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Veselka. It’s the Ukrainian restaurant on the corner of Ninth and Second Avenue – the one with sunflowers imprinted on the pavement leading up to its door and the unending line of people huddled under the glass window decals (which read, “OUR HEARTS BEAT FOR UKRAINE,” “VESELKA IS LOVE,” and “PEACE TODAY, PIEROGI TOMORROW”). Its dining room feels like a cartoon winter lodge – rosy cheeked people sit around wooden tables with frosted beer pints stamped, “Veselka, Est. 1954,” small Ukrainian flags line the walls like string lights, and a big red heart suspends down from the center of the dining room ceiling.
Veselka has always bled pride, but has more so since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. And for those who don’t know its 70-year, three-generation history, Veselka: The Rainbow On The Corner at the Center Of The World, a documentary in theaters this weekend, walks viewers through the restaurant’s rumbling kitchen, homey dining room, and, most importantly, its family story.
“I’ve been going to Veselka since I was a student at NYU in the early 2000s,” Michael Fiore, director and writer of Veselka: The Rainbow On The Corner at the Center Of The World, recalled. “My buddies and I would find a table in the back corner and play cards until 1 AM. And you’d think they’d tell us to leave, but they always wanted us to stay and enjoy our coffee.”
When the pandemic hit, Fiore was after a new project. A colleague of Fiore’s introduced him to “the guys of Veselka,” Tom and Jason Birchard, in November 2021. The three went back and forth until the war started. “I told them, ‘Your grandfather started this place as a result of the impact of World War Two and Russian oppression. I don’t want to exploit the war or what’s going on with your Ukrainian staff, but I definitely think that we should be exploring the parallels,’ and they agreed,” Fiore said. “So the first act of the movie is our first day filming, which was day 11 of the war.”
Fiore was the right person for the job. “His being an NYU grad, growing up on this food, and already knowing who we are… it just made sense,” commented Jason Birchard, the restaurant’s third generation owner. Fiore and his small film crew navigated what Fiore references as one of the unwritten rules of filmmaking: don’t film a movie in an active, popular restaurant. “If you were to ask Tom or Jason, they would say we blended in really well,” he said. “But there’s a lot of effort.” The team slid behind customers enjoying steaming bowls of pork borscht and through crammed kitchens of passionate chefs that “make the food feel [as though] there are real and authentic people behind it,” commented a customer waiting outside.
But not all challenges were as maneuverable. Few Ukrainian employees wanted to talk to Fiore and his crew. “And I respected that. But there was a point where I was like, wow, we may not even have a movie to tell,” Fiore said. He decided to not ask anyone for a release form until the movie was close to finished, a decision he said most producers would rarely consider. The decision allowed time for the Veselka staff to trust Fiore. “Within the first 40 minutes of the film, you see the evolution happen,” he said. “Everyone becomes more 
comfortable.”
As difficult as it is to film a movie in a restaurant, Fiore shared that the constant circulation of food could not have been more appreciated. “Every ten minutes they’d bring out another hot plate of pierogi or Ukrainian meatballs and, when we’d finish filming, I’d tell the crew to grab a fork,” he remembered.
“He’s definitely become part of our family now, and extended family, after spending more than two years with us making the film,” commented Birchard. As Fiore, Birchard, and the rest of their team captured a story, they realized they had begun making one among themselves.
While recounting Veselka’s story during this interview, Fiore appeared to be telling it as one of his own. Not that he himself has been a part of this legacy, but that he has committed to it, really believing in the power of Veselka in a global time of uncertainty.
When asked, as they stood huddled together patiently awaiting their borscht soup and stuffed cabbage, if they plan to see Veselka’s movie this weekend, Laurie and Peter Rothstein responded, “Of course.” With his eyes on his phone as he searches “The Village East” — the theater where Veselka: The Rainbow On The Corner at the Center Of The World will show from Friday to next Thursday — Peter spoke with certainty. “I’ve been bringing my son here for 25 years, and I know Tom well. It’s a homey, consistent, local spot that I will always support.”
As Fiore made clear, this film is not a war story. “It’s about a corner at the center of the world where people are good and compassionate, in good times and bad.” Birchard is not your typical restaurant owner: he is a community activist, an improvised public speaker (with recent media demand), and a life saver. With Ukrainian employees debating whether to return to Ukraine to fight, Birchard had to convince them of their ability to make change in Manhattan’s Ukrainian Village. “I helped save some people and bring them out of harm’s way by convincing them of the change we can make here,” he recalled.
Veselka: The Rainbow On The Corner at the Center Of The World is a story about compassion. It provokes us to reconsider how we treat each other in sensitive times. “Yes, the war is a catalyst for events in the story, but it’s [really about] what people choose to do in good and bad times, when people are under duress,” Fiore said. “What are the choices they make?”
