Mile End’s new Ukrainian restaurant Perogie Lili serves up heavenly varenyky

Walking into Perogie Lili, you’re immediately hit by a waft of caramelized onions, cooked for no less than 16 hours. Your eyes then meet a gorgeous, multi-coloured seven-foot mural depicting the Ukrainian changing of the seasons, created by Kur & Kul Arts, a Ukrainian husband and wife artist duo from Shefford, QC. The ceiling is made up of silver tin tiles and the whole place is surrounded by aluminium trim and welcoming, green-painted wainscoting. The decor is warm and looks like something straight out of the 1950s — all by design.

“The restaurant is a whole bunch of homages, but one of them is to that whole generation of Ukrainian immigrants that came here after World War II,” says Perogie Lili founder Nestor Lewyckyj, whose mother and father arrived in Canada on a ship called the Ballou in 1950. “We even have the wallpaper with the Tree of Life, which is an ancient pattern in Ukraine and even the hanging green lamps come from Ukraine.”

Close to seven years ago, Lewyckyj realized there were no Ukrainian restaurants in Montreal. It bothered him that there was no spot to grab a varenyky, more commonly referred to as “perogie” in North America, a comforting dumpling that is often associated with Ukrainian cuisine. About a year ago, a restaurant called Leopolis opened in Rivière des Prairies, but only for a few days per week. Lewyckyj wanted something central for Montreal’s Ukrainian population and, more generally, for the city’s restaurant culture.

This idea sowed the seeds for Lewyckyj and his business partner Greg Bedik to open the new Mile End perogie restaurant Perogie Lili, which opened three weeks ago. Named Lili after the nickname  Lewyckyj’s father gave to his mother, the restaurant focuses on the traditional savoury perogie flavours of potato with sour cream and onions, and sweet cheese with honey, as well as a few dessert perogie dishes called le Cheese Cake — with a sour cherry reduction glaze, topped with graham crackers and crème fraiche and le Coureur des Bois — maple syrup is the star here. You can of course add bacon, extra onions, crème fraiche and even honey, which pairs oh so nicely with the sweet cheese perogie.

The texture of these perogies is heavenly; these steamed dumplings melt in your mouth. After partaking in a sampling of each dish, Lewyckyj lets me see a sneak peek of a new flavour that would debut during Perogie Lili’s grand opening on Aug. 23. The same sour cherries that make up the glaze of le Cheese Cake will be embedded into the dumplings to create the sour cherry perogie, something Lewyckyj says is super traditional in Ukraine. 

“We’ve had many Ukrainians come from word of mouth and ask if we will have the sour cherry perogies, so we thought it was a good idea to unveil them during the grand opening,” he says. “Ideally, we want to end up with 8 to 10 or 12 different flavours, and some will be temporary — a perogie of the month for fall, for example.”

These flavours will stem from Ukrainian tradition, but Lewyckyj is already thinking of some fusion perogies, specific to Montreal.

“The restaurant is a projection of Ukrainian culture through Ukrainian food and Ukrainianness, if you will, so it’s a way of saying we are Ukrainian and here to stay. But Montreal is such a foodie city that we are very open to playing with that,” Lewyckyj says. 

He is also excited to announce that he just found out from the city that he is able to host a mini Ukrainian festival on Fairmount Ouest, right outside of Peorgie Lili, in October.

“We will have tons of perogies, other Ukrainian food and some music, and we’re trying to get other restaurants in the area involved,” he says. “So yes, Perogie Lili is a very unique restaurant, but we are also part of this special community.” ■

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