You are invited this Saturday, October 22, starting at 12 noon, to the Grand Opening of Restaurant Transilvania, a Romanian cuisine restaurant in East Haven, CT owned by Romanian immigrants from Transylvania, where you can also meet some of our Ukrainian beneficiaries under the “Connecticut for Ukraine” Refugee Matching Program.

Father Iura will impart a blessing on the restaurant.

The restaurant occupies an old historical building (c. 1706) in East Haven, CT with well documented history around its walls, which is a reason alone to visit.

You will likely enjoy the authentic Romanian decorations based on the real historical figure of Vlad Ţepes (Dracula) whose history you can learn at the event. There will be free Romanian food and wine/ drinks with a side of speeches from state and local officials and yours truly. This restaurant hired a Ukrainian chef who came through our Connecticut for Ukraine refugee matching program, and thus besides Romanian food, you will also get to eat some Ukrainian dishes (Romanian and Ukrainian food have some dishes in common anyways, such as stuffed cabbage). Governor Lamont made a stop at this restaurant last week and was particularly touched by their ability to hire Ukrainian refugees.

Additionally, the “Connecticut for Ukraine” Refugee Matching Program – a pro bono initiative of the Honorary Consulate of Romania to CT in collaboration with the Murtha Cullina law firm – is pleased to announce the following:

About 85 Ukrainian refugees have been matched to CT sponsors to date through our program, the majority of whom have already landed in CT, BUT we still need more sponsors for the 200+ Ukrainian families on our waiting list. Contact us if you or your nonprofit organization is able to facilitate housing for more Ukrainian refugees.

* Our program was featured on WNPR’s “Where We Live” on 10/13 (“With no end in sight, Ukrainians continue to fight for their homeland”)
* A new website dedicated to the Connecticut for Ukraine Refugee Matching Program is under construction and will soon be operational to provide detailed information and resources to sponsors and refugees alike: ctukraine.org