Perspective: How a root cellar saved my Ukrainian family when the war came
All that changed Feb. 24, when a chef in San Francisco, where I live now, texted me and asked if Russia was bombing Kyiv. I replied, “Of course not!” Then I opened my social media and saw a post from a fellow Ukrainian chef saying that, including the capital. It was so surreal, I thought I was trapped in a bad dream. In reality, it was the start of the worst nightmare I could imagine.
The last time I was in that root cellar was many years ago, but even now, I can remember every detail. I remember the old door with its heavy, rusty latch that was never locked and those steps into the darkness before I could turn on the light. A dozen more steps and we were there — in my grandmother’s food sanctuary, surrounded by unlabeled jars and bottles of all shapes and forms, sacks of aromatic apples and crops.