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Angela Hartnett named Chef of the Year

Angela Hartnett, The Ritz Restaurant, Italy and Maldives were among the big winners at the annual Food and Travel Reader Awards held at London’s Royal Automobile Club

The Food and Travel Reader Awards has been a highlight of the hospitality and travel calendars since its inception in 2012 and this year’s edition lived up to its billing, held once again at the prestigious Royal Automobile Club on Pall Mall. Celebrating the very best from the worlds of food, drink and travel, across 23 categories, restaurants, chefs, hotels, destinations, tour operators, cruise companies and airlines were among those honoured.

Attended by the great and the good of the sectors, Angela Hartnett OBE picked up Chef of the Year, with John Williams MBE and his team at The Ritz Restaurant taking London Restaurant of the Year and also winning the Overall Restaurant of the Year category. Dean Banks at the Pompadour won the award for Restaurant of the Year Outside London and Akwasi Brenya-Mensa took home Breakthrough Chef for his work with Tatale. Hartnett said of her win: “ It’s an absolute honour to receive this award, especially as it was voted for by readers of Food and Travel . A huge thank you to them all and a thank you to the teams at all the restaurants as it’s for all of them as well. It’s a fabulous industry which we all work in. Nothing better.”

Yorkshire’s Grantley Hall won the Rural Hotel of the Year as well as Overall Hotel of the Year, and in the world of travel there were wins for Italy (Short-Haul Destination of the Year), Maldives (Long-Haul Destination of the Year), Emirates (Airline of the Year) and Trailfinders (Tour Operator of the Year). 'The readers voted in their thousands, which makes it very special for every winner and everybody who made the shortlist,' said Alex Mead, Editor-at-Large, Food and Travelmagazine. 'These awards are completely unique because both the shortlist and the winners are voted for by readers and not a panel of judges.'

The Food and Travel Reader Awards were sponsored by ENIT, Investment NSW, Champagne Pommery, AA, Denmaur, Just a Drop and Sailing Club Signature Resort Phu Quoc, with a menu created by three previous award-winning chefs.

Roberta Hall-McCarron served cured halibut, Arbroath smokie, pickled vegetables and chive oil for the starter; José Pizarro delivered ox cheeks, cabbage, potato and mushrooms for the main; and dessert was treacle tart with clotted cream ice cream by Shaun Rankin . All the dishes were expertly matched with wines from New South Wales. The evening raised funds towards charity Just a Drop.

Every shortlisted contender also features in the current issue of Food and Travel magazine, which is the 25 th anniversary edition. The winners’ edition of the magazine is on sale on 27 January, so ensure you get your copy by subscribing at foodandtravel.com/subscribe

The winners

RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

London - WINNER: The Ritz Restaurant THE SHORTLIST: A. Wong; BiBi; Brat; Brawn; Core by Clare Smyth; Fallow; Frog by Adam Handling; The Game Bird; KOL; Mangal II; The Pem; The Ritz Restaurant; Sessions Art Club

Outside London - WINNER: Dean Banks at the Pompadour (Edinburgh) THE SHORTLIST: Dean Banks at the Pompadour (Edinburgh); Forge at Middleton Lodge (Richmond, Yorks); The Glenturret Lalique (Crieff); Hartnett Holder & Co (Lyndhurst); L’Enclume (Cartmel); Moor Hall (Aughton); Outlaw’s New Road (Port Isaac); Raby Hunt (Darlington); Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall (Ripon); Ynyshir (Eglwys Fach)

Newcomer - WINNER: Home by James Sommerin (Penarth) THE SHORTLIST: Holm (South Petherton); Home by James Sommerin (Penarth); Acme Fire Cult; Apricity; Brutto; Caravel; Lisboeta; Manteca; Plaza Khao Gaeng; The Princess Royal; Roketsu (all London)

Timeless classic - WINNER: The Walnut Tree Inn (Llanddewi Skirrid) THE SHORTLIST: Le Gavroche; Pied à Terre; Restaurant Gordon Ramsay; Rochelle Canteen; St John (all London); Northcote (Langho); Restaurant Sat Bains (Nottingham); The Seahorse (Dartmouth); The Sportsman (Whitstable); The Walnut Tree Inn (Llanddewi Skirrid)

OVERALL RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR: The Ritz Restaurant

HOTEL OF THE YEAR

City - WINNER: Claridge’s (London) THE SHORTLIST: Claridge’s; Mondrian Shoreditch; Sea Containers London; The Prince Akatoki (all London); Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel (Edinburgh); Leven (Manchester)

