As people fled, the restaurant’s staff dwindled from 35 to seven and became a family, Kovalov said.
With no water or electricity, meals were cooked outside on a fire. Eventually the restaurant purchased a generator and drilled a well, with Kovalov intent on keeping its doors open.
The restaurant Slavnyi Horod, which started serving sushi during the war with Russia, in Slovyansk.Credit: Brendan Hoffman/The New York Times
Even after a missile destroyed his apartment, Kovalov headed to the restaurant – with a concussion.
“That was probably the toughest day, having to pull myself together while walking to work. I had to quickly decide: either leave or stay and lead the team through this,” he said. “I walked in with a smile and said, ‘It’s fine. We got lucky this time – second birthday. Let’s keep working.’”
Amid all that hardship, why would he introduce sushi – which requires special storage and refrigeration – to the menu?
“It started with demand,” he said simply, betraying his business school degree. “There were no sushi restaurants in the city, and guests began asking.
“Whether I enjoy it or not doesn’t matter.”
Serhii Kovalov, centre, chats with employees at Slavnyi Horod earlier this year.Credit: Brendan Hoffman/The New York Times
Today, he has partners in Kyiv who inspect and select “very fresh” raw fish, which is then shock-frozen and packed into cooled containers for the eight-hour overland journey to Slovyansk.
The road weaves through Kharkiv, then Izyum, cities whose smashed buildings tell the tale of Russian bombardment, occupation and bitter fights for liberation. It passes a snow-covered forest once filled with mass graves of the invasion’s victims, and it runs close enough to occupied territory to pick up Russian stations on the radio.
From Izyum it’s about 40 minutes down the highway and into Donetsk, the region that is home to Slovyansk. Russian forces have captured a large part of Donetsk and aim to seize all of it.
A downtown area of Slovyansk, Ukraine.Credit: NYT
The fish trucks enter Slovyansk on the north edge of town, where a salt lake in better times drew tourists seeking spa treatments. Many of the spa buildings have been reduced to rubble, and soldiers mill around in the ruins.
Anti-tank barriers line the road into the city centre as one-storey brick houses give way to apartment blocks, some disfigured from attacks.
Despite the scars, Slovyansk is bustling. Cars honk, soldiers shop for groceries and children wave at ducks in the park.
But pressure is mounting from heavy fighting nearby. Russian forces are pushing to capture Chasiv Yar, a city about 50km away. Doing so could help clear the way to take Kramatorsk – putting neighbouring Slovyansk next in line, residents fear.
Zoya Trubytsyna, 68, said her suitcase was already packed.
“The front line is coming closer,” she said while walking to work. “If something happens in Kramatorsk, we will all leave.”
Life is already getting more difficult, she said, with power outages and near-nightly explosions.
But Kovalov still manages to keep his restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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As he stirred a coffee and chatted with servers, a morning crowd filled the seats. No one stopped eating when an air-raid warning wailed.
Blue takeout bags decorated with handwritten hearts were lined up behind the cashier for when the lunch rush started about an hour later.
A long deli counter featured hot food, salads and sweets. The sushi station sat at the end, with photos of maki and tempura hanging above.
A soldier added a Philadelphia roll to his loaded tray of sauerkraut, blood sausage and lasagne.
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“Honestly, the sushi here isn’t that tasty,” the 33-year-old soldier, who goes by the call sign Siesta, said after polishing off his plates. But “it’s a way to feel something familiar, like being at home”.
As a civilian, Siesta said, he would go for sushi with friends in Kyiv. But with his mechanised battalion defending the nearby city of Lyman, the food options are basic. Coming to Slovyansk for “that little bit of soy sauce”, he said, was a rare treat.
Slavnyi Horod is no longer the only sushi spot in town; there are several. Three blocks away is Big Roll, which was closed for months after Russia invaded. Since reopening, business has been unsteady, said its owner, Nataliia Gordienko, who now keeps only a short-term supply of fish.
“We don’t know what will happen next,” she said while boxing salmon rolls. “What’s the point of stockpiling if power gets cut off?”
People are also scared of Russian strikes, she added, ordering takeaway “quickly, quickly” when they come in.
Of 21 rolls on offer at Kovalov’s restaurant, the Philadelphia roll – with salmon and cream cheese – is the most popular, according to the sushi master, Dmytro. He seems baffled by its popularity – “it doesn’t really exist in nature” – and has never been a sushi fan himself.
“Raw fish always raises suspicion,” he said, smirking.
Still, Dmytro, who asked that only his first name be used for security reasons, finds the work gratifying, and he watches YouTube videos to learn new techniques. But he is not sure if he will stick with sushi forever.
“At this point I don’t feel like planning anything,” he said as a waitress whispered that an order was waiting. “There’s a war in our country and it’s hard to know what tomorrow or the day after will bring.”
His boss, Kovalov, is not immune to the uncertainty. He’s aware the front line in Donetsk is under pressure, saying, “We are afraid every day.”
For now, though, he said, leaving is not an option.
“Elsewhere just doesn’t make sense,” he said. “I’ve already found my purpose right here.”
