Evgeniy Sushko, born in Kyiv in 1985, learned to love food beside his grandmother, moved to Lviv and has run the kitchen of the Citadel Inn hotel since 2008. With friends he founded an association of chefs of Western Ukraine.
My name is Evgeniy Sushko, and I am the chef of Citadel, the restaurant of the Citadel Inn hotel in Lviv. I was born in 1985 in Kyiv, back in the Soviet Union. Now I live and work in my favorite city, Lviv.
I got my first job as a cook ten years ago, but I knew I would choose this path from the age of about 14. My grandmother always loved to cook, and her food was very tasty. I could sit beside her for a long time and watch how she made the most delicious dishes in the world out of ordinary things. Our neighbors also had a small confectionery business. They baked right in their own home, and from childhood I enjoyed the smell of baking and liked to drop in on them.
I started my career in Kyiv, and I was very lucky to meet good mentors. I think that when you choose your own, right path, you also meet the right people, people who can help you and set you on your feet.
In time I moved to Lviv, and I have lived here for 10 years now. Three years after the move I was appointed chef. It was a very big responsibility, and I did everything I could not to let my guests down.
Since 2008 I have worked at the restaurant of the Citadel Inn. I set up the kitchen here from the start and trained the staff. I love to experiment with dishes and to invent something new. Sometimes I even stay in the kitchen until morning, cooking something that came to me during the working day. Maybe that is because I have no preference for any one cuisine. Every cuisine is good in its own way. A lot in our work depends on mood and inspiration, and on the good, positive people next to me: my team.
I love active rest. In winter I ski; luckily, here in Lviv that is no problem at all. In my free time I also founded, together with friends, the Association of Chefs of Western Ukraine (WCG). We run master classes and trainings, help young cooks, and help orphanages and charities. I believe that if the world has given me something, I must give it back ten times over.
For the photo I made the hit of our restaurant, joues de bœuf au vin rouge: beef cheeks on mashed potato with nutmeg and ceps. Many guests come back to the hotel just to try this dish again.
See you in Lviv!
