Ukrainian cuisine is only about development,” Kovryzhenko believes.