Polina Sychova and chef Eugene Korolev to open Ukrainian restaurant Sino

Polina Sychova and chef Eugene Korolev are to open Ukrainian restaurant Sino in Notting Hill next month.

The restaurant will reimagine authentic Ukrainian dishes with contemporary cooking techniques and British and Ukrainian ingredients. 

Sychova said: “At Sino, our mission is to celebrate Ukrainian culture and gastronomy and to help to raise its profile in the west. Ukraine has a rich culinary history, yet its food is sorely underrepresented in the UK.

“At Sino, we’re combining traditional Ukrainian ingredients and dishes with western techniques, to create something elevated that we hope will feel authentic, innovative and familiar at the same time.

“We’re really excited to be opening in Notting Hill, and to bring Sino to life in London.”

Korolev, who is president of Bocuse D’Or Ukraine, has worked at European Michelin-starred restaurants including Vendôme; Atelier Amaro, Benoit and HILMAR.

The restaurant has been named for the Ukranian word “сіно”, meaning hay.

Accordingly, an à la carte menu will include starters such as hay-infused wild mushroom broth as well as aubergine marinated with dill flowers, fennel and garlic served with Kyyrma bread (a traditional unleavened bread stuffed with cheese).

Main courses will include cherry-glazed barbecue catfish, fried parsley root, samphire, kovbasa (a traditional Ukrainian sausage spice with paprika) dried grated mussels and bell pepper sauce – an elevated riff on a famous dish from Pryvoz Market in Odesa.

Meanwhile, aged walnut ice-cream with smoked plum chocolate mousse will be included on the dessert menu.  

A contemporary cocktail list has been created by Ukrainian mixologist Ana Reznik, formerly of A Bar with Shapes for a Name. The drinks will draw inspiration from classic Ukrainian dishes and include a buckwheat milk punch with cardamom, vanilla and aged rum, as well as apple bun, which will blend vodka, butter and dulce de leche distillates with crisp apple juice and vanilla cream soda.

The design of the 52-cover restaurant has been overseen by Sychova and will feature nods to the beauty of Ukraine and motifs of hay.

Photo: Viktoriia Klymentieva