Rural - WINNER: Grantley Hall (Ripon) THE SHORTLIST: Angel Hotel (Abergavenny); Bovey Castle (Dartmoor); Carbis Bay Estate (St Ives); The Double Red Duke; Thyme (both Cotswolds); Eckington Manor (Eckington); Grantley Hall (Ripon); Hipping Hall (Carnforth); Lympstone Manor (Exmouth); The Machrie (Islay); The Newt in Somerset (Bruton)

Gourmet bolthole - WINNER: The Loch & The Tyne (Windsor) THE SHORTLIST: The Black Swan (Oldstead); The Bull Inn (Totnes); The Fox at Oddington (Lower Oddington); House of Jöro (Sheffield); The Loch & The Tyne (Windsor); Moor Hall (Aughton); The Queen’s Arms (Corton Denham); Raby Hunt (Darlington); The Whitebrook (Monmouth)

Bed and breakfast - WINNER: Hooppells Torr (Kingston, Devon) THE SHORTLIST: The Control Tower (Walsingham); Five Acre Barn (Leiston); Hooppells Torr (Kingston, Devon); Raise View (Grasmere); Rocksalt Rooms (Folkestone); Stow House (Leyburn)

International - WINNER: Sani Resort (Greece) THE SHORTLIST: Chablé Yucatán (Mexico); Lefay Resort & Spa Dolomiti (Italy); Post Ranch Inn Big Sur (USA); Saffire Freycinet (Australia); Sani Resort (Greece); Six Senses Douro Valley (Portugal); The Stay Bosphorus (Türkiye); Villa Nai 3.3 (Croatia); Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort (St Lucia)

OVERALL HOTEL OF THE YEAR: Grantley Hall CRUISE LINE OF THE YEAR

River - WINNER: Viking River Cruises THE SHORTLIST: AmaWaterways; Avalon Waterways; Belmond; Scenic River; Uniworld River Cruises; Viking River Cruises

Ocean - WINNER: Oceania Cruises THE SHORTLIST: Celebrity Cruises; Cunard; Oceania Cruises; P&O Cruises; Regent Seven Seas; Seabourn

Boutique/adventure - WINNER: Silversea Expeditions THE SHORTLIST: Aqua Expeditions; Hapag-Lloyd; Hebridean Island Cruises; Scenic Expeditions; Seabourn; Silversea Expeditions; Variety Cruises

OVERALL CRUISE LINE OF THE YEAR: Viking River Cruises

TOUR OPERATOR OF THE YEAR - WINNER: Trailfinders THE SHORTLIST: Caribtours; CV Villas; G Adventures; Inntravel; Inside Asia; Olympic Holidays; Sandals; Sunvil; Trailfinders; Tuscany Now & More; VIP Ski

AIRLINE OF THE YEAR - WINNER: Emirates THE SHORTLIST: easyJet; Emirates; EVA Air; Japan Airlines; Jet2; Pegasus; Qatar Airways; Singapore Airlines; Turkish Airlines

COOKERY SCHOOL OF THE YEAR - WINNER: The Orchards School of Cookery (Evesham) THE SHORTLIST: Ballymaloe Cookery School (Shanagarry, Ireland); Eckington Manor (Eckington); Kent Cookery School (Ashford); The Orchards School of Cookery (Evesham); Petra Kouzina (Greece); Sauce by The Langham (London); Thyme Cookery Classes (Southrop); Vale House Kitchen (Bath); Yorkshire Wolds Cookery School (Driffield)

BREAKTHROUGH CHEF OF THE YEAR - WINNER: Akwasi Brenya-Mensa, Tatale restaurant

Breakthrough Chef is an industry-voted award

SPECIALIST RETAILER OF THE YEAR - WINNER: Bettys (Yorkshire)

THE SHORTLIST: Berry Bros & Rudd; Bettys (Yorkshire); Cheeses of Muswell Hill; HG Walter; (all London); Cockburns of Leith (Edinburgh); The Umbrella Project

BOOK OF THE YEAR - WINNER: Marcus’ Kitchen (Marcus Wareing)

THE SHORTLIST: A Cook’s Book (Nigel Slater); The Dusty Knuckle (Max Tobias); Home Food (Olia Hercules); Live Fire (Helen Graves); Marcus’ Kitchen (Marcus Wareing); On the Himalayan Trail (Romy Gill); Persiana Everyday (Sabrina Ghayour); The Spanish Home Kitchen (José Pizarro); The Weekend Cook (Angela Hartnett)

