Yurii Kovryzhenko ( Ukrainian: Юрій Ковриженко; born June 8, 1983) is a

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

, TV and radio presenter, the ambassador of

Ukrainian cuisine Ukrainian cuisine is the collection of the various cooking traditions of Ukrainians, the people of Ukraine, one of the largest and most populous European countries. It is heavily influenced by the rich dark soil () from which its ingredients com ...

in the world and was the winner of the Global Chef Awards 2017 in Singapore for his contribution to the development of gastronomy.

Biography

Kovryzhenko was born on June 8, 1983, in Kyiv. His mother was a teacher. In 2000, as a student, he began working in a restaurant, and in 2008 he started working in the kitchen and studying in culinary schools in Europe. For many years he has been an ardent supporter of Slow Food. Kovryzhenko represents Ukraine in the world association of chefs Slow Food Chefs' Alliance.

Education

In 1999, he graduated from Kyiv Art School No. 6. He has also studied in Europe at the following culinary institutions: Ecole Ritz Escoffier, and École Grégoire-Ferrand (Paris),

Basque Culinary Center The Basque Culinary Center, based in San Sebastián, in the Basque region of Spain, is a culinary foundation created in 2009 by Mondragon University and a group of prominent Basque chefs as a training, research and innovation project, aimed at de ...

(San Sebastian, Spain), IFSE (Turin), International Academy of Italian Cuisine (Lucca, Italy).

Culinary career

In 2012, as a chef, he opened the Ukrainian restaurant "Kobzar" in Tbilisi, Georgia, where he spent two years working to promote Ukrainian cuisine in the Caucasus region. In 2014, he headed the Vintage Nouveau restaurant at the Vintage Hotel in Lviv. In 2017, he represented Ukraine at the Chef World Summit 2017. In 2019, he was a TV presenter and chef of the culinary TV show "Dish of Honor" on

STB State Security (, ), or StB / ŠtB, was the secret police force in communist Czechoslovakia from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990. Serving as an intelligence and counter-intelligence agency, it dealt with any activity that was considered oppositio ...

. Since 2020, he has been the president of Bocuse d'Or Ukraine, the Ukrainian office of a biennial world chef championship. Since 2020, Kovryzhenko has cooperated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine as an ambassador of Ukrainian cuisine in different countries. At the end of 2020, a photograph of molecular borscht prepared by Kovryzhenko appeared in the Michelin Red Guide and the world-famous culinary magazine CHEF.

International activity

From 2016 to 2019, he was a member of the organizing committee and speaker of the Chefs World Summit in Monte Carlo. From 2017 to 2019, he represented Ukraine at the World Gourmet Summit in Singapore. In 2018, as a chef, he joined the project "Uncounted since 1932" in Brussels, which aims to promote information about the Holodomor of the Ukrainian people and its recognition by other countries. In 2019, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, he opened the Ukrainian cuisine restaurant Trypillia in Seoul,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. In 2020, he coached the national culinary team for the IKA Culinary Olympics in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. In 2021 and 2022, he was twice awarded a special prize, a gold medal, and the honorary title of Ambassadors of the Taste for the Global Gastronomy. In November 2021, he was included into the oldest culinary order of France—Disciples Escoffier International. In the autumn of 2021 he organized the Month of Ukrainian Cuisine in France, during which he opened a Ukrainian pop-up restaurant in Dijon, at the International Culinary Exhibition Foirde Dijon. In the summer of 2022, Yurii opened a Ukrainian cuisine restaurant in London. It is a modern Ukrainian neo-bistro in the Chelsea district. In 2017, he was awarded the Global Chef Awards in Singapore for the development of Ukrainian cuisine.

Charitable events during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, Yurii was in London when Russia invaded Ukraine. He decided to remain there and during 2.5 months he took part in 10 charity gastronomic events in London due to which he raised about 350,000 euros. The funds were donated to the World Central Kitchen charity, UNICEF, DEC, and With Ukraine which feed refugees. One of the events was co-organized with

Jamie Oliver Jamie Trevor Oliver Order of the Star of Italy, OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and o ...

within an initiative #CookForUkraine. The largest sum was brought by the charity dinner lunch4Ukraine, where Kovryzhenko worked in collaboration with famous chefs

Richard Corrigan Richard Corrigan (born 10 February 1964) is an Irish chef. He serves as the chef/patron of Corrigan's Bar & Restaurant Mayfair, Bentley's Oyster Bar and Grill, Daffodil Mulligan Restaurant & Gibney's Bar in London, Virginia Park Lodge and adjoi ...

and Nigel Bosketti. On June 27, 2022, Yurii cooked with four Michelin chefs (

Jason Atherton Jason Atherton (born 6 September 1971) is an English chef and restaurateur. His flagship restaurant Pollen Street Social gained a Michelin Star in 2011, its opening year, and retained it until its closure in 2024. He was the Executive Chef at ...

Tom Kitchin Thomas William Kitchin is a Scottish chef and owner of The Kitchin, where he became Scotland's youngest winner of a Michelin star. Kitchin and his wife Michaela opened The Kitchin in 2006 on Leith’s waterfront. The restaurant was awarded a ...

, Tom Sellers,

Tom Brown Tom Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Brown (satirist) (1662–1704), English satirical writer *Tom Brown (trombonist) (1888–1958), American jazz trombonist and bandleader *Tom Brown (actor) (1913–1990), American film and televi ...

) at the City Social restaurant - it was a 10 hands dinner, which raised more than £100,000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovryzhenko, Yurii Living people 1983 births Businesspeople from Kyiv Ukrainian chefs