--- title: "“No F*ckups — Just Expensive Experience”: Elena Borisova on GastroFamily, Divorce, War, and Five Children" description: "GastroFamily CEO Elena Borisova shared in an interview her path from a 17-year-old saleswoman to running a chain of 50+ establishments, as well as her divorce, the war, the closure of locations, and raising five children." date: 2026-09-24T15:02:00.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/elena-borisova-gastrofamily-life-business-family tags: [gastrofamily, elena-borisova, restaurant-business, ukraine, interview, family] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # “No F*ckups — Just Expensive Experience”: Elena Borisova on GastroFamily, Divorce, War, and Five Children ![Portrait of Elena Borisova, founder of GastroFamily, in a business suit](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/24/elena-borisova-gastrofamily-zhizn-biznes-semia/elena-borisova-gastrofamily-zhizn-biznes-semia-1.webp) ## 🎯 Key Points - Elena Borisova has been in the restaurant business for 25 years; the GastroFamily chain has existed for 17 years and counts more than 50 establishments, including 4 in Poland. - She names the team, with whom she has worked for 10–20 years, as the key factor in stabilizing the company during the war. - Over the 2025–2026 winter season the chain closed several establishments (four, according to business press), which Borisova attributes to the changing guest journey and the departure of part of the audience. - Borisova researched her lineage and found an ancestor — the Uman colonel Yosef Hlukh, a comrade-in-arms of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. - Alongside her business, she is raising five children and calls her difficulties “expensive experience” rather than f*ckups. Elena Borisova has come a long way from a 17-year-old working in a liquor department to becoming the CEO of one of Ukraine's largest restaurant chains — “GastroFamily.” In an interview with Wave RBC.UA, she shared that she has been in the restaurant business for 25 years, that the company has been around for 17 years and counts more than 50 establishments, including four in Poland. Borisova consciously chooses responsibility over illusions and rethinks her own values through the experience of her divorce from her ex-husband Dmitry Borisova, business crises, and war. In her words, she views any setbacks not as defeats but as “very expensive experience,” which she now shares by selling consulting services through her own agency. ### Roots: From Belgorod-Dnestrovskyi to Khmelnytskyi Borisova was born in Belgorod-Dnestrovskyi, 80 kilometers from Odesa, into a family of engineers. She recalls her childhood with warmth, spending time with her grandparents by the sea and the lagoon. Her mother is from Odesa Oblast, her father from Kherson Oblast. With the start of the full-scale phase, her parents first moved to Poland, then to Slovenia, but eventually returned. Borisova deeply researched her lineage and, in her words, managed to do so while the archives still existed in Kherson Oblast. Among her discoveries was a maternal-line ancestor, the Uman colonel Yosef (Osyp) Hlukh, a comrade-in-arms of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. Borisova added the information she found to Wikipedia and notes that she intuitively named one of her sons Yosef long before this discovery. ### GastroFamily: 25 Years in the Restaurant Business The first restaurant — “Barsuk” on Pechersk — was opened by her ex-husband Dmitry Borisova; when the venue turned one year old, they started working together and opening new brands and concepts. Today the chain has more than 50 establishments: in-house, partner franchise, and four in Poland. Borisova emphasizes that it is hard to give an exact figure, because some locations close while others open — including during the winter preparation period. She says that some guests who had been dining out for years have left, and that the “guest journey” has changed overall: people travel to the city center less often and prefer venues near their home or workplace. ### Difficult Decisions and the Philosophy of Expensive Experience The key decision that stabilized the company during the full-scale war, Borisova says, is the team: “One word — people.” She relies on employees who have been with her for more than 10 years, and some for 20, even from her previous business. In her words, the toughest decisions are always about people, and she tries to view difficulties philosophically — as a springboard for something new. “I have no f*ckups — only expensive experience,” she sums up, adding that she now monetizes this experience through a consulting agency. ### Contradictory Data In the interview itself, Borisova uses a generalized phrasing, speaking of “several” closed establishments over the winter period, and cites “Kanapka Bar” in Kyiv as an example. Meanwhile, business publications tracking the chain are more specific: according to “Dilo,” “GastroFamily” closed four establishments over the 2025–2026 winter season. Thus, the subject's overall assessment and the figure from the industry press do not contradict each other, but differ in the degree of specificity: “several” in spoken language and “four” in the chain summary. ### Family and Raising Five Children Alongside managing a chain of dozens of establishments, Borisova is raising five children and shares her own parenting system in the interview. She ties the mission of studying her lineage specifically to her children, believing they should know who their ancestors were. The subject emphasizes that she consciously chooses responsibility over illusions, and that any crises — family, business, or war-induced — become for her a reason to rethink values, not a reason for blame. In her phrasing, “there is no immunity from divorce,” and living between two countries and balancing business and family is a constant choice, not a given. ## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification - [“There Is No Immunity From Divorce.” Elena Borisova on Living Between Two Countries, Raising Five Children, and Crises in the Restaurant Business](https://wave.rbc.ua/ukr/insider/imunitetu-vid-rozluchen-isnue-olena-borisova-1790253853.html) - Первоисточник интервью: путь героини, история GastroFamily, исследование рода, философия «дорогого опыта», семья. - [GastroFamily Without Borisova: How the Ex-Wife Runs the Restaurant Business](https://delo.ua/ru/news/gastrofamily-bez-borisova-kak-byvsaya-zena-upravlyaet-restorannym-biznesom-457718/) - Подтверждает развод с Дмитрием Борисовым и управление сетью Еленой Борисовой. - [GastroFamily Closed Four Establishments Over the 2025–2026 Winter Season](https://delo.ua/ru/news/gastrofamily-zakryla-cetyre-zavedeniya-za-zimnii-sezon-2025-2026-godov-464573/) - Подтверждает развод с Дмитрием Борисовым и управление сетью Еленой Борисовой. ## ❓ FAQ ### Q: How many establishments are in the GastroFamily chain? **A:** According to Elena Borisova, more than 50 establishments: in-house, partner franchise, and four in Poland. She says it is hard to give an exact figure, since some locations close while others open. ### Q: How many establishments did the chain close over the 2025–2026 winter season? **A:** In the interview Borisova speaks of “several” closed establishments, citing “Kanapka Bar” in Kyiv as an example. The business publication “Dilo” specifies the figure — four establishments over the 2025–2026 winter season. ### Q: What was Elena Borisova doing before the restaurant business? **A:** She started working at 17 in a liquor department while studying at university; she has now been in the restaurant business for 25 years. ### Q: What ancestor did Borisova find in her lineage? **A:** On the maternal line — the Uman colonel Yosef (Osyp) Hlukh, a comrade-in-arms of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. Borisova added this information to Wikipedia.