Ukrainian couple running a popular pizzeria in Hamburg — NV profile
Meet Martin Sadirov and Lyuba Pavlenko — a Ukrainian couple who opened a pizza restaurant in Hamburg, Germany, which at the beginning of the war became a center of humanitarian, psychological, and business support for their compatriots. Now the couple is planning to expand into neighboring countries.
Originally from Lviv, Martin and Lyuba were only 18 years old in 2000 when they left Ukraine for Italy. In Naples and then in the suburbs of Parma at the Alma culinary school, Martin trained as a chef. The annual tuition fee was EUR 15,000 ($16,400).
"My profession was born in my grandmother's summer kitchen," Sadirov explains. “I am very lucky that everyone in my family is a very good cook. But our foremost gastronomic guru has always been my grandmother."
She would be proud of her grandson and his wife if she saw their restaurant in Hamburg and its original concept, as Martin says. The original name was Spezzagrano, which is Italian for ‘to wash or break the grain.’ The idea was inspired by Martin’s grandfather, who was an agronomist.
"My first memories are when he took me to the wheat fields and told me about the diseases in the grain," Martin recalls. “I loved working with chocolate and ice cream, and I improved in other areas. But one of my latest passions is bread – it takes me back to my childhood."
In fact, his concept for producing bread from his own sourdough starter turned out to be a strong marketing move.
"When we opened five years ago, no one was making 100% sourdough wheat bread," continues Martin.
"They have a lot of gray bread here." So, in addition to their unique Neapolitan pizza, which is distinguished by its disproportionately thick edge and a thin middle, the couple also started offering their own bread.
Together with a German partner, they opened a restaurant, under the condition that the concept of the kitchen would be dictated by Martin.
After a year of working with the German business partner, it was time to say auf wiedersehen to each other. "We had very different ideas,” says Martin. “He had no impetus to grow, and he did not share my vision for the future of the business. I offered to buy out his share for a fair price. Hundreds of thousands of euros."
To explain how much is needed to invest in a pizzeria in Hamburg, Martin offers a very simple calculation: About EUR 2,000 per square meter are needed, meaning the 460 square meter Spezzagrano would need about EUR 1 million.
"We spent, let's say, half of that," he explains. “After all, we did a lot of things ourselves. Many acquaintances helped us. I spent everything I had on it. But everything went as we predicted it would. Even better."
And not for nothing: according to Tripadvisor, the Spezzagrano pizzeria is among the top 10 in Hamburg. Martin estimates the business grew 20% in each of the first two years, then up to +30% every year after.
Spezzagrano currently employs 18 people, 10 of whom are Ukrainians.
"For example, Tanya and Eva,” Martin says as he points to two of his workers.
“They came when the war started. Other young people, they were already here."
Martin's brother later also joined the team. He still managed to train as a pizzaiolo in Italy. Now he bakes fragrant pizzas and healthy bread at Spezzagrano.
"I'm very impressed by these people," says Oleksandra Dölemann, a former Kyiv resident who is now CEO and founder of the German fashion agency Sashkaproject.
Dölemann herself has been living in Stuttgart for 12 years. In December, she opened a boutique in Hamburg in Europa Passage, offering clothes and shoes from 25 Ukrainian designers. According to her, thanks to people like Martin and Lyuba, an “unprecedented Ukrainian cohort” is coalescing in Hamburg.
“I haven't seen anything like this for a long time,” says Dölemann with admiration. “I felt like I was in Kyiv here. There is nothing like this in Berlin or anywhere else — only in Hamburg.”
The delicious business of Martin and his wife Lyuba would like to turn into a kind of networking spot for Ukrainians in Hamburg – a place where Ukrainian is always heard at the tables.
In February 2022, this Ukrainian hub acquired a new meaning.
“On Feb. 25 [,2022], we were sitting at that table,” Martin recalls.
“The girls are all crying. We sat and thought about what to do. We understood that people would start leaving now. We then decided that this is where we would have our meetings. It united us. Then everyone chose where and in what way they could help.”
In the end, about 35,000 Ukrainians came to Hamburg. This is a significant amount for a city with a population of 1.8 million. For most, finding housing was a problem. Martin and Lyuba, along with their German friends, took part in solving it.
Martin now remembers how he and a friend relocated his family from Mariupol.
“I was told that if there was another family, I would take it,” says Martin. “Suddenly the phone rang: help, please, we need to settle a family. But there are 12 of them. And how can this be done? It was unreal. We came to them. And I just couldn't say no to them. We were able to find them a very large apartment. Then we went to them. They prepared dinner for us. It was amazing.”
European integration through food
The Sadyrov and Pavlenko family plans to open their own restaurants in Austria and Poland.
"I just saw an example of Ukrainians opening restaurants in Warsaw," he says. "Warsaw is moving towards Berlin. Alternative food, alternative music, natural wines – everyone is moving in this direction."
But to begin with, the Ukrainian pizzeria owners in Hamburg are looking for partners who are willing to agree to their idea of opening restaurants with a new or old concept. The main thing is that it should be Martin’s concept, which centers bread.
“I see the example of the people of Kyiv, who opened a Chernomorka restaurant there [in Warsaw], as well as Milk Bar,” Sadirov continues. “People are standing in line, and Poles have taken it up very actively."
Pavlenko supports her husband in everything and says that she no longer feels the difference between home and work, because the family spends almost all their time in the kitchen. Today, Pavlenko spent the entire day decorating and lighting the veranda. It will have to be completed. There are not enough tables inside to seat everyone.
The couple has a 12-year-old son. It has already come time for him to join the family business, but as Martin says, he doesn't know what he wants yet.
“I told him: you need to learn everything I know about how to cook well, how to bake bread, how to make pizza, and how to work in service [industry]. This is part of your development as a person, but you will choose your profession yourself."
The other day, Martin received an e-mail from his son's schoolteacher. The teacher wrote that she spoke with the boy and when asked what he plans to do in life, he answered: “work for the family business in a restaurant and go to Italy to learn to be a chef."
"I then asked him again: did you say that so that she would leave you alone, or do you really think so?” Martin asked his son.
"Well, a little bit of both, but I do have the thought," the boy answered gracefully.
Speaking about what has changed in Ukraine and Ukrainians in recent years as he sees it, Martin gave an interesting description: "Before, everyone wanted to be like them, like our neighbors [the Russians]. All these schemes, devices, oligarchs, and monopolies. We have now realized that we are not like them. It is very nice. I have seen many creative young people. This is a generation shaken by the war. People have learned to survive. And doing business is very similar to survival."
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