Andriy Prokopovych
Lviv-based restaurant critic, former chef with 15 years of experience across Lviv, Vienna, and Krakow. Author of long-form chef interviews. Member of the Ukrainian Chefs Association.
Articles
16 September 2026How cheese is made: from milk to the first wheelCheesemaking starts with good milk. It is warmed and a starter culture is added to set the future flavour, followed by an enzyme that curdles the milk. The curd is cut: the smaller the pieces, the mor…
16 September 2026Macarons: why these little cakes are considered temperamentalMacarons are made from just a few ingredients but demand precision. The almond flour must be fine and dry, and the meringue stable. Before baking the piped shells are left to dry until a thin skin for…
15 September 2026Tempering chocolate: why a bar shines and snapsCocoa butter can set in different ways. If chocolate is simply melted and cooled, it turns out dull, soft and with a grey bloom. Tempering is controlled heating and cooling that makes the butter form…
15 September 2026Apiaries in mountain meadows: where the taste of honey comes fromThe taste of honey is decided not by the bees but by the plants around the hives. Acacia honey is pale and stays liquid for a long time, linden honey smells of blossom with a light freshness, and wild…
24 August 2026The patina that is not polishedSilver tarnishes unevenly: on raised areas the film wears off with handling, in the recesses it stays. That contrast is what makes chasing legible. Full polishing gives an even shine in which the patt…
24 August 2026A plate with worn gildingThe gilding is worn in an arc on the lower right of the rim. Had it come from washing, the wear would run evenly around the whole circle. Doroshenko says the arc matches the movement of a knife: the p…
24 August 2026A makitra reassembled from eleven shardsEleven shards were assembled into a vessel missing two sections of wall. The gaps were not filled with colour-matched plaster — they were left open. The museum's reasoning: a tinted join makes an obje…
17 July 2026Podillia Terraces orange wine honoured at a natural-wine competitionThe Podillia Terraces winery has earned recognition at a competition of natural and low-intervention wines: its 30-day skin-contact orange wine received a jury award. This wine spends a month in conta…
17 July 2026Terroir of the Steppe: The Story of the Autochthonous Odeskyi ChornyiWhat makes the wines of Cossack Winery so distinctive? The answer lies in the land itself — in the steppe terroir of the Zaporizhzhia region, where a continental climate, winds from the Dnipro and min…
17 July 2026Harvest in the Steppe: How a Hot Summer Shaped the Season's GrapesThis year's grape harvest at Cossack Winery began two weeks earlier than usual. The hot, dry steppe summer of the Zaporizhzhia region tested the vines' endurance, yet also delivered berries of excepti…
17 July 2026Sparkling Masterclass: How Bukovyna Vine Taught Guests to Read the BeadThe Bukovyna Vine tasting room in Chernivtsi gathered enthusiasts for a masterclass devoted to traditional-method sparkling wines. Participants learned how the bead is born, why lees ageing matters an…
17 July 2026Bukovyna Vine Unveils the New Vintage of Traminer AromaticBukovyna Vine Winery announces the release of the new vintage of its Traminer Aromatic — one of the estate's most expressive white wines. The grapes were hand-picked on the slopes near Chernivtsi, whe…
17 July 2026Gold for Lozova Hora: Transcarpathian Merlot Reserve Honoured at Wine CompetitionLozova Hora Winery has earned recognition at one of the leading national competitions of Ukrainian wines: its Transcarpathian Merlot Reserve has been awarded a gold medal. The jury, made up of sommeli…
17 July 2026The Philosophy of Terroir: Why We Trust Wild FermentationWhat makes a wine alive? At Kraftova Vynorobnia they are convinced: honesty toward the grape and trust in nature. Winemaker Taras Vynohradnyi speaks about the philosophy behind every bottle of his aut…
17 July 2026This Year's Harvest: A Late Pick and Patient WaitingThe grape harvest season for Kraftova Vynorobnia ended later than usual. A cool summer in the Sumy region and a mild autumn slowed ripening, so the team deliberately postponed the pick by a few weeks,…