BAR OF THE YEAR - WINNER: Connaught Bar (London) THE SHORTLIST: A Bar with Shapes for a Name; Artesian; Connaught Bar (all London); Couch (Birmingham); Lab 22 (Cardiff); Nauticus (Edinburgh); Public (Sheffield); Speak in Code (Manchester); Ugly Butterfly Bar (St Ives)

LONG-HAUL DESTINATION OF THE YEAR - WINNER: Maldives THE SHORTLIST: Canada; The Caribbean; Ecuador; Fiji; Japan; Maldives; Namibia; Seychelles; South Africa; South Korea

SHORT-HAUL DESTINATION OF THE YEAR - WINNER: Italy THE SHORTLIST: Austria; Croatia; Denmark; France; Greece; Italy; Malta; Spain; Türkiye

CITY OF THE YEAR - WINNER: Porto THE SHORTLIST: Barcelona; Edinburgh; London; Melbourne; New York; Paris; Porto; Vancouver; Vienna

CHEF OF THE YEAR - WINNER: Angela Hartnett THE SHORTLIST: Robin Gill; Angela Hartnett; Florence Knight; Santiago Lastra; José Pizarro; Simon Rogan; Clare Smyth; Ben Tish; Mitch Tonks

With thanks to ENIT, our lead sponsor for the Food and Travel Reader Awards 2022

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The 7 Food Trends That Defined Travel in 2022

Hotels upped their game this year with better non-alcoholic drink offerings, A-list chef pop-ups, and caviar for all.

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Travel is finding its footing again after three years of pandemic, and it seems as though people couldn’t be happier to get out and explore the world once again.

According to the World Tourism Organization , international tourism has recovered almost 60% of pre-pandemic levels. It added, “The steady recovery reflects strong pent-up demand for international travel as well as the easing or lifting of travel restrictions to date.” 

And as the U.S. Travel Association reported, travelers spent more than they did pre-pandemic in 2022, splurging on once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. That includes plenty of food-filled adventures, too. 

“As more travelers opted to stay in private villas and apartment-style hotel residences this year, private dining experiences were in high demand,” Nina Ruggiero, the digital editorial director at Travel + Leisure , shares. “It's a trend we expect to stick: There's nothing more luxurious than having the hotel chef come to you — and if the meal comes with a cooking class or demonstration, even better. Cooking with an expert is a great way to learn about the local culture, and bringing a recipe home is the souvenir that keeps on giving.” 

Here’s what else was hot in 2022 in the world of travel, but don’t worry. Many of these trends are expected to stick around in 2023 as well. 

Caviar Bumps for Everyone

The last year marked a big one for caviar in the hospitality space. For example, The Inn Above Tide in Sausalito, California, partnered with Deborah Keane, founder of the California Caviar Company and owner of the Bump Bar, to provide guests with a $100 gift card to the restaurant that serves sustainably farmed caviar, along with a Mother of Pearl Palette to take home as a gift. And in the spring of 2022, Caviar Kaspia announced plans to open its first U.S. outpost at The Mark Hotel in New York City, making it possible for guests to hop down for eggs with caviar, pasta with caviar, or blinis topped with caviar any time they wish. 

Champagne Flowing Like Water

Yes, Champagne is a forever favorite, but in 2022, the bubbly drink truly shined at hotels across the globe. In October, the creators of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train announced its plans to launch a luxury barge to travel through Champagne country and partner with Ruinart for the journey. In fact, the company stated that upon boarding, guests will be greeted with "a refreshing flute of Ruinart, the very soul of Champagne and our partner in this adventure."

Meanwhile, the St. Regis Aspen Resort continued its tradition of gathering guests for a ceremonial Champagne sabering to celebrate the transition from the day into night (which happens at 4:45 p.m. during the winter season and 5:15 p.m. during the summer season), and the appropriately named Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa launched the Champagne Chauffeur offering, a bespoke Champagne itinerary based on guests preferences and sightseeing wish list. (Bottle of in-room Champagne included.) 

Low or No Alcohol Make It to the Menu 

Hotels around the world expanded their bar menus to better cater to all guests, including those who do not wish to indulge in alcohol but still want something fun to sip. In late 2021, Hyatt introduced a no-alcohol cocktail program , which introduced delicious cocktails using Ritual Zero Proof and Fever-Tree products in its bars across brands like the Alila, Andaz, Destination by Hyatt, Hyatt Centric, JdV by Hyatt, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, and Thompson Hotels. And, as Skift reported , in 2022, Australia-based QT Hotels & Resorts, partnered with non-alcoholic brand Lyre’s to make non-alcoholic drinks a mainstay across its 10 locations. 

