New York City's beloved Ukrainian restaurant Veselka is best known for its borscht and varenyky, but it has become a bea | dG1fLW5PWUY4dllZdEU
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 [VIDEO PLAYBACK]
00:03 - When I graduated college, my father said,
00:05 what are you going to do with your life now?
00:07 And I said, I don't know.
00:08 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:11 My father said, well, why don't you come work in the family
00:13 business with me?
00:14 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:16 At the self-care.
00:17 The self-care.
00:17 I bet you half the staff here have been there
00:19 at 2 o'clock in the morning.
00:21 People love this place.
00:22 You don't want to break good habits, and it's a good habit.
00:25 Thank you.
00:26 Jason Burchard has a hunger to feed people.
00:29 Like his father, Tom, and grandfather before him.
00:32 My grandfather started this business
00:33 in the center of little Ukraine, escaping Russian oppression
00:36 back in the late 1940s.
00:38 He opened it as a newsstand, but he turned it
00:40 into a forum to help Ukraine.
00:42 I know that he had dreams of his daughter
00:44 marrying a good Ukrainian boy.
00:46 So he reconciled to the next best thing,
00:48 a good American boy.
00:51 After he passed away, people could
00:53 see that I was going to keep Vasilka going.
00:54 But the Ukrainian community gave Tom a cold shoulder.
00:58 Vasilka was a laughingstock.
00:59 I had to take a leap instead of doing what my father-in-law did.
01:03 Give me French fries and--
01:04 My father put a lot of hours into the business.
01:07 It was very hard on me, making sure the details were met.
01:10 Our relationship was business-like,
01:12 and things were moving at a slower pace
01:14 than what I would have preferred.
01:16 Be careful what you wish for.
01:17 Jason took over Vasilka when the pandemic hit.
01:21 And then-- don't think of this as a war in Ukraine.
01:25 This is a war in a free world.
01:27 [CHANTING]
01:28 A democracy.
01:29 We can keep the pressure on our local officials.
01:31 The New Yorkers stand with Ukraine.
01:33 It's atrocity what's going on there, Mr. Mayor.
01:35 I'm sure you're well aware of it.
01:38 Jason has to be the leader at the local level.
01:42 A donation?
01:43 With food, you can connect anybody.
01:45 Vasilka has become the hub for helping Ukraine.
01:48 The Ukrainian baseball team is in town.
01:51 By you being here, you are a sign of hope.
01:53 My Ukrainian staff, they're in a state of shock.
01:56 Vitaly, long-time employee, your parents are still in Kiev.
01:58 [SPEAKING RUSSIAN]
02:01 But I'm doing my best to distract him.
02:03 Vitaly, I think you need a little practice.
02:05 [SPEAKING RUSSIAN]
02:06 My friends is there, and I'm here.
02:07 I just don't feel OK to be OK.
02:11 We got to be careful we don't take on too much.
02:13 I'm going to need your help to bring my parents over here.
02:16 Jason just says yes to everything.
02:18 Let's do it.
02:19 I've spent more time here than I have spent with my daughter.
02:23 But we're saving lives from here.
02:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:28 (upbeat music)