‘You can’t find good pierogies on every corner’: Local entrepreneurs will make their pitch on Dragons’ Den

Don'ya Ukraine's Kitchen started as a way to give Ukrainian refugees a job in Edmonton and is now ready to expand beyond the city, if it can secure investors.

“It’s so magical and it’s so cool.”

That’s how Don’ya Ukraine’s Kitchen co-founder Jorgia Moore described feeling before a limousine picked up her and her team to head to the Edmonton airport for what could be a life-changing opportunity.

Moore and fellow co-founder, Janice Krissa, will make an investment pitch on the 20th season of the Canadian reality-competition show Dragons’ Den on Monday.

“It’s like a mixture of nervousness and excitement, and happiness and love and community,” said Moore.

• Download our app to get Edmonton alerts on your device

The idea for Don’ya began as a donation centre providing support for newcomers fleeing the war in Ukraine, some arriving with just a suitcase.

She says many of the Ukrainians then began volunteering at the centre and sharing recipes and hand-made pierogies with the donors.

“The cards lined up and everything came (together) where we could turn something that was really tough into something that was community and love and warmth,” Moore said.

The team started making and selling modern Ukrainian food from a space at First Nation Chef Matthew Potts’ kitchen at Cook County Saloon in January 2023.

The operation grew and expanded, with the opening of their first full-scale kitchen on Fort Road in northeast Edmonton a few months later. A second location has since opened downtown on Jasper Avenue.

“We are so excited. I don’t think we’ve slept since we found out about Dragons’ Den. It’s so much excitement. You can feel it, the energy in this kitchen today,” said Krissa.

“I know one of the cooks. She told me she was so tired of being sad and this is finally something that she can be more excited about.”

Krissa says they will be making their pitch to the celebrity investors on Monday, and the episode will air at a later date between October and January.

Both co-founders describe their business as something unique and a first for Canada.

“We’re sharing today’s Ukraine food with Canadians,” said Krissa. “Something many Canadians, even of Ukrainian descent, haven’t tried before.”

“We always say you can find good pizza (and) good donairs, but you can’t find good pierogies on every corner,” Moore said, adding they are presenting a plan to franchise and expand across North America.

“Can’t give away all our secrets, but there’s going to be some things in there that are very special to us and very special to our girls that we’re going to ask the dragons for as well,” Moore continued.

Krissa says that the goal is to open 300 stores in the next 10 years and she is hopeful both her team and the Edmonton Oilers will be coming home with a win.

“This is the place we are - the City of Champions. We’re not just going to bring the cup home this year. We’re going to bring a really good deal back from Dragons’ Den to Edmonton too.”

Food and merchandise can be ordered in-store or online and picked up at the two restaurant locations.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Connor Hogg