We do hope people can be kinder’: Russian restaurateur in Singapore faces war backlash, responds with charity
Mar 2022 SOURCE: TODAY / CNA (as cited)(Combination of multiple interviews) – Vadim Zoubovski emerged as a spokesperson for peace when war broke out. Media outlets noted that Vadim, 51 – who moved to Singapore in 2004 and still has family in Ukraine – saw his restaurant hit by anti-Russian sentiment. In a local interview, he shared how hurtful comments on Kapitan/Dumplings.ru’s pages accused him over the war. Rather than react in anger, he made a public appeal for kindness xinjiapo.news and declared a donation of part of the business’s revenue to support Ukrainians xinjiapo.news . Singapore’s press covered his story widely: in TODAY, Vadim recounted one troll telling him to “get Putin to stop the war,” but after he posted the heartfelt Facebook message on Mar 1, many Singaporeans rallied behind his restaurant todayonline.com todayonline.com – business actually improved with patrons lining up to show support. CNA Lifestyle also highlighted Vadim’s quote that they “don’t feel comfortable promoting Russian food” amid the conflict, hence the brand’s pivot to a broader Eastern European theme cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com . Collectively, these profiles portray Vadim as a resilient, compassionate restaurateur who, despite being caught in geopolitical crossfire, chose to build bridges – using his dumplings to spread a message of unity and donating to humanitarian causes in the hope of peace xinjiapo.news southeastasiaglobe.com . VIEW NOW
From Ukraine to Maxwell: An Immigrant’s Dream for Singaporeans To Love Slavic Food
31 Oct 2020 SOURCE: Mothership.sg (Stories of Us)A feature story interviewing Vadim Zoubovski and Alena Zubovska, who after 16 years in Singapore opened Dumplings.ru to share their Slavic comfort food. The piece, written in first-person perspective (Tanya Ong), recounts how the writer visited the Maxwell restaurant upon seeing an ad for Russian dumplings on Instagram mothership.sg . It describes the eatery’s homey, vintage vibe – warm lighting, Cyrillic posters, a heavy-metal skeleton “mascot” for Halloween mothership.sg mothership.sg . Vadim (born in Ukraine, now a Russian citizen) narrates the backstory: he moved to SG in 2004 for a shipping job, and he and Alena (now PRs with two SG-educated kids) longed for the taste of home mothership.sg . Alena initially cooked family dishes for friends who missed Russian cuisine, which led them to start a dumpling kiosk and eventually the restaurant mothership.sg . The couple poured their hearts (and life savings) into this venture to introduce pelmeni, borscht, chebureki, and other “every Russian household” dishes to Singaporeans stringssg.com . Vadim shares cultural tidbits, treating the writer to traditional kvass (fermented bread drink) and kompot (fruit punch) while discussing how food brings people together mothership.sg mothership.sg . This profile highlights Vadim’s passion for showcasing Slavic hospitality and creating a “little piece of home” in Singapore – a timely venture when pandemic travel was impossible and locals were eager to “travel through food.” VIEW NOW
From Ukraine to Maxwell: An Immigrant’s Dream for Singaporeans To Love Slavic Food
11 Oct 2023 SOURCE: RICE Media (Singapore)A narrative feature in RICE’s Singaporean Enough series, telling Mark Zubovskyy’s story as an immigrant child turned F&B entrepreneur. It vividly describes a day in his life at Kapitan: the 22-year-old in a striped shirt and bandana hustling from kitchen to bar in an empty midday restaurant, drawing a S$2,000/month salary “just enough to cover expenses” ricemedia.co ricemedia.co . The piece explores Mark’s identity – born in Ukraine, raised in SG since age 3 – and how he toggles between a Russian accent and Singlish when conversing, having assimilated over 19 years ricemedia.co ricemedia.co . It recounts how he deferred NTU in 2022 when his parents’ Maxwell eatery (opened late 2019) urgently needed hands ricemedia.co . RICE contextualizes the family’s struggles: Covid lockdowns, unfamiliar cuisine, and war stigma all made business tough. Mark reflects on the harsh realities of running a niche restaurant – long hours, slow weekday footfall – and the bittersweet choice of giving up campus life for a higher purpose asiaone.com asiaone.com . Despite this, he finds fulfillment in the work, seeing it as preserving his family’s heritage and educating Singaporeans about Slavic culture. This human-interest piece portrays Mark as a bridge between cultures, driven by both filial duty and pride in introducing pelmeni, borscht and more to local diners. VIEW NOW
