Opened in July 2023 in Playa Vista, “Mom, Please” is a family-run Ukrainian restaurant that has quickly established itself on the West side of Los Angeles, addressing the historical scarcity of Ukrainian dining options in the area. The restaurant is a project born out of perseverance and displacement, established by owner Oleskii Kochetkov and his family after they evacuated Mariupol and fled to the United States during the Russian invasion, following the tragic loss of Kochetkov’s father.
Kochetkov comes from a deep-rooted hospitality background. In his youth, he worked at his grandmother’s legendary café in Mariupol, and he later went on to open and operate more than 20 restaurant concepts in Ukraine, including a specialty coffee and brunch café in Kyiv named after his daughter, Alisa. Upon arriving in Los Angeles with no prior experience building a business abroad and dealing with the grief of war, Kochetkov’s mother, Olena, turned to cooking traditional Ukrainian dishes as a way to cope. What began as sharing meals with friends and neighbors evolved into a home-delivery service for frozen Ukrainian dishes, operating out of a dark kitchen after traditional investors turned them down. Eventually, they secured a private loan to open the physical restaurant.
Today, the family operates “Mom, Please” through a collaborative dynamic. Olena serves as the head chef and soul of the kitchen, overseeing the intricate, manual labor required to make dishes like varenyky (dumplings), pelmeni, holubtsi (cabbage rolls), and syrnyky (sweet cottage cheese pancakes). Kochetkov manages marketing, creative direction, and operations, while his wife, Inna, serves as the community and online voice of the business. Their team also includes general manager Artur Volosovych, a trusted colleague from Ukraine, and their daughter Alisa, who acts as the official, discerning taste tester for the menu.
The restaurant’s menu focuses on preserving and sharing traditional, comforting foods rather than chasing culinary trends. Standouts include their popular syrnyky and turkey pelmeni, the latter of which was a favorite of Kochetkov’s late father and is served on special occasions as a tribute. The owners hope guests experience the restaurant by slowing down on the sunny patio, sharing food with loved ones, and enjoying the moment of discovery when trying Ukrainian cuisine for the first time.
Looking ahead, Kochetkov envisions expanding “Mom, Please” into a larger, full-scale 100-to-150-seat restaurant featuring an open kitchen, all-day service, baked goods, and a broader selection of frozen products. Beyond Los Angeles, the ultimate goal is to scale the frozen food line into retail across the United States, transforming the restaurant into a broader movement to introduce Ukrainian food, culture, and hospitality to the American table.
