All interviews tend to fall into three categories: informative, entertaining, and inspiring. The third is the rarest — and usually the most fascinating. So, congratulations — this one is exactly that.

Today, we will be diving into the story of a young woman who began her journey at just nineteen, learning to make tiramisu alongside her colleagues in the kitchen. And now? After working as a head chef in some of the leading restaurants across the CIS, she has gone on to become a brand chef, opening around forty restaurants — each with its own concept, size, and location.

Just think about it: a woman in a male-dominated industry, proving she deserves her place — not once, but forty times over. Who taught her to cook her very first dish? Which restaurant proved to be the most challenging to open? And what simple meal does Alena still love to make for dinner — perhaps even something you’ll want to try yourself after reading this interview?

— I read that you started working in your profession at just seventeen. Tell me how did it all begin?

— To go back a bit — when I was a child and my mum came home from parents’ evenings, she was usually fuming. I was a loud, cheeky kid who couldn’t stop laughing or interrupting lessons. Eventually, I came up with a little trick: if I cooked her something nice, she would calm down a bit — and I would get into less trouble.

That is how it all began. I started cooking while waiting for her to come back from those meetings. Later, there came a moment in our family when I had to make a practical decision — studying to become a chef was free, while other institutes or universities were simply too expensive. So I spent about a year and a half studying culinary arts before going straight into restaurant work.

From day one, I was thrown right in. I was seventeen, surrounded by other young people working wild shifts — days, nights, sometimes both. It was daunting, stepping into a real restaurant kitchen for the first time. I started in the pastry section. I still remember walking in and seeing all those cakes, tiramisus, and beautiful desserts. I thought, “Oh my God, I’ll never be able to make anything like this”. But within two weeks, I was already on shift making them myself.

It was such a fun time — a real period of growing up. There were dramas, scandals, kitchen gossip — all of it. That came later, once I started getting promoted. It was tough, but incredibly exciting.

I still remember my first salary — 200$. I felt like the queen of the world. I ran out and bought myself a skirt with that money. I look back on that time with so much warmth — it was hard work, but such a joyful chapter in my life.

— Your grandmother was the one who first introduced you to cooking. What was the favourite dish you used to make together?

— Actually, it wasn’t just one grandmother — it was both of them! I am from Ukraine, and cooking is such a huge part of our culture. The table is always piled high with food — it is really an expression of love. So whenever my grandmothers were cooking, I was there in the kitchen with them, watching, helping, doing all the usual child things — licking the cream off the spoon or finishing off the leftover sponge.

Each of them had her own signature dish. With one, it was cherry “vareniki” — dumplings filled with sour cherries — and with the other, it was “nalysnyky”, crepes rolled with cottage cheese and baked in sour cream. I could still eat those by the kilo!

— In other interviews, you have mentioned that the restaurant industry is quite a male-dominated sphere. Do you think that’s still the case now, or have things changed?

— It has definitely changed — and thank goodness, for the better. There are far more female chefs now, which is wonderful to see. That said, even today, when I meet someone new and tell them I am a head chef, the reaction is almost always the same: “Wait, what? You are the chef?” It still catches people off guard.

When I first started out, though, it was a completely different story. Women were rarely taken seriously. I remember working for a restaurant group with sixteen venues — and I was the only female head chef among them all. That period was probably the toughest chapter of my career.

The hardest part about stepping up isn’t just the workload — it is the pressure. But those challenges really shaped me. If everything had gone smoothly, I don’t think I would appreciate what I have now quite as much. It was tough — incredibly tough.

These days, I receive so many messages from young female chefs, and that genuinely makes me happy. I think that is one of the main reasons I still keep up my Instagram — to show other women that if you truly love what you do and you are passionate about it, anything is possible.

— How much did you have to prove yourself — that you truly deserved that position?

— It is hard to put a time frame on it — it is not as if, after three years, everyone suddenly respected me. There are so many factors involved. First of all, you are constantly proving things to yourself. I am a perfectionist by nature. I always joke that I don’t need haters — I do that job perfectly well on my own.

