On the corner of Lemp and State Streets in Boise sits a small restaurant that tells a big story—a story of determination, warmth, and devotion to community. Alyonka Russian Cuisine is more than a place to enjoy honey cake or hand-folded dumplings. It’s the life’s work of Elena DeYoung, a charming woman whose journey from Almaty, Kazakhstan, to Idaho is as rich and layered as the royal chocolate ganache she bakes nightly.

Elena was born in Kazakhstan, the third of six children. Her father passed away when she was 7, so Elena stepped into the kitchen early, doing her best to helping feed her siblings while her mother worked full time.

Soon after her father’s death, she spent four years living with her grandparents. This is where her passion for food truly began. Resources were limited, especially in winter, so she and her grandmother preserved seasonal ingredients, making every bit count. Those were her first lessons in cooking and baking, learned by watching and helping in her grandmother’s kitchen.

When she was 11, Elena returned to the family home and discovered an old cookbook filled with handwritten recipes and notes. She still keeps it today. That book became her connection to the past and the spark that lit her lifelong love of cooking.

In 1993, Elena moved to the U.S., landing in Brooklyn. She didn’t speak English but quickly learned through community college. Her nickname, Alyonka—a Russian term of endearment—would later become the name of her restaurant, a tribute to the roots she never left behind.

In 2004, she moved to Boise. The following year, her mother passed away, and in the midst of deep grief, Elena found comfort in the Russian Orthodox Church. The priest and congregation became her chosen family. She began selling dumplings for church and community fundraisers, supporting causes i like rebuilding the St. Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church. More and more people tasted her food and said the same thing: “Why just once a year? You need to open a restaurant.”

In November 2019, Elena opened Alyonka Russian Cuisine. Just months later, the pandemic hit. She had to let her employees go and began working 16- to 18-hour days—prepping, cooking, cleaning, baking—just to keep the doors open. She pivoted to to-go orders, and the community rallied behind her.

“People I didn’t even know dropped off envelopes with money. Some support came anonymously. I was overwhelmed by kindness,” she says, still emotional.

Inside the restaurant, every dish feels personal. The honey cake, with delicate layers of honey sponge and cream, is the most popular. The royal chocolate ganache and airy pavlova are baked with equal care. Her intricate dumplings require time, space, and precision. Because of the small kitchen, dumplings can only be prepared on Mondays, when the restaurant is closed. On those days, a group of Russian and Ukrainian women, ages 60 to 78, come in to knead, roll, and shape the restaurant’s famous dumplings by hand.

Elena’s dedication caught national attention when Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives featured Alyonka’s, shining a spotlight on what Boise locals already knew: something special is happening here.

Before opening the restaurant, Elena worked as a schoolteacher. Now, her classroom is the kitchen, and her lessons are served on a plate. Her children helped renovate the building when she signed the lease, even though she briefly doubted herself two days later. But the landlord, sensing something genuine, chose her over other interested parties.

In Elena’s world, the doors are always open. I experienced this firsthand.

“If someone knocks,” she says, “you let them in. You don’t start talking until after you’ve fed them.”

That spirit shines in every corner of Alyonka’s—a place built not just from flour and spice, but from a lifetime of feeding others with love.