30 April 2026Ostannya Barykada — a restaurant as political narrative'Ostannya Barykada' is not just a venue but a gastronomic declaration. Entry is coded through the password 'Slava Ukraini' — part of the symbolic entrance to a space conceived as a hidden Ukrainian pa…
22 April 2026'Kryivka' — tourist trap or cult venue?Lviv's 'Kryivka' on Rynok Square is a symbol of the city's 'theatrical' restaurant concept. The concept: a UPA-style hideout cellar with a notional 'sentry' who only admits those who know the password…
6 April 2026Bernardazzi — port-side fine-dining without concessionsBernardazzi in a 19th-century mansion on Deribasivska is a rare Ukrainian venue where the concept 'fish only from today's port' is not a marketing trick but literal logistics. The seasonal menu change…
29 March 2026'The Little Sculptor' — Children's Master Class in Porcelain ModellingIn March 2026 the Kyiv Porcelain Museum launches a new public children's programme 'The Little Sculptor', held every Sunday. The programme is designed for children aged 7-12 together with parents — ea…
25 March 2026Borsch Workshop — Regional Versions from Polissia to CrimeaIn March 2026 the Pyrohiv Museum launches the public programme 'Regional Borsch — Culinary Map of Ukraine'. The programme runs every Saturday for eight weeks — each session is devoted to one regional…
24 March 2026'Pravda' — a craft brewery that keeps standards highLviv's 'Pravda Beer Theatre' is a rare example of a Ukrainian craft brewery that has maintained its own high standards for ten years running. In 2016 it was experimental; in 2026 it is an institution.…
16 March 2026Veterano Pizza — pizza as a tool for veteran reintegration'Veterano Pizza' is not just a pizzeria but a social-economic model. Founded in 2014 by ATO veteran Leonid Ostaltsev, the chain today has 8 locations across Ukraine. The principal concept: over 70% of…
8 March 2026Atlas — Lviv classic without concessionsAtlas on Svobody Avenue is one of Lviv's oldest restaurant addresses, opened 1888. In 2025 the restaurant underwent an 8-month major refurbishment without changing the concept: Galician classic with P…
26 February 2026Ivan Honchar's Literary Circle — Stelmakh, Parajanov, Honchar the WriterIn February 2026 the Ivan Honchar Ukrainian Centre for Folk Culture opens a new lecture cycle 'Ivan Honchar's Literary Circle'. Six lectures, held every Tuesday, cover the correspondence relations of…
24 February 2026Ukrainian Porcelain Trinity — Lecture Series on Baranivka, Korosten, KyivIn February 2026 the Baranivka Porcelain Museum opens a new lecture cycle 'Ukrainian Porcelain Trinity — Baranivka, Korosten, Kyiv'. Six lectures, held every Tuesday, cover the formation and developme…
28 January 2026Opishne Painting — School of Authentic Technique for Regional MastersIn January 2026 the Opishne Museum began a four-month educational programme 'Opishne Painting — School of Authentic Technique'. Opishne painting is a region-characteristic technique of decorating cera…
28 January 2026Sourdough Preservation — Programme for Bakers and ResearchersIn January 2026 the Poltava Folk Gastronomy Museum began a four-month programme for preserving authentic Poltava bread sourdoughs. The programme focuses on a collection of eighteen active sourdoughs t…
25 November 2025Oksana Zhnykrup's Ballerinas — 24 Author Figurines from the Family ArchiveIn November 2025 the Kyiv Porcelain Museum received in its collection twenty-four author porcelain figurines of ballerinas by Oksana Zhnykrup (1931-1993) — the leading Ukrainian sculptor of the KEKHZ…
12 November 2025Cossack Field Stove of the 18th Century — New Acquisition from Poltava RegionIn November 2025 the Pyrohiv Museum received as a gift an authentic metal Cossack field stove of the 18th century. The exhibit was donated by the Hrechko family from near Reshetylivka in Poltava regio…
30 September 202530 Years of the Ukrainian Centre for Folk Culture — Petro Honchar's MissionIn 2023 the Ivan Honchar Ukrainian Centre for Folk Culture (Kyiv, building 19 of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra) marked 30 years since its founding in 1993 — the year of death of the outstanding Ukrainian sculpt…
22 September 2025220 Years of Baranivka Porcelain — From the Mezer Brothers to Independent UkraineIn 2024 Baranivka — an urban-type settlement in Zhytomyr region, then part of Volyn Governorate — marked the 220th anniversary of the Baranivka Porcelain Factory, founded in 1804 by the Mezer brothers…
