You don’t have to travel to Kyiv to learn how to make real Ukrainian food. Every week, right here in Edmonton, we open up our kitchen at DON’YA Ukraine’s Kitchen and invite people in to roll up their sleeves, get their hands floury, and learn the art of Ukrainian cooking.
Our cooking classes are one of the most popular things we do — and once you’ve been, it’s easy to see why.
Our classes are small, hands-on, and genuinely fun. You’re not sitting at a table watching a demonstration — you’re at a workstation, working the dough, stuffing and pinching varenyky, and learning technique directly from our team.
Classes are led by Anna Kachmar, our Creative Director and Cooking Class Instructor, who learned to make Ukrainian food the way most Ukrainians do: from her mother and her baba, in a home kitchen in Ukraine. She’s warm, patient, and incredibly knowledgeable.
A typical session runs about 2–2.5 hours and covers: making the dough from scratch, preparing the filling, rolling and cutting the dough, stuffing and pinching each varenyky, cooking them together, and sitting down to eat what you made with all the classic toppings.
Our classes are for everyone. We get first-time cooks and experienced home chefs. Couples looking for a fun date night activity. Groups of friends celebrating birthdays or just a Tuesday. Families who want to spend time together doing something creative and meaningful.
We also get a lot of guests who have Ukrainian heritage and want to reconnect with a part of their culture they haven’t had access to for years — and there’s something special about watching that reconnection happen in real time.
DON’YA was born from community. Our founders Janice and Jorgia started with a donation centre for Ukrainian newcomers in 2022 — a response to the war in Ukraine that brought tens of thousands of people to Canada. For us, sharing Ukrainian food and the skills to make it is an act of cultural preservation. Every person who learns to make varenyky is carrying a piece of Ukrainian tradition forward.
Spots are limited — we keep classes intentionally small so everyone gets real hands-on time. Classes run weekly and fill up quickly, especially on weekends.
Register for an upcoming cooking class at donyaukraine.ca/cooking-classes/
Have a larger group? We also offer private class bookings — great for corporate team-building, bachelorette parties, or family gatherings. Reach out at info@ukraineskitchen.ca to discuss.
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