After an eventful day at the conference “Crimea Global. Understanding Ukraine through the South”, the participants had the opportunity to visit the “Musafir” restaurant.

This restaurant has incorporated all the features of Crimean Tatar cuisine and recreates the distinctive coziness of the peninsula. Unfortunately, in 2014, due to the occupation of Crimea, the restaurant was forced to cease its operations in Bakhchisarai and open new branches in Kyiv. However, even such tragic events did not hinder the development of “Musafir”, which continues to delight Ukrainians with the exquisite flavours of Crimean Tatar cuisine.

The participants tasted such traditional dishes as sarma, chibereki, yantiky, khoshaf, sherbet, unique meat dishes and flavoursome coffee. In addition, the guests had the opportunity to talk to Alim Aliyev, the Deputy Director of the Ukrainian Institute and a journalist, who shared the restaurant’s history and highlighted the peculiarities of Crimean Tatar cuisine. The eventwas also attended by Ukrainian athlete and politician Zhan Beleniuk, Muhammad Zaidiye, the head of the Syrian diaspora in Ukraine, Japanese journalist Takashi Hirano, and Thai Thanh Nguyen, a representative of the Vietnamese community in Ukraine. Anna Sytnikova, an employee of the National Office of the Crimean Platform moderated the event.

Afterward, the head chef of Musafir, Ms. Zemfira Bektimirova, told the story of her life in Crimea, shared her fond memories and features of Crimean Tatar cuisine and dishes she had enjoyed with her family on the peninsula and expressed hopes for a swift return home..

This hospitable evening was organized with the support of Olena and Artem Braichenko, the founders of the  їzakultura project.