East Bay Restaurant Owner Who Fled Former Yugoslavia Raising Money For Ukraine
LIVERMORE (KPIX) -- People across the Bay Area finding ways to raise money for Ukraine relief efforts. The owner of one East Bay restaurant is doing what she can as well, because she shares a similar story of running from war and becoming a refugee. It's a story that, up until, now she has been reluctant to tell.
Most customers at Americano Italian Restaurant in Livermore know owner Vesna Kahriman. Some hear her accent and assume she's from Italy, but she's actually from former Yugoslavia, which is now Montenegro.
In 1992, when war ravaged her country she was forced to flee with her husband and 18 month old son. She says their escape is much like what is happening with families in Ukraine right now.
"I can feel it. I can feel it. It's not only for Ukraine, but for every single country that goes into war," says Kahriman.
She and her young family settled in Germany before making their way to the US and eventually to Livermore where they opened the restaurant 5 years ago. When the war started in Ukraine she knew she had to help.
"We went through that and we know how little things can be huge. Huge. You have no idea," says Kahriman, as she was holding back tears.
That's why she decided to put some of the most popular dishes on a special menu, with proceeds going to humanitarian aid in Ukraine. The restaurant covers all the costs of food and labor.
"I think this is amazing, that somebody would sacrifice what they do for a living for people so far away," says Kathy Billiou, a longtime Americano customer.
"It's pretty cool. I've come here all the time with her, so it doesn't surprise me that she'd do something like this," says Vicky Hambrick, who was dining with Billiou.
Even the regulars say they never knew Vesna's story of fleeing her home and coming to the US as a refugee.
"I was always hiding it. I don't need my story to move me through my life. I want my story to move other people," says Kahriman.
So far the special menu for Ukraine raised almost $1,000, and Kahriman says she will rotate the specials each week and keep donating until the conflict is over.