I have always been the sort of person who thinks, “I am not good enough yet,” or “I could have done better.” And when you are young, newly promoted, and carrying huge responsibility on your shoulders, you feel that pressure from every side. Everyone’s watching, waiting to see how long you will last — a month or two. There are jokes, whispers, people not taking you seriously. Another factor —it’s extremely physical work. Many don’t make it, because it is not only mentally tough — it is physically demanding as well. You are involved 24/7. It is not like an office job where you clock off at six and switch off your phone. In restaurants, it is different — you might get a call at 2 am saying, “We have got a rush of guests,” at six am, “The delivery didn’t arrive,” or “A cook’s called in sick.” You are constantly on call. There is no such thing as switching off.

— For anyone outside the industry could you walk us through what your main responsibilities actually are for the head chef?

— Well, my role now is quite different — I’m more of a brand chef these days. I focus on opening new projects, creating menus, designing kitchens, hiring and training teams, developing recipe cards, working with suppliers, sourcing ingredients — basically overseeing every step of the process. I even train the front-of-house staff, like waiters, because they’re part of the overall experience. So yes, that is what my job looks like now.

People often ask me what a chef actually does, and I always laugh — because if you start listing everything, anyone outside the industry just stares blankly, thinking, “What on earth is she on about?” I usually say that a chef is a psychologist, a teacher, a chef, a sister — all rolled into one.

Why a psychologist? Because you are constantly working with people. You need to sense when someone is having an off day or when there is tension in the team, and you have to talk to them. You also have to know where each person performs best — whether to put them on prep, plating, the cold section, or desserts.

And then there is everything else that happens in the restaurant — the chef is responsible for all of it. From kitchen design and dealing with suppliers to testing new products, tastings, and even training the waitstaff. Everything is connected.

— Was there a specific turning point when you felt, "Okay, I have earned my place"?

— It happened gradually — I don’t remember one single moment when everything suddenly clicked. Even now, I am constantly working on myself and learning from my team. I know chefs who have been in the same restaurant and in the same role for fifteen years, and they are genuinely happy. I am not like that — I need challenges. My friends are always saying, “Can’t you just relax for once?” But I can’t. I am always chasing something — opening a new restaurant, writing a book, starting a YouTube channel, launching a show, taking on another project. I thrive on that sense of movement and risk.

And I think that is really how confidence grows — it doesn’t just appear out of thin air. It comes from facing your fears. When you are terrified, when your hands are shaking, but you go ahead and do it anyway — that is when you start to build respect for yourself. You think, “Wow, I did it.” Little by little, you realise you are capable of far more than you ever imagined. My friends always say, “You just can’t sit still.” And they are right. I ill think, “Okay, this restaurant’s done — time to start another one. And then I need to write a book or launch a YouTube channel.” I constantly need that sense of drive and challenge.

— How would you say the restaurant-opening culture in the CIS differs from that in Dubai?

— In the CIS, you understand the culture — it is familiar and sort of “yours”. You can refer to childhood memories, and everyone immediately relates, like “oh yes, I know exactly what you mean.”

But here, you might mention something like "forshmak" or "Olivier salad", and people simply won’t get it — it’s not part of their world. Their childhood memories, flavours, spices, and ingredients are completely different.

I think the biggest challenge is learning to understand and anticipate the tastes of such a diverse audience — creating dishes that resonate with everyone and make them want to return.

As for the produce, Dubai never ceases to amaze me. When I first arrived, I was genuinely astonished by the number of local farms. During my first few months, I spent most of my time travelling across the UAE, visiting them one by one. I still vividly remember spotting pomegranate trees on a farm in Dubai — actual pomegranates growing here! I couldn’t believe my eyes; I had never seen anything like it before.

— Out of the forty openings you have done, which one stands out the most — perhaps the toughest, or the most emotional?

— Definitely Sfumato. It was my first major project in Dubai. I poured so much of myself into it — it really gave me the chance to grow and express myself as a chef in a completely new way. So yes, that Is the one: my favourite, the most challenging, and the most memorable.

Before Sfumato, I mainly worked with Slavic cuisine. But it was there that I truly developed my own signature style — I found my voice as a chef, the “feminine touch”, as people say. I started to pay more attention to presentation and discovered the kind of cooking that genuinely feels like me.

