I learned how the restauranteurs and hotelier I talked with represent some of the unknown faces of the war with Russia. I’ve talked with brave people who chose to stay where they were to give support to their neighbors, who lost everything and the military by keeping their restaurants and hotels open not only for a feeling of business as usual. But also to re-purpose their kitchens to feed their neighbors who have lost everything as well as front line workers and the military.   

First up is Andrij Leda, general manager of the first class Hotel Nobilis in Lviv, Ukraine. Lviv is a large city near the Polish border that US listeners might recognize as the home base for many journalists covering the fighting. But it was also the major conduit to Poland and the rest of Europe for hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Ukraine when the war started.