Sudova, the Eastern European restaurant on Court Street in downtown Cincinnati, is bringing in a friend from Michigan for a night that promises steak, honey cake and a friendship years in the making. On September 23, chef and owner Sarah Dworak will host chef Cheyenne Galbraith of Houndstooth in Benton Harbor for a one-night-only collaboration dinner that fuses the two restaurants' distinct styles into a single tasting menu.
The dinner, first reported by Cincinnati CityBeat, will feature Houndstooth dishes reimagined with Eastern European twists, according to the outlet. The menu includes Japanese milk bread served with black garlic paste and chives, an early course of sunflowers and burrata, Dworak's own take on Houndstooth's slow steak, and a panna cotta that has been on the Michigan restaurant's menu since 2019. Tickets for the September 23 dinner are on sale now, and CityBeat reports a waiting list will open if the event sells out.
The collaboration is rooted in a genuine friendship. Dworak met Galbraith during a vacation trip to Michigan in 2021, and the relationship has grown into something closer to mentorship: Dworak has said Galbraith gave her the confidence to open Sudova, and CityBeat describes Galbraith as a mentor figure in Dworak's career. Dworak has since visited Houndstooth in Benton Harbor herself, and the two chefs plan to share stories of their friendship and food with diners during the dinner.
A Self-Taught Chef Meets a Classically Trained One
Part of what makes the pairing notable is the contrast in the two chefs' backgrounds. Dworak has no formal culinary training, per the same CityBeat report, having built her reputation from the ground up. She launched her career in November 2012 by opening Babushka Pierogi at Cincinnati's historic Findlay Market, bringing her Ukrainian and Polish grandmothers' dumpling recipes to a market stand that began as a holiday booth before becoming a permanent fixture there.
Galbraith, by contrast, trained formally at Guilford Technical Community College in North Carolina and spent five years as a sous chef under Chef Jennifer James in New Mexico before returning to the Midwest, according to Celebrate Jacques. She co-founded Houndstooth in Benton Harbor's Arts District in September 2019 and, as of August, took sole ownership of the modern American dining destination that draws diners from both Southwest Michigan and Chicago.
From Findlay Market Stand to James Beard Finalist
Dworak's journey from that market stall to Sudova, which she opened after running Wódka Bar in Over-the-Rhine, culminated in national recognition this year. She was named a 2026 James Beard finalist, one of three Greater Cincinnati-area chefs to earn that distinction alongside Jeffery Harris of Nolia Kitchen and David Willocks of The Baker's Table in Newport, Kentucky, according to Cincinnati Magazine. The magazine noted it marked a record number of James Beard finalists representing the Greater Cincinnati metro area in a single year.
Dworak went on to invite Galbraith to join her on the James Beard Awards red carpet as a special guest, CityBeat reports. At the ceremony in Chicago in June, the Best Chef: Great Lakes award ultimately went to Chef Vinnie Cimino of Cordelia in Cleveland, per WVXU, whose report noted the Great Lakes category drew competing chefs from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Still, Cincinnati claimed two of the five national finalists in that category between Dworak and Harris, a mark that Visit Cincy points to as evidence of the city's rising national culinary profile.
Wine Pairings and a Name Rooted in Court Street
The September dinner will also include a wine-tasting component led by Hart & Cru, the wine consultancy and tasting room founded in 2015 by sommelier Kevin Hart. Hart, a veteran of Cincinnati fine-dining spots Boca and Pigall's, opened a physical tasting room in Cincinnati's Pendleton neighborhood in 2021, according to Hart & Cru, which stocks more than 800 wine selections. Hart and Hart & Cru sommelier Brittany Marsh will discuss wine pairings, mostly Eastern European selections, with dinner guests throughout the night.
Sudova's name itself carries meaning tied to its address: it translates to “judicial” in Ukrainian, a direct nod to the restaurant's location on historic Court Street, according to BS LLC, which designed the space's Ukrainian tapestries and salvaged local architecture. Sudova opened on Court Street on August 29, 2024, with an open kitchen and outdoor courtyard, expanding Dworak's presence beyond Wódka Bar into full-service Eastern European dining. On a typical night, the restaurant's regular menu features green borscht, Ukrainian pampushky bread and a multi-layered medovik honey cake that rotates seasonal flavors, dishes that will sit alongside the one-night collaboration menu on September 23 rather than replace it.