I also realised how much I love working with root vegetables and fresh produce — not necessarily in a vegetarian or vegan way, but by making them the hero of the dish. It is easy to create a beautiful steak or another expensive cut of meat, but it is a real art to make someone remember a celery steak, an aubergine, or a beetroot. When guests say, “I’ve always hated beetroot, but this completely changed my mind,” that is the best compliment I could receive. Those are the moments from that restaurant that have stayed with me the most.

I think that style really started to take shape during lockdown. Remember when we were all stuck at home? I began baking courgette cakes and even had seedlings growing on my windowsill! That is when I realised how much I enjoy cooking with vegetables and roots. When you finally have time to play, to experiment endlessly, that is when ideas begin to form.

— And could you explain a bit more about this idea of a “feminine touch”?

— For me, it is all about aesthetics and precision. I don’t like chaotic plating — it is simply not my style. I completely respect chefs who enjoy bold, busy presentations, but personally, I prefer clarity on the plate. I can’t stand it when there are so many sauces and toppings that you can’t even tell what you are eating — is it fish or chicken? I believe the main ingredient should always speak for itself. The goal is to enhance its natural flavour, not drown it.

And, of course, presentation matters. I love working with colour. I always tell young chefs: we live in such a visual world now. There is endless inspiration out there — on Instagram, TikTok — so many brilliant chefs sharing their work. But you have to be mindful of what you consume, because social media can easily dull your senses. Some of those food trends — the messy hands, the chaotic plating — I just can’t stand them. I even unfollow people who do that. To me, it is a complete lack of respect for food. We are a reflection of the content we take in, so it is important to surround yourself with beauty and draw inspiration from that.

— Do you ever come across a recipe on Instagram and adapt it for one of your restaurants?

— It happens! You might scroll past a photo of a fish paired with something unexpected, and it sparks an idea: “What if I tried that sauce with this?” You take a tiny spark and turn it into something completely your own.

Inspiration is such a special thing — it is different every time. Sometimes I will just take seasonal ingredients and start playing around with them. As chefs, we already have flavour pairings in mind — for instance, if you have got figs, you instantly know what they will complement. Whenever a new idea comes to me, I jot it down in my notes. I have got whole sections filled with flavour combinations or things I have discovered while travelling. Because trust me, relying on memory never works.

When I am developing a menu, I go into full focus mode. I can spend days barely speaking to anyone. It is almost meditative — I completely immerse myself until everything feels right. Sometimes I will spend two or three days trying to pinpoint what’s missing from a dish, and I can’t rest until I have found it. And when it finally clicks — it is pure joy.

Ideas often come at the most unexpected moments — usually when I am drifting off to sleep, in that half-dreamy state when your mind finally relaxes. During the day, your head is full of calls, orders, logistics, and noise. But at night, when everything quiets down, that’s when creativity starts to flow. Some people get their best ideas in the shower — I get mine just before falling asleep.

— When you create a menu, do you follow a particular structure — for example, a set number of starters or desserts?

— No, it is entirely tailored to each restaurant’s concept and brief. I have worked with very different places — some have over 120 starters and just as many breakfast options, while others keep it simple with around 60 dishes in total. It all depends on the format. Once the concept is defined, the team and I develop and test everything together. It’s never just me deciding on a whim, saying, “Let’s do 25 salads because I like them”

At the end of the day, the restaurant business is still a business. It is all about teamwork — we always discuss what makes the most sense for the restaurant. There are so many factors beyond taste alone: cost, kitchen capacity, service efficiency, and the year-round availability of ingredients. Sometimes you might love a dish, but if you can’t consistently source one key ingredient, it simply can’t stay on the menu. Every menu has to be practical as well as creative.

— But tell me — is there a dish that, surprisingly, always works in Dubai?

— Yes — pâté. It’s my absolute favourite, and it never fails. If I see chicken liver pâté on a menu, I always order it. I just love it.

— And what is your personal favourite cuisine?

— Probably Italian. It is light, fresh, and full of flavour. I adore pasta and seafood — I am definitely more of a seafood person than a meat eater, though I still include meat for balance — protein is essential for how we look and feel.

— You have often said in interviews that the restaurant business is tough. Can you explain what exactly makes it so demanding?

