Booth staple: Inna's Cuisine returns with multicultural menu at Washington State Apple Blossom Festival Food Fair

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Emma Anderson, of Wenatchee, receives a lamb gyro from Konstantin Kazulin at the Inna's Cuisine booth during the 2024 Washington State Apple Blossom Festival Food Fair at Memorial Park in Wenatchee.

Inna Kazulina, owner of Inna's Cuisine and a longtime Washington State Apple Blossom Festival Food Fair vendor, is returning with a menu that blends Greek, Italian and Ukrainian flavors.

Kazulina has served at the festival's food fair for nearly two decades, first joining in 2006. Known for combining multiple cuisines into one menu, she uses the event not only to share her food but also to connect the community with her cultural roots.

"I just want to be involved in the community and bring more, kind of my culture in here," she said.

She moved to Wenatchee in 1998 and followed her dream of opening a restaurant in 2005. A year later, she joined the food fair.

In a smaller market like Wenatchee, offering a single cuisine wasn't always sustainable for Kazulina.

"You can stick with one cuisine, it's really hard … you need to kind of attract people with something," she said.

This year, Inna's Cuisine will offer arrabbiata salmon or chicken with Caesar salad or rice pilaf and vegetables; beef stroganoff; baked pastry piroshky with beef and cheese; cabbage rolls; and lamb, beef and chicken gyros.

Preparing for the fair is a prolonged process, especially with dishes that require extensive preparation.

"It's pretty time-consuming," Kazulina said. "Some of my food, it's really time-consuming, like cabbage rolls. We have to do that, make that."

Much of the work is done ahead of time, with her team prepping ingredients and cooking in advance to keep up with demand during the festival. At the booth, speed becomes essential.

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Inna Kazulina, left, owner of Inna's Cuisine in downtown Wenatchee, sets up a banner for her food stand with Colton Hankins at the 2021 Washington State Apple Blossom Festival Food Fair.

"You have to be so quick," she said. "It's not like you're in restaurant. You take time … you have to do. Giving, giving, giving."

Despite the fast pace, Kazulina said the experience is rewarding, especially when longtime customers return year after year.

"I have people who say, ‘Oh, it's like my grandma did,'" she said.

For Kazulina, those moments reflect the deeper purpose behind her work at the food fair - sharing culture, creating familiarity and being part of a long-standing community tradition.

Kazulina said the festival also allows her to stay connected with both longtime customers and new visitors who may be trying her food for the first time. Over the years, she said the booth has become familiar not just to her, but to returning festivalgoers who look forward to specific dishes each spring.

"It's exactly like I remember," she said, recalling comments from customers returning after years away.

She said that consistency is something she takes pride in, even as the festival and food trends continue to evolve.

For her, the food fair remains less about change and more about tradition, both in her cooking and in the community that gathers around it each year.

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