Vegetable-Forward Menus

Hotels and resorts in 2022 showcased their love of fruits and veggies, specifically those grown in their on-site gardens. In the fall, Wildflower Farms, Auberge Resorts Collection opened its doors and allowed guests to roam its 140 acres, including its vegetable gardens and orchards, which the chef uses to source produce for meals. And properties like Prince Waikiki made use of its onsite rooftop garden to spice up everything from meals to cocktails. 

Courtesy of Auberge Resorts Collection

Sustainable Offerings

Hotels also stepped up their sustainable offerings in 2022, including items you may never have considered, like switching to cage-free eggs, which help both guests feel better about their stay and hotels meet the bottom line.

“Simply put, more guests are demanding it. Either for health or humane reasons, a growing segment of the population wants these kinds of food options when they travel,” Sarah Davie, president, Source1 Purchasing, a purchasing technology company, shared with Hotel Business . “Hotels and casinos that choose cage-free eggs have the opportunity to promote that to their guests. Also, we’ve noticed a trend of more hotels charging for their breakfast vs. giving it away. This leads to guests demanding a higher quality product even if the product costs a bit more for the hotel operator to purchase.”

In late 2022, IHG Hotels & Resorts launched a partnership with VietHarvest aimed at reducing food waste and feeding communities most in need in Vietnam. According to a statement, the company explained that via the partnership, IHG will prevent food from hotels going to waste and use it to feed a range of communities via a charity network starting in the Hanoi area.

“Throughout our 6,000 hotels, everyone at IHG is committed to our 10-year responsible business plan, ‘Journey to Tomorrow’, which we’re delivering through a series of ambitious commitments to make a positive difference for our people, communities and planet by 2030,” Rajit Sukumaran, managing director of IHG Hotels & Resorts, South East Asia and Korea, shared in a statement. “However, we can’t do that alone, and our new partnership with VietHarvest will help us in two important areas – improving the lives of 30 million people in our communities around the world, and transforming to a minimal-waste hospitality industry.”

Pop-up Tastings

Creating a special moment is what a hotel stay should be all about, and plenty of brands got on board in 2022 with limited-edition pop-ups. Unique offerings included Goldener Hirsch, Auberge Resorts Collection in Deer Valley, Utah, hosting a one-of-a-kind multi-course mustard dinner with Maille and the brand's mustard sommelier, chef Brandon Collins. Others, like One&Only Palmilla, introduced the Culinary Art Series, a calendar of pop-ups hosted by some of the country’s most celebrated emerging Mexican chefs. 

Outdoor Dining

Last, but certainly not least, is a trend that appeared to become the norm in 2022: outdoor dining. What could have been a mere holdover from the early days of the pandemic has turned into a full-fledged dining model for many hotels and resorts, including plenty of bubble domes for personalized meal experiences and mother-nature-inspired meals at farms like Southall , which offers both outdoor dining at this restaurant and in-room dining in screened in porches, so you never have to be too far from fresh air. 

Want more? Check out what’s expected to trend in travel in 2023 . 

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‘Top Chef’ stars to close Las Vegas Strip pop-up restaurant

In the latest reconnaissance from the Las Vegas food and drink front :

■ Brothers Bryan and Michael Voltaggio , the chefs, restaurateurs and “Top Chef” stars, are concluding Retro by Voltaggio , their one-year culinary residency at Mandalay Bay, on June 29. The ’80s- and ’90s-themed restaurant, in the former Aureole, debuted in May 2022 with nostalgic dishes, décor and vibes. Visit sevenrooms.com/reservations/retromandalaybay for reservations.

■ Spring by China Mama , from the family owners of China Mama and China Mama Express, has opened at 4480 Paradise Road, Suite 700A, in the same center as Ferraro’s Ristorante. The menu showcases spring pancakes, a specialty of northern China, that are wrapped around vegetables, eggs and meats. Among other menu highlights are mapo tofu, crisp duck, guo bao pork (a sweet-and-sour dish) and crisp duck. Visit springbychinamama.com .

