Kyiv Social

Kyiv Social is a casual Ukrainian eatery by Plate It Forward, a social enterprise that provides thousands of meals each week to food-vulnerable communities, while offering training and employment to those in need at its group of venues including Coyoacan Social, Colombo Social and Kabul Social.

On the menu are traditional home-style Ukrainian dishes, all reimagined for a restaurant setting. A highlight on the share-style set menu is the Chicken Kyiv, a double-breasted Bannockburn chook dressed in garlic butter. You'll also find handmade dumplings, daily handrolled holubtsi (cabbage rolls) and sorrel-laden green borscht soup.

For every set menu ordered, Plate It Forward donates one meal to Ukrainian refugees in Australia and one to someone in Ukraine. Across all the Social venues to date, more than 150,000 meals have been donated to people in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Mexico. There are also weekly lunches for newly arrived Ukrainians.

The star of the drinks list is the Beloved Ukrainian Lager, brewed exclusively for the venue by Young Henrys brewery. Small-batch vodka by inner west roaster Little Marionette features in twisted classics like the Chergroni (a cherry-laced spin on a Negroni), Sorrel Martini and Beetroot Sling. All wines are sustainably sourced, including Kindzmarauli, a drop from Bowral’s Tractorless Vineyard, which uses a native Ukrainian red grape variety.

Keeping with the Plate It Forward ethos, everything created for Kyiv Social – from the concept, to the design, to the food – was done so with the guidance of the Ukrainian community. Parquetry floors, splashes of blues and yellows, and shimmering chandeliers have brightened up the interior of the sandstone building on the buzzing Broadway corner.