Kapitan.sg: Russian family on keeping restaurant alive in S’pore
07 Sep 2023 SOURCE: Vulcan Post (Tech & entrepreneurship site) An entrepreneurial profile on how the Zubovskyy family fought to sustain Kapitan.sg. It chronicles their journey: moving to Singapore in 2004, starting a humble “Angmoh Dumplings” kiosk in 2019 with S$20–30k capital to test demand vulcanpost.com , then pouring “their entire life savings” (~S$50–70k) into opening the Maxwell restaurant in 2020 vulcanpost.com . The article details challenges faced – Covid-19 (lockdowns hit shortly after opening, forcing them down to one staff) vulcanpost.com , then war backlash (online negativity accusing them of promoting Russian food during the conflict) vulcanpost.com . Mark shares how they rebranded from the generic name Angmoh Dumplings to Dumplings.ru for clearer identity vulcanpost.com , then pivoted to Borscht (a Ukrainian dish) and finally Kapitan in 2022 to distance from politics vulcanpost.com vulcanpost.com . Mark reveals stark finances – the restaurant needs S$55k/month (rent, salaries, loans) to break even vulcanpost.com , and the family downgraded their lifestyle (sold car and bike) to fund it vulcanpost.com . After dropping out of NTU to help, he took only a minimal salary and even did modeling gigs on the side to support himself vulcanpost.com . Thanks to viral TikToks, by 2023 Kapitan was on the road to breakeven and Mark hopes to eventually resume studies vulcanpost.com vulcanpost.com . The piece underscores the family’s resilience and the founder-son’s innovative efforts to keep their unique Slavic food dream alive. VIEW NOW
21-Year-Old S’pore PR Drops Out Of Uni To Save Family’s Restaurant, Now Works There Full-Time
7 Aug 2023 SOURCE: MustShareNews (Singapore)A locally-viral news story about Mark Zubovskyy. It introduces Kapitan as a Slavic restaurant “formerly known as Borscht and Dumplings.ru,” one of the only places for Slavic cuisine in Singapore mustsharenews.com . The article narrates Mark’s background (came to SG at age 3, studied here, completed NS) and the turning point where he quit school to help. It describes how Mark now “wears every hat” at the restaurant at only 21 – from managing inventory to cooking and even bartending mustsharenews.com . It also mentions his TikTok success: a video of him in a sailor’s neckerchief telling his story went viral, giving Kapitan a surge in visibility mustsharenews.com mustsharenews.com . The piece includes Mark’s reflections on adapting to local life and his attachment to Singapore. Overall, it frames Mark as a filial son and passionate young entrepreneur reviving his family’s food venture with grit and savvy. (Accompanied by photos of Mark and Vadim at Kapitan.) VIEW NOW
My parents were struggling’: 21-year-old drops out of university to save family’s Slavic restaurant
Aug 2023 SOURCE: AsiaOne (Lifestyle)A CNA Lifestyle feature (sourced from 8days) on Mark Zubovskyy’s decision to put university on hold to run the family restaurant. It mirrors the 8days story: Mark, who grew up in Singapore and served NS, was set to study maritime business at NTU but “couldn’t leave the restaurant” as it lacked manpower asiaone.com asiaone.com . He joined Kapitan full-time weeks before term, taking over operations to ease his parents’ burden. The piece notes Kapitan (opened 2020) had a “nautical-themed facelift” in April 2023 but had struggled for a year with almost no customers cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com . Mark leveraged TikTok, creating humorous content (dressed as a ship captain “kidnapping” strangers to dine at Kapitan) which went viral and brought in new patrons straitstimes.com . Still, he acknowledges the challenges of introducing unfamiliar fare (Russian dumplings, borscht, etc.) to Singaporeans straitstimes.com . The article underscores Mark’s resolve to honor his sailor-turned-restaurateur father’s legacy in a different way, and includes Mark’s quote that he has “learned a lot more in the past two years [running a business] than at university” asiaone.com asiaone.com . (This story was published on CNA’s platform, authored by Yip Jieying.) VIEW NOW
Ukrainian model, 21, drops out of NTU to help parents save restaurant from bankruptcy