■ Dinner has returned to The Buffet at Bellagio , with its seafood dinner service offered from 1 to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. A fresh seafood station features crab legs, tuna poke, ceviche, sushi and jumbo lump crab salad. Cost: $79.99. The buffet continues to serve brunch from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

■ Crush Pad Wine Bar & Bottle Shop is now pouring at 7865 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 105. The wine list is divided between The Classics and The Curious. Classics might include a sparkling wine from the Crémant de Limoux appellation in southern France or a Ken Wright Cellars pinot from the Willamette Valley.

Among the Curious, you might find an Austrian orange wine made from grüner veltliner grapes or a nerello mascalese, a medium-bodied red wine from Sicily. Crush Pad also offers wine classes and tastings. Visit crushpadwinebar.com .

■ La Casa de Juliette Mexican Cocina , created by the team behind the Sand Dollar Lounge and the Sand Dollar Downtown, is planned to open this summer in Centennial Hills at 7585 Norman Rockwell Lane.

Executive chef Eduardo “Lalo” Saavedra , a veteran of the old Charlie Palmer Steak in the Four Seasons, and Gary FX LaMorte ’s Honest Hospitality are collaborating on the menu of modern Mexican dishes. Local art, dark woods and terra cotta walls help compose the interior design. Follow @lacasajuliette_lv on Instagram.

Social Station Kitchen & Cocktails , 10624 S. Eastern Ave., Suite S, Henderson, has launched Meaningful Mondays, in which 10 percent of Monday dinner sales from 5 p.m. until close during the month will be donated to local nonprofits. The inaugural beneficiary for June is Hope for the City, which provides food to folks in need.

Social Station features an indoor dining room, a 10-seat bar and a dining terrace. The recently opened restaurant is a project of Leverage Hospitality Group founded by Kelley Jones , Todd Parmalee and Steve Mannino , longtime friends and industry veterans. Leverage also helped debut Emmitt’s Las Vegas on the Strip in February.

Vegas Vickie’s Cocktail Lounge in Circa has introduced a dozen cocktails inspired by famous movies or lines from movies. The cocktails are $16 to $20 and will be served until September.

Among the drinks are My Cousin Vino (Larceny bourbon, Campari, merlot, egg white, lemon, blood orange syrup), Cat on a Hot Gin Roof (Hendrick’s Gin, Ramazzotti Aperitivo Rosato, St-Germain, yuzu sour, lemongrass, ginger, raspberry) and Get to the Choppa! (Tito’s Vodka, Lillet Blanc, Amaro Montenegro, lemon juice, coconut, purple rice syrup).

After more than 20 years of offering lunch, Table 34 , 600 E. Warm Springs Road, Suite 180, is ending its lunch service (and its recently introduced breakfast service) on Friday to focus on dinner. On Monday, Table 34 begins its new dinner service that runs from 4 to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.

Evan Glusman and Constantin Alexander purchased the restaurant from its previous owners in June 2022, updating the menu, introducing wine and cocktail programs, and significantly remodeling the facade, terrace and interior. Visit table34lasvegas.com .

Chef Tal Ronnen of Crossroads Kitchen is joining with celebrated chef couple Ali and Jet Tila to present A Pan-Asian Pop-Up Dinner on July 1, with seatings from 5 to 10 p.m. The six-course menu features mesclun greens and oroblanco citrus, tom kha gai, maki sushi roll, dim sum, drunken noodles and green matcha sponge cake. Cost: $85. Reservations: OpenTable.

Email tips, questions or feedback to [email protected] .

©2024 Las Vegas Review-Journal. Visit reviewjournal.com.. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

KCI Airport Terminal wins ‘best concessions’ award

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Local flavors from Kansas City-area restaurants and companies takes home international honors.

The locally inspired concession program at KCI Airport won the Richard A. Griesbach Award. The award is the highest honor given to airport concessions, according to Vantage Airport Group.

There are nearly 50 food and shopping locations inside the terminal. Those businesses include 80% that are local to the region.

“By giving travelers a true taste of Kansas City, we have created a unique airport experience that demonstrates our commitment to hospitality, quality, and Kansas City culture,” Melissa Cooper, Kansas City’s Director of Aviation, said.

ALSO READ: Global Entry app lands at KCI Airport ahead of summer travel season

The terminal also won the Best New News & Gift Concept award for The Market at 18th & Vine.

Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.

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Blast Shelters and Radar Jamming: A Russian City Adapts to War

While in Moscow the fighting feels far away, residents of Belgorod, 25 miles from the border with Ukraine, have learned to duck for cover when the sirens wail.

