By Hannah Wente | Photography by Nicole Hansen
Growing up in Belarus, west of Russia and north of Ukraine, Tanya Zhykharevich never dreamed of owning a restaurant. Restaurants there are primarily state-owned. She trained as an engineer before immigrating to the United States in 2005 at age 20. Today, she co-owns two Madison mainstays, RED and Jacknife, with business partner Jack Yip.
“Every immigrant has to start somewhere to survive,” Zhykharevich says.
She got her start working at Italian Village, the oldest Italian restaurant in Chicago.
She moved to Madison in 2007 and worked for several popular restaurants. She met Yip during this time, who was one of her managers.
“I never thought I would stay in the hospitality industry,” she says. “I wanted to go back to school and pursue a different career path. So, I went back to school, left the restaurant business, and started a new job.”
She worked as a network engineering dispatcher. In 2011, she and Yip were offered a restaurant space on King Street that was too good to turn down. Zhykharevich quit her nine-to-five job and never looked back. (In 2016, RED moved to its current location on West Washington Avenue.)
Yip has spent decades building relationships with fish purveyors to source sushi-grade seafood — and it shows — there are over 20 varieties of fish on RED’s menu. The most popular dish at RED is the spicy Godzilla, a roll of shrimp tempura with avocado, cream cheese and spicy aioli.
“We gain a lot from our guests and what they like to eat — we anticipate their preferences,” explains Zhykharevich. “Our diverse team plays a crucial role in menu development by experimenting with different cuisines, ingredients and food trends.”
Zhykharevich and Yip source produce like microgreens and mushrooms from local farms, and the menu at RED changes with the seasons.
“Every time we change the menu, we look for seasonal ingredients and what could influence eating habits,” she says. “In winter, it’s hardy, warmer and cozy. In summer, it’s lighter.”
In 2020, Zhykharevich and Yip were preparing to open a second restaurant when the pandemic hit.
“Opening a second restaurant is like deciding to have a baby, in my experience,” she says. “It was always part of our long-term vision, but the timing was very uncertain.”
They pivoted based on the change in dining habits during the height of the pandemic, and opened Jacknife as a grab-and-go restaurant focused on fast-casual foods like poke and sushi bowls.
“America has shown me that all dreams can come true and that it’s never too late for anything,” reminisces Zhykharevich. “Just keep dreaming and striving for more, and it will happen if you work hard enough.”
