It’s been just over a year since Maryna Goncharenko opened the doors of Adore Coffee House. Sunshine warms the shop’s four corners, peering through floor-to-ceiling glass walls at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Cedar Street.
Adore sells a variety of caffeinated drinks, an assortment of non-coffee options and lighter, sweet-and-savory food options. In addition to the regular menu items, Adore occasionally offers syrnikis, traditional Ukrainian pancakes, on weekends.
The small retail space is shared with Luna Flowers, owned by Kira Ulan. The combination of Luna’s red-rose floral arrangements and Adore’s colorful lattes paired with artisanally designed, open-faced toasts makes the space a photo-perfect destination–and it is, especially on Instagram.
But Adore is more than photos.
The coffee house is an immigrant- and woman-owned business success story. At the crux of the operation is Goncharenko’s personal story of perseverance over adversity.
Food service, while notoriously tough in itself, is made even tougher given that Goncharenko’s shop is located in a low-foot-trafficked spot between Cortez Hill and Little Italy. Yet she stays positive.
Even in a constant uphill battle to stay in business, the moments are rare when Goncharenko isn’t flashing a smile–either via her mouth or eyes–during the breakfast and lunch shifts from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.
A Ukrainian immigrant, she moved to San Diego from Kyiv in 2019 on her husband’s work visa. The two had dreams of starting a restaurant. In Ukraine, Goncharenko trained in molecular culinary techniques. Initially, the couple decided opening a restaurant might be too big a financial risk–and so, a coffee shop.
Goncharenko says her husband, Vladimir Bessonov, frequently played Harry Styles’ “Adore You.” The song helped them acclimate to San Diego, navigating both the stress of immigration and the struggle to learn another language.
“My English was bad,” Goncharenko says. “We searched up what adore meant, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. I adore coffee, you adore coffee–why don’t we name it Adore?’”
In the months after immigrating, Goncharenko and her husband would work to get a business off the ground.
Then, life got in the way. Her husband was diagnosed with stage IV cancer; months after his diagnosis, Russia began its occupation of Ukraine. The war pushed Goncharenko’s family out of Ukraine and into her San Diego home. Her sister, Anna, currently works at Adore.
In 2022, her husband lost his battle with cancer.
“It’s easier now, because so many people have come in, and I have more business,” she says. “But back then, it was so helpful for me that people just came by to say ‘Hi, how are you?’, you know? It didn’t matter if they knew me or him. It just mattered that they loved the coffee.”
Hardships still persist, but Goncharenko’s business is aided by the various partnerships she’s forged.
The bar is filled with promotions from other businesses: fresh baked sourdough from a Ukrainian baker, Shoreside Bakery, available only on the weekends; coffee bags from Mamai Coffee Company, a Ukrainian roaster company; Red White & Badass Brew, a veteran-owned roaster; and coffee roast from Talitha Koum Coffee Roasters, which supports survivors of human trafficking.
Just beneath the bar is a string of photos from Adore’s previous location. Goncharenko hopes to soon offer Polaroids with the purchase of a PupCup–whipped cream treats for dogs.
Goncharenko started Girls Chat Networking, a Ukrainian-Russian business community focused on expanding small businesses a couple years ago (before the war broke out). Membership is up to nearly 2,000.
Sharing a workspace has worked out well for Goncharenko and Ulan, who hails from Kyrgyzstan.
“Sometimes we have meetings here, doing different workshops,” Goncharenko says. “If something happens to my shop, she covers me, and if something happens to her shop, I cover her. We’re friends who help each other beyond business, you know?”
When Goncharenko tests out a new drink, Luna Flowers employees are often the first to try it and provide feedback.
Adore’s “Brave latte,” a hazelnut drink with turmeric and spirulina vanilla cold foam in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, went through a few iterations before being consumer-ready.
The shop offered a deal last fall where 50% of the proceeds from the Brave latte were donated to help families in Ukraine. Under the slogan “Be Brave Like Ukraine,” the promotion raised more than a thousand dollars.
Goncharenko focuses on quality food and customer service.
“If it’s people’s first time here and they order something new and I see they don’t like it, I say ‘If you like it, cool. If you don’t, let’s change it,’” she says.
Goncharenko hasn’t lost sight of her and her husband’s original plan to open a restaurant. First, perhaps, she’ll open another Adore Coffee House and partner with a kitchen that sells Ukrainian breakfast food–hopefully in the coming year.
“It’s hard,” she says, smiling. “Everything’s scary when you’re an immigrant and you don’t understand the rules, but still–step by step–I’m crossing my fingers that everything will be good.”
Keep an eye out for Adore’s second inhouse, pop-up dinner that will feature traditional Ukrainian cuisine. The first one sold out. The thought of serving another homeland-inspired meal brings one of the biggest smiles to Goncharenko’s face. SDSun
