COLUMBUS, Ind. — For Olesya Whitfield, cooking has been a lifelong love. At the age of 5, she once made a rice soup and — not realizing how much the rice would expand — inadvertently ended up cooking enough for her whole street.
She went on to graduate from a culinary institute in Kyiv and later started her own restaurant, Olesya’s Kitchen, here in Columbus.
Now, after nearly two years of weathering the pandemic, the business has just a month or two to vacate its current building — located at 1531 McKinley Avenue — as the lot where it is located has been purchased by Cummins, Inc.
One of Whitifield’s friends and regulars, Lynn Marie Reese, has started a GoFundMe campaign to help the restaurant relocate. As of Wednesday morning, the campaign had raised $1,200— or 8% of a $15,000 goal.
In her fundraiser summary, Reese called Olesya’s Kitchen one of Columbus’ “hidden treasures.”
“This is no big chain restaurant,” she said. “There is nothing frozen and ready to be just heated. Everything is homemade from her heart and soul.”
While she is originally from Ukraine, Whitfield said that she serves other international foods as well, all from scratch.
“I like it, I try it, I made it,” she said. She also does some catering.
Olesya’s Kitchen got its start with Whitfield selling food at the local farmer’s market. She later decided to create a kitchen in her garage.
“She remodeled a garage in her actual existing house into a commercial kitchen,” explained Alena McCarron, who has been friends with Whitfield for 22 years.
Whitfield opened at her current location in 2018. McCarron noted that the business was a two-person operation at one time but became a one-woman job after Whitfield and her husband divorced.
Since then, McCarron has helped with paperwork for the business.
“She survived all through the pandemic with the help of government unemployment and the regulars,” said McCarron. “I mean, they were great. She stopped catering. She stopped opening to the public, so she had just carryout, like everyone else. So she survived 2020, she survived 2021. … We’re like, ‘OK, the country’s opened up, there’s a chance for her to thrive and everything.’”
Then, in January, Whitfield received a notice that the lot where her restaurant is located had been sold to Cummins and she had 90 days to leave, which put the deadline at the end of March. However, the company said that since her contract lasts through May, she would be able to stay until then if “push comes to shove,” said McCarron. Still, the two women would like to shift things over to a new building this month or in March if possible.
When asked about the sale, Cummins Manager of External Communications Katie Zarich said that the company has acquired some property near its tech center, located at 1900 McKinley Ave., as part of “long-term facility planning.”
“We have worked with our property managers to ensure smooth transitions for the tenants impacted by these ownership changes and continue to do so,” said Zarich in an official statement. “We are committed to making the community even stronger as a great place to live and work.”
Whitfield is currently looking at moving to a new location in Eastbrook Plaza. However, the building has a lot of needs in terms of interior infrastructure, said McCarron. The remodeling quote they’ve received is almost $20,000.
“This is just for putting everything together,” added Whitfield. She would also need to buy additional equipment and furniture.
Where to learn more
The campaign to help relocate Olesya’s Kitchen can be found at gofundme.com/f/help-relocate-olesyas-kitchen.
More information about the restaurant is available on its Facebook page. The business is currently located at 1531 McKinley Ave.
For the complete story, see Friday’s Republic.
