Dumplings and khachapuri: how Las Vegas residents fell in love with 'our' dishes

Nina Manchev, a native of Las Vegas (Nevada) and Bulgarian by birth, opened a restaurant serving European cuisine in the city 10 years ago. When the authorities closed all catering establishments due to quarantine in mid-March, the woman did not immediately understand how to rebuild her business, since its main part was communication. But in the end she found a creative solution, which is described in the video "Voices of America".

Photo: Shutterstock

“The transition from a regular job to a delivery job was not easy, especially when they changed the rules under which we could work: opening hours, how we could make deliveries. In addition, I was looking for ways to keep in touch with my clients,” says Nina.

The owner of the restaurant has long been thinking about cooking lessons, and quarantine prompted her to do this.

“I wanted to start giving classes and see if people liked them, just to continue to interact with customers and let them know that we are still open, doing takeout,” Manchev says. “My friend has a platform where she sells flowers for various exclusive events, where I organized a whole event with ticket sales - people buy food packages, buy recipes and on Sunday we cook together.”

“The first time I sold 8 tickets, and the last time I sold about 150. People love it, I think I see even more people now than before. They come every Saturday to pick up their food packages,” says Nina.

Almost all of the dishes Manchev teaches cooking belong to Eastern European cuisine and are also presented on the restaurant menu.

“Eastern European cuisine is very homey. Many dishes, especially those that we prepare, give a feeling of happiness and comfort,” says Nina.

Manchev says dumplings are one of the most popular dishes among her customers.

“We conducted a survey - stuffed peppers or dumplings? And almost 100% wanted dumplings. One of my friends, he is also a chef, wrote that during quarantine, people don’t want pepper, they want potatoes,” says Nina.

Another dish that caused a stir among Nina’s clients is Georgian khachapuri.

“Khachapuri simply amazed everyone. Many asked to repeat the lesson; they don’t want to buy ready-made ones. In general, khachapuri, dumplings and dumplings go best,” says Nina.

Now that the restaurant is opening, customers who participated in the training will have a new understanding of Eastern European cuisine.

“Many customers, when they come to my restaurant and read the menu, do not understand what the dishes are. I think this is a very good way for them to learn about dishes and how to prepare them. And I think that now, when they return to the restaurant, they will know more,” says Nina.

With the weakening of quarantine, the restaurant opens in a limited mode and will work only with the most popular dishes. But for those who want to learn how to cook their own meals, Nina will continue to conduct master classes.

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