From Ural Worker to Viral Food Blogger and TV Star
36-year-old food blogger Nikita Kravchenko from Nizhny Tagil, known by the nickname «Krava Nakormit,» gained fame thanks to his original recipes. He started making videos five years ago, and now he has millions of views and hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
Nikita told E1.RU that he entered this field by chance, as he previously had no interest in cooking and didn«t think it would engross him so much.
“I«m Not a Cook at All”
Nikita became a food blogger accidentally—he was never a fan of cooking. Before blogging, he worked in construction: repairing windows, ceilings, and even elevators.
“I couldn«t cook at all, had no such hobbies. At most, I could only boil pelmeni and fry eggs,” says Nikita.
But the young man wanted variety in food so much that he started experimenting with recipes. He decided to conquer YouTube when he was gifted a cauldron: the scope for original cooking opened up unrealistically. His brother helped Nikita shoot several videos, and then the culinary blogger started learning filming on his own.
The videos had incredible success: on TikTok alone, the homegrown cook already has a million subscribers. The guy films recipes with loud titles: “Viagra at Home,” “Mandarin Liqueur,” “Meatless Cutlets,” “Shashlik from Pelmeni,” and much more. For example, the home-made Viagra has garnered almost 100 million views.
Or perhaps you«d like vinaigrette with stewed meat? Or layered kebab? Nikita is a master at that too. He also does product reviews: how to choose quality cheese or truly tasty sausage, for example.
Creating viral content is helped by his beloved wife, who often appears in her husband«s videos.
“Videos with my wife really work, where, for instance, she cooked something, and I say: «Wrong, let me teach you»,” adds Nikita.
Besides original recipes, the guy publishes reviews of establishments in his native Nizhny Tagil and Yekaterinburg, and in the future plans to diversify content even more: “I«m not a cook at all, I»m just a blogger: I film about food and construction.”
“A Cook«s Work Is Ungrateful”
The guy is already recognized on the streets, not only in his native Nizhny Tagil but all over Russia. In May 2025, he starred in the popular culinary show “Battle of the Chefs” on the “Friday!” TV channel. The producers of the project found him on social media:
“I shot a video presentation and, of course, got very nervous. One thing is when my wife films at home, and another is when there are so many cameras. I need to gain experience.”
On the program, Nikita joined the team of pastry chef Renat Agzamov—Konstantin Ivlev refused the participant.
“I brought eskimo-kholodets and Caesar salad. He liked the salad, but the eskimo didn«t have time to set. At the second stage, I was worried I wouldn»t have time to prepare dough for chebureks, and took ready-made. I didn«t manage to advance further,” shares the culinary enthusiast.
For the program with Ivlev, Nikita prepared thoroughly: for two months, he worked in the best restaurant in Nizhny Tagil. However, over time, he realized that this was not at all what he wanted to do: the work turned out to be very hard.
“I went to work in a restaurant for an experiment and understood that I don«t want to work in this field. The work is ungrateful, always on your feet: no sitting down, no eating properly. It seems that in restaurants, cooks eat all day, but in reality, it»s not so,” explains the blogger.
Nikita«s ambitions didn»t end there: before the New Year, he went to Andrey Malakhov«s show.
“We just talked about New Year traditions and prepared an unusual signature salad with mandarins,” says Nikita.
Nikita hopes that in the foreseeable future, he can engage only in blogging—it brings in decent money. But for now, he«s playing it safe:
“I«m still working, but planning to leave. Blogging is the main income, but there»s a safety cushion in the form of other jobs. I also work as a marketer. I want to master video at a professional level.”
