Beloved Ukrainian Restaurant Shows Its Colors On Screen In Veselka forbes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from forbes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Set in Manhattan’s hippest neighborhood, this Ukrainian coffee shop with humble origins has seduced refugees, artists and Hollywood stars alike. Now it’s starring in its own film.
When Veselka first opened on the corner of 2nd Avenue and East 9th Street in 1954, the business was a small candy shop and newspaper stand. Sixty-years later, and the Ukrainian restaurant serves up 21,000 pierogis, 2,500 latkes, and 110 gallons of borscht each week. That is until the pandemic hit. In September, owner Tom Birchard spoke about how the restaurant was struggling. But thanks to a dedicated customer base filling its heated sidewalk seating and indoor tables, as well as a growing delivery and national shipping arm, Veselka is expanding to the space next door, as was first reported by EV Grieve. The addition will be complete with a new “sushi bar-style counter that will showcase the restaurant’s pierogi-making process,” according to the New York Times.
The Bittersweet Tale of a Diner, a Toy Shop and a Changing New York
One is expanding. One is closing. But not all is lost.
Pamela Pier, the owner of Dinosaur Hill, has worked next to Tom Birchard, left, and his son Jason, right, the owners of Veselka, since 1983.Credit.James Estrin/The New York Times
By Linda Dyett
Dec. 11, 2020
Over time, certain city blocks become niche shopping and dining hubs, destinations that are quintessentially New York, marked by local history and personalities, while defining the broader neighborhood.
Consider the southeast corner of Second Avenue and East Ninth Street in the East Village in Manhattan. There, an unassuming oblong building has long been home to two neighborhood stalwarts: the whimsical toy shop Dinosaur Hill and its next-door neighbor, the Ukrainian restaurant Veselka.