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Five years after receiving a new, battery-powered heart, Smoliak is back in the kitchen — albeit in a different role.
The well-known Edmonton chef, who’s cooked for the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, is mentoring a group of Ukrainian refugees who work at Ukraine’s Kitchen, 12225 Fort Rd.
“For me, it’s almost been like a step back in time and having the ability to work with my babas, who were great cooks. It’s kind of a history lesson, a life lesson. It’s been lots of fun for me,” said Smoliak, who works with the group once a week.
“As soon as I came down here and started working with these ladies, I just fell in love with their stories and their positivity. It’s been a wonderful experience for me.”
Brink of death
For Smoliak, being a chef was his passion, his livelihood. But it was stripped away from him in 2018. Born with a congenital heart condition, Smoliak for the duration of his life had been dealing with heart complications. It eventually reached a breaking point while he was away working in Nova Scotia.
“I came back, and I was in really rough shape. I knew I was in serious trouble,” recalled Smoliak.
“I was in heart failure … and the simple fact was my heart was wearing out and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Doctors told me, unfortunately they can’t do a transplant for me, it’s just not viable.”
With that diagnosis, Smoliak was given just three months to live. But out of the blue, two weeks later, doctors called back to say he was a candidate for a procedure to receive an artificial heart.
“It wasn’t that difficult at first, because I was being told my life was on the line, and I had to do it. It was after where I had a more difficult time because I had to absorb it and realize that I’m never going to be back to running a kitchen,” said Smoliak.
“Some people may see it as an inconvenience that I have to wear batteries throughout the day, and there are a lot of things I can’t do, but it’s what you make of it, right? I have a brother who’s lived in a wheelchair for the past 60 years of his life, and he’s living life. I look at him, and if he can have a positive attitude, I sure as hell better give it a go.”
Being back in the kitchen as a mentor has been an opportunity for him to pass down his passion for cooking. The group of women aren’t professional chefs and all have very different backgrounds.
“They’re wonderful little sponges,” Smoliak said. “They learned from their mothers and their grandmothers how to cook. I’ve been teaching them the organization side of things, and making sure everything is up to health standards.
“Every day we do a Ukrainian dish that I’ve never really had before or tasted before, and I grew up in a Ukrainian household, so I thought I had tasted it all. I’m constantly learning about their food.”
Ukraine’s Kitchen was opened up by Janice Krissa and her daughter Jorgia Moore in May. It’s the first kitchen in Canada run entirely by newcomers who left the war in Ukraine.
Yuliya Shabanova is grateful to learn from a seasoned chef like Smoliak.
“Brad is like the soul of our team. When he’s coming on Wednesdays, he’s always joking and he often brings something new and tasty for us,” said Shabanova. “We know what’s happened with his health. He tells us when he comes here that it makes him more happy and makes him feel more alive.”
When Smoliak was asked to become a mentor, he jumped at the opportunity to not just get back in the kitchen again, but to help a great initiative.
“It’s a wonderful thing what they’re doing, and I’m a believer that I can help them help themselves. It will just perpetuate,” said Smoliak. “If they can come here and forget about what’s going on in their home (country) for a few hours a day, and I get to learn something, and share some giggles and laughs. It’s part I Love Lucy and Hell’s Kitchen, but it’s been so much fun to work with these ladies.”
Learning and teaching
Under Smoliak’s guidance, the women have learned a lot over the last several months. And taught him a few things. They’ve even fired him from pinching perogies — he’s now been relegated to rolling dough and scooping.
“I thought my skills were pretty good, but they’ve been vetoed,” laughed Smoliak.
“With some guidance and some leadership, they’ve taken on some roles on their own, and I’m just blown away by their work ethic. It’s unbelievable. They take so much ownership and care and love of their product and what they’re producing.
“They’re producing every meal as if it were going onto their family table, and we need more of that nowadays.”
While that all-important call from his doctors back in 2018 gave him a second chance at life, Smoliak said it was the second call from Ukraine’s Kitchen that gave him another chance.
“One thing I had never done was given up hope,” said Smoliak. “I will never be a candidate for a heart transplant. I’m at the five-year mark, and every year after that your survival rate decreases between eight and 10 per cent. But you do what you can. You got to keep living and suck every ounce out of life.”
