Press and Mentions

Hello and welcome to Sip of Europe® experience!

My name is Yulia, in my portfolio I’ve got over 5 years of 5* hospitality experience through my brand Sip of Europe®, hold a few trademarks for delicious meringue desserts “ZefirChic®”, “ZefirChic Rose®”, “Low in calories, high in happiness®”.

My cafe won Portland Phoenix Award in 2018, I was filmed for local television, my name and business have been mentioned over 20 times in different articles including Boston Globe and Portland Press Herald. Café celebrated it’s 4th birthday, holding the rating of 5* out of 5* on Facebook, Yelp, TripAdvisor, UberEats, Square. In July 2020 Uber Eats named my cafe Top Eats, also Siri would recommend it as TOP 3 places to get breakfast in Portland.

Due to the lease expiration I had to close it when cafe turned 4 years 4 months.

I am from Russia.
• While I was at school I won one of the scholars’ national Olympiads (Olympics); got included into the list of Russian talented youth; became laureate of President’s award, got to the finals of Junior 8 Summit selection for representing Russia in Germany of 2007.
• I got my education in one of the top Universities in Russia – St. Petersburg State University. I studied for free, because I passed the exams with high scores and I was also getting the students scholarship for good grades during my studies. I graduated as a specialist (called master in a new educational system) in economics.
• I had a lot of experience in restaurant hospitality and after graduating decided to complete knowledge of customer focus and customer care by getting a position as a business developer of Mystery Shopping projects. Before that i knew about businesses from inside out while being an involved part of each work system, after becoming a business developer, i started being the rule-maker, person who was defining and setting the standards of customer care operations for big brands.

So, based on my personal, educational and business experience I, if we may, created a perfect formula for a successful hospitality project.

I established Sip of Europe in May of 2015. In 2015 I operated coffee cart, in 2016 I opened a café, located in Portland, Maine. In 2017 I started making reinvented Russian treat Chic Zefir (aka ZefirChic®) and am planning to make it world famous.

Through my business I have been sharing my heritage, my inspirations, my vision.

I’m passionate about making people around me happier through food, beverages, stories and shared knowledge. To share my heritage I am trying my best to create the awareness to my Russian inspired meringue treat mentioned above called ZefirChic® (aka Chic Zefir).

My business “Sip of Europe” is mentioned in the following articles, blogs, offline & online sources:

  1. Blog “A Happy Tummy, A raised heart rate and beauty in the everyday” By Katrina V. 04/02/2016 http://fallenforfood.weebly.com/blog/comely-carbs
  2. Portland Press Herald, 04/06/2016 http://www.pressherald.com/2016/04/06/a-look-at-the-springsummer-crop-of-restaurants-coming-to-portland/
  3. Maine Today http://mainetoday.com/maine-travel/things-to-do-in-portland-maine-visitors-guide-tourist/
  4. Portland Magazine 04/28/2016 www.portlandmonthly.com/portmag/2016/04/whats-new/
  5. Yelp’s Official Blog 10/26/16 https://www.yelpblog.com/2016/10/yelps-taste-savor-sip-europes-sip-europe-maine
  6. Pictures of the Event “Yelp’s Taste, Savor, and Sip of Europe” https://www.flickr.com/photos/yelp/sets/72157674310401372
  7. Yelp page of the Event https://www.yelp.com/biz/elite-event-yelps-taste-savor-and-sip-of-europe-portland
  8. Blog Visit Me in Maine 11/21/2016  https://visitmeinmaine.com/category/eat-drink-me/
  9. Up Portland (pages 12-13) February 2017  https://issuu.com/ivanhoward/docs/up_portland_february_2017_
  10. Local channel WMTW http://www.wmtw.com/article/looking-for-a-great-place-for-crepes-try-portland-s-sip-of-europe/9543280
  11. Up Portland (pages 12-13, while talking about Ramen Suzukia) https://issuu.com/ivanhoward/docs/up_portland_may_2017
  12. Maine Today http://mainetoday.com/eat-drink/eat-and-run/make-sure-get-bite-crepe-sip-europe/
  13. Yelp blog https://www.yelpblog.com/2017/06/small-biz-spotlight-sip-europe-portland/
  14. Yum Yum A Pittsburger’s Blog http://www.yumyumpgh.com/2017/10/sip-of-europe.html
  15. The Portland Phoenix Awards https://www.conwaydailysun.com/portland_phoenix/news/features/portland-phoenix-the-th-annual-phoenix-best-of-portland-readers/article_1ef6e2bc-5237-11e8-a9d5-af6c5b977645.html
  16. The Best Place to Eat Crepes in Every State https://spoonuniversity.com/place/the-best-place-to-eat-crepes-in-every-state
  17. Yelp page of the Russian Dinner https://www.yelp.com/biz/elite-event-yelps-adventurous-dinner-party-portland
  18. Yelp blog page about Russian dinner event https://www.yelpblog.com/2018/04/yelps-adventurous-dinner-party-in-portland-me
  19. Pictures from Russian adventurous dinner 2018 https://www.flickr.com/photos/yelp/sets/72157696000591935
  20. Portland Maine best drinks list for 2018 created by Eat Drink Lucky, sharing best coffee, cocktails, juices, hot chocolate. http://eatdrinklucky.com/mustdrinkportland
  21. By Boston Globe – Neighborhood on the verge: Portland’s East End comes into its own https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/travel/2019/02/05/neighborhood-verge-portland-east-end-comes-into-its-own/hX1h93VnPjdIG2irraa7rI/story.html
  22. Yelp page about Elite event 2019 https://www.yelp.com/biz/elite-event-yelp-savors-the-flavors-from-beyond-the-pond-portland
  23. Yelp Savors the Flavors from Beyond the Pond in Portland, ME by Steff D
    https://blog.yelp.com/2019/04/yelp-savors-the-flavors-from-beyond-the-pond-in-portland-me
  24. Yelp event 2019. Pictures https://www.flickr.com/photos/yelp/sets/72157704507206312
  25. More about Sip of Europe http://jialecoffee.com/sip-of-europe-portland-maine/
  26. Bike for Breakfast? Time for a Sip of Europe https://runforbreakfast.com/2019/07/22/bike-for-breakfast-time-for-a-sip-of-europe/ 
  27. Chocolate dream crepe https://eatdrinklucky.com/eat/8830/
  28. Must Drink Portland Maine From <https://eatdrinklucky.com/mustdrinkportland/> (unreal hot chocolate)
  29. Portland Press Herald https://www.pressherald.com/2020/08/05/the-wrap-closings-and-openings-rare-peaches-and-server-stress/
  30. Business in Portland Maine – from Sip of Europe https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/business-portland-maine-from-sip-europe-yulia-stolkner/
  31. How to become a sweet 5* business https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-become-sweet-5-business-yulia-stolkner/
  32. How to create a successful brand in any country https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-create-successful-brand-any-country-yulia-stolkner/
  33. Yelp’s Taste, Savor, and Sip of Europe 2016 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/yelps-taste-savor-sip-europe-2016-yulia-stolkner/
  34. 5 years as 5* out of 5* https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-years-out-yulia-stolkner/
  35. Explaining the past, manifesting the future of Sip of Europe https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/explaining-past-manifesting-future-sip-europe-yulia-stolkner/?trackingId=bXs7RdWlQ0eHgbeIhMh%2Fqw%3D%3D
  36. Segment of Tea with Gary Vee https://teawithgaryv.com/gary-vee-yulia-sip-of-europe/
  37. Guide on Instagram: Journey of Yulia and Sip of Europe through the years https://www.instagram.com/sipofeuropecart/guide/sip-of-europe-through-years/17948673253384842/ ,
  38. Guide on Instagram: Sharing beautiful videos and photos of lovely customers, food & drinks & special things at Sip of Europe  https://www.instagram.com/sipofeuropecart/guide/food-for-soul/17894954482690468/ ,
  39. Guide on Instagram: Honorable mentions from other Instagram pages  https://www.instagram.com/sipofeuropecart/guide/was-mentioned-in/17875247414019728/ ,
  40. Guide on Instagram: Mentions about my trademarked dessert ZefirChíc®️ https://www.instagram.com/sipofeuropecart/guide/zefirchic-this-dessert-will-be-famous/17873879233999485/
  41. Guide on Instagram: Roadmap To Making ZefirChic Famous https://www.instagram.com/zefirchic.official/guide/roadmap-to-making-zefirchic-famous/18082776067261969/