How a French chef, a Ukrainian farm and the Amazon rainforest inspired a Scottsdale restaurant

Sapiens Paleo Kitchen is far from the flashy steakhouses and coastal seafood restaurants on the surrounding Scottsdale streets. It is modestly sized and sparsely outfitted, with subtle lighting and cafe-style seating for 30 guests. It feels like a little piece of Europe.

While there are vegetarian offerings on the menu, plenty of meats, fish, and poultry are paired with unusual vegetables. There isn't any pasta, rice, or traditional bread. And the menu doesn’t include any simple carbs, dairy, gluten, added sugars, peanuts or corn ingredients.

Because of its nature as a paleo restaurant, bakery and meal-prep hub, the food is more accessible to people with dietary needs or allergies.

Those that follow the restaurant know about the gifted French chef Aurore de Beauduy, but her husband and partner, Roman Yasinsky tends to stay out of the spotlight. He grew up in Ukraine before coming to America.

"I grew up in agricultural paradise," he says of his grandparent's farm where he spent lots of time as a child. "The soil was so productive, you threw a seed and it was a tree the next day. Those tomatoes I ate — I never had anything like it as an adult. There were strawberries so fresh at the market, you could smell them from miles away."

When he was 19, Yasinsky came to Staten Island, New York. Before he ventured into the restaurant scene, Yasinsky first tasked himself with becoming fluent in English. He later moved to Chicago and while working at his first fine dining restaurant, he met and fell in love with De Beauduy.

"We instantly shared that common bond of appreciating diversity in food. What makes French cuisine special is the understanding of ingredients and where they come from, how they accentuate each other's presence," Yaskinsky says.

Later, Yasinsky and De Beaudoy moved from Chicago to Arizona, where he became a sommelier. He speaks glowingly of his wife and her journey through the food industry.

"She worked in such a chauvinistic, male-dominated French kitchen and worked so hard and persisted to make it to the top in Paris. Her knowledge of how things come together is crucial to making the ingredients taste good and look appealing,” he says, explaining that even though their restaurant serves a menu with restrictions, customers don’t feel shorthanded. “We have fine dining that is served with the added benefits of healthy, immunity-boosting food."

Healthy inspiration

Prior to opening Sapien’s Paleo Kitchen, the couple ran West Valley restaurant Vogue Bistro for nine years.

“It was, and still is, a wonderful traditional French restaurant. Grain and bread are a staple," Yasinsky says, describing the restaurant as “like our baby.”

"It was successful but our reason to sell is that we both experienced middle-aged health crises. We woke up and realized we were no longer feeling the same. The energy level, pain, and discomfort were struggles. We also felt like we had a lot of weight gain," Yasinsky says.

Yasinsky explains he was almost 60 pounds heavier and doctors warned him that he had high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and digestive issues. His wife had Hashimoto's Disease which impacts the thyroid.

Yasinsky had the unsettling feeling that worse things were on their way if he didn't make drastic changes. He suspected that the prescribed medications addressed the symptoms rather than the underlying issue — like bandaids on a bigger problem. He wanted to address the root causes.

"My wife is a chef. Food is our business. We never get fast food. Why are we punished?’ Yasinsky asks. “I looked at the meals and saw...I start my [day] with oatmeal, toast, jelly, honey, and juice. It was unsophisticated and not actually healthy at all. For lunch, I would eat a sandwich with deli meat that is very processed and has added sugar. I would sometimes have bacon, and again, lots of bread. We were both very hooked on soft drinks. For dinner, I would eat rice or pasta with lots of bread and sauce. We had lots of high-sugar and high-carb meals. Very few fruits and vegetables. Our bodies needed vitamins and they weren't coming from all these ingredients."

At Sapiens, the goal isn't to convert customers to any specific or restricted diet, he says, but to introduce more whole foods and healthy ingredients into their lives. Making the change to paleo took Yasinsky and De Beauduy about six months, he says.

"I started reading labels. I cleaned out my fridge and pantry,” he says. “If you don't know what you are eating, how can you control your health?"

Reflections in the rainforest

Along with his doctor’s recommendations, time Yasinsky spent in the rainforest also had an influence on his evolving view of food.

In 2017, he took part in a friend’s research and visited two different indigenous tribes living in isolated regions of the Amazon.