06 Aug 2023 SOURCE: CNA Lifestyle (Channel NewsAsia) A CNA Lifestyle feature (sourced from 8days) on Mark Zubovskyy’s decision to put university on hold to run the family restaurant. It mirrors the 8days story: Mark, who grew up in Singapore and served NS, was set to study maritime business at NTU but “couldn’t leave the restaurant” as it lacked manpower asiaone.com asiaone.com . He joined Kapitan full-time weeks before term, taking over operations to ease his parents’ burden. The piece notes Kapitan (opened 2020) had a “nautical-themed facelift” in April 2023 but had struggled for a year with almost no customers cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com . Mark leveraged TikTok, creating humorous content (dressed as a ship captain “kidnapping” strangers to dine at Kapitan) which went viral and brought in new patrons straitstimes.com . Still, he acknowledges the challenges of introducing unfamiliar fare (Russian dumplings, borscht, etc.) to Singaporeans straitstimes.com . The article underscores Mark’s resolve to honor his sailor-turned-restaurateur father’s legacy in a different way, and includes Mark’s quote that he has “learned a lot more in the past two years [running a business] than at university” asiaone.com asiaone.com . (This story was published on CNA’s platform, authored by Yip Jieying.) VIEW NOW
Ukrainian Model, 21, Drops Out Of NTU To Help Parents Save Restaurant From Bankruptcy
22 Apr 2021 SOURCE: 8days (Mediacorp entertainment portal)Profile of Mark Zubovskyy, a 21-year-old Singapore PR and part-time model who deferred his university studies to rescue his family’s Slavic restaurant. The article reveals that running Kapitan in Tanjong Pagar costs his parents ~$55,000/month and they were on the brink of bankruptcy 8days.sg . Mark noticed the year-long slump – some nights only one table of diners – and felt he “couldn’t leave” for NTU while the business struggled straitstimes.com straitstimes.com . So he quit school to work 12-hour days at the restaurant, handling everything from kitchen to promotions. He jokingly calls pelmeni and vareniki “ang moh dumplings,” introducing locals to Slavic boiled dumplings with thick doughy skins and various fillings (meats, veggies) 8days.sg . The article also touches on the eatery’s evolution: opened in 2020 with his parents’ life savings, it was formerly known as Dumplings.ru before a nautical “Kapitan” rebrand in April 2023 8days.sg . Mark’s social media savvy (TikTok skits in sailor costume) brought a temporary spike in customers. Despite the hard work, he finds meaning in preserving his parents’ dream and hopes to eventually return to school once the restaurant stabilizes. VIEW NOW
Best Russian Restaurant & Food in Singapore – #2. Russian Street Food by Dumplings.RU
22 Apr 2021 SOURCE: StringsSG (Lifestyle blog)A roundup of Russian food spots in Singapore that lists “Russian Street Food by Dumplings.RU” as an option. It explains this outlet was located at Lau Pa Sat (stall #01-34) and was opened by the owners of Borscht/Kapitan stringssg.com . The stall offered authentic Russian and Ukrainian dishes in a hawker setting, allowing walk-in customers to grab classics like pelmeni dumplings, blinis, etc., on the go. It notes that being in the iconic Lau Pa Sat food centre made it easily accessible. (The blog credits an Instagram photo of Dumplings.RU and mentions the stall in context of the couple’s expansion from kiosk to restaurant to hawker stall.) This entry indicates that beyond the main restaurant, Vadim and Alena also ran a short-lived Lau Pa Sat outlet to introduce Russian street fare in a hawker environment. VIEW NOW
Ang Moh Dumplings – a new level of comfort food
22 Apr 2021 SOURCE: Expat Choice Asia (Digital magazine) An editorial spotlight on Ang Moh Dumplings, the modest Slavic dumpling kiosk started by Vadim and Alena in Tanjong Pagar MRT station. It praises this “excellent new dumpling house” as “comfort food at its best” expatchoice.asia . Notes the effusive Ukrainian couple behind it have lived in Singapore ~15 years and saw a gap in the market for a “western dumpling shop” in the CBD expatchoice.asia . Describes their modern take on dumplings with innovative fillings humorously named: e.g. “Black Bull” (beef), “Minty Ram” (lamb), “Wild Hog” (pork), “Golden Hen” (chicken), plus vegetarian options like cottage cheese or mushroom – each plate comes with 8 sizable dumplings expatchoice.asia expatchoice.asia . Also mentions they serve Slavic soups like beetroot borscht and chilled okroshka, and even sweet condensed milk pancakes that kids love expatchoice.asia expatchoice.asia . The article conveys that Ang Moh Dumplings brought a beloved taste of home to Singapore, offering hearty Eastern European “comfort food” in an accessible way. (Ang Moh Dumplings was the precursor takeaway kiosk that led to the full restaurant.) VIEW NOW