Oleksandr Khomych & Kateryna Bikus

Three years ago, Oleksandr and Kateryna were forced to leave their home because of the war. In Ukraine they had a small business they had built with love — but one day they had to leave everything and start from zero.

When they arrived in America, they had no certainty and no clear plan — only the desire to create something of their own again. The first months were the hardest: a new country, language, work, endless paperwork, and the constant feeling of living between two worlds.

But one dream kept them going — to create a place people would want to come back to. A place with a soul. That's how the idea for Kitto Yokatta was born.

They assembled the furniture themselves, painted the walls, picked out the tile, spent nights learning local regulations and permits, the details of the kitchen and how to run an entire restaurant. There were many moments when they wanted to give up — when paperwork kept coming back, when something broke, when the money ran short, when it felt like the whole world was against them.

Today they stand in their small black-and-white space that has become a second home. They put more than just work into it — they put their new life, their story, and gratitude to everyone who has been beside them.

Kitto Yokatta isn't just a restaurant. It's proof that even after great loss you can create something bright. That even in a foreign country a place can be born that becomes truly yours.