"The Matis Tribe of people were spread over a territory hidden between the numerous tributaries to the Amazon River, northeast of Tefe in the state of Amazonas, Brazil," Yasinsky explains and another tribe, the Tuas, were located in a similarly isolated area.

"The goal was to recognize what a happy, connected and healthy society was without having to work as hard for it. It was a reflection that we, in modern times, often complicate things for ourselves,” Yasinsky says.

The indigenous tribes that he visited "exist in a fully paleo community. They live as humans lived 10,000 years ago,” Yasinsky says. “They gather roots and vegetables. They eat fruit from the forest, insects like termites, ants and spiders."

He was impressed by how generally healthy the tribes were, thriving and living to advanced ages despite a lack of modern medicine.

Yasinsky's experience in the rainforest built upon the food knowledge he'd gained on his grandparent's farm as a child.

"Food was more precious and appreciated. It was irreplaceable how rewarded and satisfied the community would feel after a harvest," he says.

Yasinsky is a big advocate for supporting local farms and frequenting farmers markets to be able to recognize where food comes from. Sapiens Paleo Kitchen has been working with San Tan Valley’s Rhiba Farms since the early days of their restaurant.

"Rhiba Farm grows things that you cannot buy in a store. [Their produce] looks and tastes different. Their salad is a combination with a lot of variety. You can just eat it, no dressing. It has a sweetness, spiciness and zestiness to it,” Yasinsky says.

What's on the menu?

For customers unfamiliar with the restaurant, the name can be confusing, Yasinsky says.

"Is Paleo a city in France? What part of France is it?" is the most common question he gets from new customers. But at the restaurant, the paleo diet is used “as a guide rather than a code of law,” he says.

For example, white potatoes are on the menu, which are not traditionally included. Yasinsky and his wife feel that the health benefits of potatoes are worth straying from the stringent limits of the diet. They’re also a good substitute for rice and pasta.

Bread is also not usually an option, but De Beauduy created a proprietary blend of root flour-based paleo breads.

"Bread has no nutrients. It's a lot of sugar and junk. Gluten-Free bread on the market uses lots of gums and very processed binders. We've been using root flours with real roots including Maca (Peruvian radish) and the tuber Tiger Nut, which has been eaten in Africa and the Mediterranean for 5,000 years," Yasinsky says.

The most popular dish on the menu is meatloaf, an American staple made with a French twist. A mix of veal and Kobe beef is elevated with fresh spices and a mix of vegetables rather than your typical breadcrumbs and ketchup. The meatloaf answers the call for comfort food and is a great entry-level choice for those apprehensive about French paleo cuisine.

Yasinsky's favorite dish on the menu is the duck, with the liver as a close second.

"Nobody else in Scottsdale makes liver because it is tough and very easy to overcook. It has a strong taste and smell,” he says. “The liver also ties to French cuisine nicely. We balance it out with sherry wine and pork belly to make it a fine meal rather than its reputation.”

Yasinsky recommends adventurous eaters give the rabbit stew or bone-in lamb a try.

Dessert seems like it wouldn't fit with the paleo lifestyle or the general premise of the business, but it is not something to be missed. Try the monk fruit-sweetened artisanal chocolates, avocado or coconut cream-based desserts and dairy-free ice creams with a purple yam base.

"We are big believers of baby steps"

In the early days of Sapiens Paleo Kitchen, the biggest struggle was the stand-still effect of COVID-19. During the pandemic, Yasinsky and De Beauduy came up with a plan to keep the doors open.

They expanded into meal prepping and priced the meals to compete with other meal prep and food box subscription services.

"For $12.99 per meal that is organic, void of processed foods, no fillers, no inflammatory ingredients, no sugar, is as much or less than fast food style offerings," Yasinsky says.

The meals are fully customizable, and having prepared meals on hand helps customers become more disciplined about eating healthy, he says.

"The vulnerable stage is deciding to eat better and educating themselves. The meal prep fills in that time it takes to research and select the right ingredients for meals," he says.

Yasinsky is very open about his and his wife's food journey and is passionate about the power of making small changes and creating awareness that healthy food doesn't have to be boring.

"We are big believers of baby steps. Prepare one thing a week. Make one sauce from scratch,” he says. "It's the fear of failure that often stops us."

Sapiens Paleo Kitchen

10411 E. McDowell Mountain Ranch Road, #120, Scottsdale
480-771-5123