Well, as much as I had hoped for this venture to be completely self-funded, I have hit what seems to be the inevitable “we are so close to opening but things are still costing so much money” wall.

A bit about how we got here. My parents immigrated to the US with basically no money nor any intergenerational wealth (the soviet union did away with all that). They worked very hard to build financial security. We lived pretty sparsely for the first six years of my life, but my parents saved aggressively, and eventually they were able to afford to build a house, and we moved to the suburbs of Worcester, MA. From there on, we lived a comfortable upper-middle-class life. I didn’t fulfill my dad’s dream for me to go to Harvard, but I did get to go to NYU, which was my dream after I learned about their Food Studies program. I worked as a barista and at a butcher shop in college, which helped a bit with paying for food and beer, but not much in the way of paying for sending your kid to school in New York. My parents worked so hard to set me up to take advantage of the opportunity to pursue a higher eduction. My parents paid for college, and off I went, post-graduation, incredibly lucky and privelaged to be debt-free, and ready and willing to make not very much money working at non-profits for the next 9 years.

Ok so that was more than a bit about how we got here. Maybe I’m oversharing but I like the idea of us all being straight up about how we all got to where we are cuz it’s just the way it is and those are called facts, baby.

Anyways, I did not make very much money working at non-profits (surprise). But growing up in a very financially-aware household, I ended up being anxious enough about money to get a handle on saving and budgeting and all that. I have never missed a credit card payment in my whole 12 years of having credit cards. I saved. I maxxed out my retirement contribution matching at my jobs when I could. (I had jobs that had retirement contribution matching). Also, I just feel like I was lucky. I made choices, but my life made those choices easier than they might have been for others.

That includes choosing to open a restaurant, which is the riskiest financial decision I have made in my life. Everyone has so many opinions about the right way to fund this kind of endeavor. One I’ve heard a lot is “never put your own money on the line.” Interestingly, I have chosen to do the exact opposite and have actually only put my own money on the line.

This venture, to date, has been entirely funded by myself, by business credit cards with generous lines of credit and 0% APR for a year, an additional line of credit with a low interest rate, and a personal loan I took out to fund my living expenses while I work without income to open this thing. I do not have investors, I did not take out a business loan (interest rates are extremely high right now, 9-13%), no loans from friends or family (although I do have the gift of a car from my dad, so I do consider that a loan of sorts), and so yeah, financially it’s just me, just a girl! (And Alice of course, giving her time and energy and labor and love.)

I have made sure I have enough of a financial buffer, where if I need to pay back my credit card debts without making money from the business the first year, I can (this would be a worst case scenario). I am starting a business class in September that will hopefully end in a small capital grant. Basically, I’m working really hard to make sure I’m not putting myself in an ill-advised financial position. And yet…

I really believed the oven I bought used would work, and then it didn’t. Turns out ovens don’t run on belief. In this process I have learned a lot about outlets and voltages and single phase versus three phase circuits. I learned that there are so many options for how to adjust your electrical situation, and they run between $1,200-$30,000. I learned you should plug your oven in to test it out before spending hours cleaning it. I also learned that sometimes mistakes are made, and when you’re making them while opening a restaurant, they usually cost you money, and probably also time.

So, this is all really just a convoluted way of me asking you (whoever has made it this far) to donate money to help buoy the cost of buying a new oven + all the electrical work that was done to make it possible, and of me assuring you that money will be well spent by a fiscally responsible individual and one who knows a lot more about commercial ovens now. Acquiring an oven will enable the baking of rye bread and honey cake, both things which no meal at Dom Zakuski would be complete without. I have two ways you can contribute to helping us cover these costs, if you feel so inclined.

• We have launched a merch sale! We are selling bandanas designed by my talented friend Peyton (@real____love on instagram), whose illustrations have always plucked at some kind of slavic aesthetic heartstring of mine. We also have a shot glass, designed with the help of my dear mamachka (mom) Tanya. Alice and I just loved the shape of these when we saw them. Prices are marked up above what we’d usually sell these for, given it’s a fundraiser. Please note this is a presale so orders will be processed and will ship once the sale closes, in 11 days. If you choose pick-up, you can come get your items from us at the restaurant once we have them in hand.

• We also have a GoFundMe going. We are extremely appreciative of any amount you might like to give!!

I’ll wrap this up by saying, I aspire to talk frankly about money and finances. I think we often obfuscate these things to not come across a certain way while also often wondering about other people’s financial situations. I get that impulse, but at the end of the day, the situation is whatever the situation is. I believe many people work so hard to have a small to medium amount of money to sustain their lives and their family’s lives and maybe get a nice car eventually or hopefully buy a house or send their kids to college, and we should be able to talk about it. I also think we should know how people with lots of money got their lots of money. I also feel that we are not well equipped to understand money or finances by our educational system in the US (big whoops), so it’s on us to try to learn on our own, and to learn from each other. I learned and internalized a lot from my father, and I feel especially grateful for that now.

Ok that is all. Thank you for your support in whatever form it takes, even if it’s just reading this newsletter.

Katya