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Charity Maslenitsa at ZIMA Russian Restaurant

The time for blinis – the time for good.

During the 14th London Maslenitsa Festival from 28 February to 6 March 2022, enjoy the best blinis in town at ZIMA Russian Restaurant and help save children’s lives.

Maslenitsa is the ancient Russian Sun Festival – a celebration of the end of winter chills and the start of Spring, of warmth, of hope, of growth. Since 2009 the annual festival has been hosted in London by Ensemble Productions, with the support of Rossotrudnichestvo and The Embassy of The Russian Federation. The main dish of the Maslenitsa (‘Butter week’) is blini, which is Russian crepes.

Try both traditional blini and a few with a modern twist during the charity week at Soho’s prime destination for Russian Food – ZIMA.

The special blini menu was created to support Gift of Life, helping children beat cancer. With a portion of proceeds from the Maslenitsa week going directly towards the charity’s vital work for young patients in Russian clinics.

  • Sweet Blinis Board (condensed milk, all jams, sour cream)
  • Savory Blinis Board (smoked salmon cream, sour cream, crab mouse)
  • Buckwheat pancakes with wild Mushroom, parsley, and truffle cream
  • Buckwheat Oladuski with wildflowers honey and blueberries
  • Spinach pancakes with cream cheese and salmon filling, yogurt sauce

To view the full menu and make a reservation, click here.

ZIMA, 45 Frith Street W1D 4SD, London

ZIMA also supports Gift of Life with the Dine for Good campaign by adding a voluntary £1 donation to every bill. The restaurant has already raised £6,755 through this initiative, enabling Gift of Life to purchase life-saving cancer medicines unavailable in Russia.

Recently, Gift of Life has put these funds into payment for a chemotherapy drug Busilvex for 16-year-old Zakhar from Tula.

Last spring Zakhar was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma. A biopsy confirmed that a neoplasm found in Zakhar’s right fibula was cancerous and required an urgent treatment. The tumour was removed by skilful surgeons, but the treatment did not end there. Zakhar also had to undergo bone marrow transplant and radiation therapy. Zakhar tolerates the treatment but feels really upset because of social isolation enforced to protect him while his immune system is very prone to common viruses.

Zakhar has been mainly isolated to his ward, with only his mum and medical staff keeping him company. Even his dad, who comes to the clinic almost every day, can’t speak to him face-to-face. While his interaction with the outside world is extremely limited, Zakhar stays in touch with friends and classmates online, and keeps up with his schooling, even managing to pass his exams while in hospital. He takes private tuition in maths and coding and is learning English online with a teacher from the US and hopes to fulfil his dream of travel, to visit different parts of the world, to get acquainted with life in other countries.

He draws strength and optimism from knowing Gift of Life’s friends and donors have helped him, and he’s not alone in his fight against cancer. We wish Zakhar a speedy recovery and thank everyone who helps Gift of Life patients to cope with serious illnesses and achieve their biggest dreams.

You can support children like Zakhar by taking part in Charity Maslenitsa at ZIMA Russian Restaurant or making a donation now.

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