— Well, you would think hospitality is all smiles and good service, wouldn’t you? But in reality, it is incredibly intense. Any business that deals with people is demanding, but hospitality — that is on a whole different level. It is not “tough” because people are constantly shouting (though yes, voices do get raised during peak hours). It is the constant pressure, the pace, the need for absolute precision. Once service starts, the kitchen turns into a kind of battlefield — organised chaos. Everyone is moving fast, shouting orders, coordinating — everything has to happen perfectly, and instantly.

Anyone who has seen films about restaurant kitchens probably has an idea of what that tension feels like — and yes, it is very real during rush hours. But everyone in hospitality knows: it is never personal. That is just how the system works. Beneath all the shouting, there is respect, teamwork, and camaraderie — but the pace is relentless.

And it is not just about service. The stress begins long before that — from day one of construction. Delays, missing equipment, supplier problems, banquets, deadlines — something is always happening. You have to be mentally strong, because things will go wrong, constantly. Sometimes you have to be strict — not harsh, but firm — otherwise nothing runs properly.

I always say a restaurant is like a train: every process in the kitchen is a carriage. If one carriage stops, the whole train stops. If a chef doesn’t show up, the restaurant halts. There’s no time to hesitate — everything must be quick, precise, and done with one purpose only: to make the guests happy.

— When you go out to eat yourself, if something isn’t quite right, do you ever give feedback to the chef?

— Never. I believe in what I call “chef’s solidarity.” I know exactly what it feels like on the other side. I would only ever do it if a friend who is a chef invited me and specifically asked for honest feedback — but even then, I would never criticise a dish unprompted, saying things like, “This is undercooked,” or “That is not right.” My friends know that if we are dining out, I am not the type to sit there analysing someone else’s food. Pointing fingers or making comments — that is simply not my style.

— And what if you really love something — do you send your compliments to the kitchen?

— Always! Usually the chef will come out to say hello anyway, and I always make sure to express my appreciation. If I love a place, I will post about it on Instagram, tag the restaurant, and recommend it to others. I don’t believe in keeping quiet just because I am a chef — I think we should support one another.

— Let’s talk about your Instagram page. Does it feel more like a creative outlet now, or more like part of your professional work?

— It is definitely work — full-time work, really. Creating good content isn’t easy. One short video can take four hours to film. Recently, I did a shoot for an Emirati brand and brought some friends along — they couldn’t believe how exhausting it was! People think blogging is effortless, but once they see what happens behind the scenes, they change their minds very quickly.

I manage my Instagram myself — I don’t have a social media manager. I like speaking to my audience directly; I think people can always tell when it’s genuinely you behind the screen. Building a personal brand these days is essential. It’s not easy — the competition is fierce, and there are so many creative accounts out there — but it is still worth it.

— What kind of content does your audience enjoy most?

— They love my motivational videos — and, of course, the slightly provocative ones. Something that grabs attention. My last post, for example, was called “If you’re dating a chef, here are the rules.” People went absolutely wild for it! You can’t be too bland online anymore — that kind of content just doesn’t stick. If you decide to put yourself out there, you have to be open, even a little vulnerable at times. I often share quite personal things — stories that feel almost too honest — but those are always the ones that resonate most. And, of course, people love recipes. Always.

— What is the most touching or emotional message you’ve ever received from your followers?

— There have been so many that it is hard to choose just one.

Some of them were from Ukrainian refugees I helped a few years ago — people who got in touch through Instagram when I was helping others find work. Even now, I still receive messages from them thanking me, saying I changed their lives. And to think, it was just one Story — something that took me a minute to post. It’s incredibly moving.

I also receive a lot of long, heartfelt messages from young women — aspiring chefs who tell me they look up to me, or ask for advice because they have just become head chefs for the first time and don’t know where to start. I wish I could reply to everyone, but it would take all day. Still, whenever I can, I do.

— And one last question — what would you recommend to someone wondering what to cook for dinner tonight?

— Something really simple — probably buckwheat with sautéed mushrooms and onions. The onions have to be fried; they’re an absolute must! Another great option is a fresh salad with chicken and avocado. Actually, one of my go-to dinners is buckwheat with avocado and Parmesan — a bit of a classic in our house. Simple, but so satisfying.