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By Valerie Hopkins

Photographs by Nanna Heitmann

Reporting from Belgorod, Russia

As Alina waited for the bus that would take her to her family’s weekend house outside Belgorod, she made sure to wait deep inside the concrete shelter built early this year around the stop.

It had been nearly six months since she and her 8-year-old brother, Artem, were almost injured in an attack on Belgorod’s central square, the day before New Year’s Eve, when Alina, 14, had taken him ice skating.

“We were lying down, covering our heads with our hands, opening our mouths slightly and just lying on the floor for a long time,” she said, describing how they hid on the kitchen floor of a restaurant just off the square.

“It was very scary, but I’m used to it by now,” she added. “And I know what to do in such situations.” In the months that followed, she had panic attacks and suffered from anxiety, said her mother, Nataliya, who like several others interviewed for this article asked not to be identified for fear of retribution from the authorities.

In Moscow, another summer has set in, and life is much the same there as it was before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. But Belgorod, 25 miles from the border and once deeply tied to the Ukrainians on the other side, is different . That much is evident pulling into the city’s train station, where hulking concrete shelters like the ones at the bus station appear on the platforms.

Belgorod’s large central square now sits mostly empty, except for security forces guarding the concrete shelters at each corner. The city’s Soviet-era neoclassical theater is flanked with screens playing videos teaching first-aid techniques and instructing passers-by how to call for help if they become stranded in rubble.

The 340,000 residents, some of whom live in range of Ukrainian artillery, say they feel like they are under attack. Ukraine can fire its own weapons across the border but maintains that it aims at only military targets. Until last month, Washington banned Ukrainian forces from using American weapons to hit inside Russia, and then only military installations.

After the Dec. 30 shelling on the square, which killed at least 25 people and wounded about 100 more, the city erected the shelters near all bus stops. In March, during presidential elections, the shelling ramped up once more.

At least 190 people have died in the Belgorod region since the war started, according to the regional governor’s office. That number is small compared with the more than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians the United Nations says have died during the war. Even so, Belgorod and its surrounding region hear air raid sirens and explosions multiple times daily, and while some residents are fatalistic, most locals take the risks seriously.

When the sirens sound, people abandon their cars and file into the shelters, which can accommodate 15 to 20 people. Many complain about a lack of empathy from Moscow, where restaurants are packed and clubs host revelers deep into the night.

“I guess they live on another planet,” said another Belgorod resident, also named Nataliya, 71, referring to Muscovites as she wove nets of army camouflage with her friend Olga, 64.

Every resident has been touched by the war, whether in their own lives or through those of friends and relatives on the other side of the border, where Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, lies only 45 miles away.

“Most people know someone who was killed or injured,” said a 20-year-old lawyer who requested anonymity because of his antiwar stance. He said the regular attacks on the city, suppression of independent information and use of intensive propaganda had bolstered support for the war.

“Half of Belgorod residents are Ukrainians,” he said. “The more things escalated, and people were subjected to propaganda, they developed hatred. And now, of course, the majority is in favor of war.”

People like him, he said, now spend their days with a sense of “quiet horror.”

Tensions in the city have increased in the past month, with Russia’s new offensive toward Kharkiv . The Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, has said that the main objective of the assault is to drive the Ukrainian forces far enough back to put Belgorod and its wider region out of range.

“We warned them against making incursions into our territory, shelling Belgorod and neighboring areas, or else we will be forced to create a security zone,” Mr. Putin said in late May during a news conference.

In the days after the Biden administration dropped its ban on using U.S.-made weapons to strike across the border, a deepfake video circulated showing a State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, seeming to suggest that the city of Belgorod was a legitimate target. The video was a fabrication, but it amplified fears that attacks on the city could escalate.

A member of the territorial defense in Belgorod, a part of the military activated under martial law, showed a collection of Western munition casings he said he had collected around Belgorod’s border areas: the remnants of a Czech-made Vampire rocket; a Polish mine; and the spent casing from an 84-mm projectile for a Carl Gustav recoilless rifle, among other things.

The member, who gave only his call sign, Fil, said he was in favor of creating the “sanitary zone” between Russia and Ukraine that Mr. Putin has called for. Fil seemed to think that, eventually, Ukrainians who came under Russian occupation would come around.

“Before, it was like the whole city of Belgorod was in Kharkiv every weekend,” said Fil of the regular contact between people from the two cities. “There was no difference between us and them.”

He said that, while it would “take some time for ordinary people to get used to it, everyone will live again as they used to.” Those who don’t want to, he added, “will just have to leave.”

Outside the city, farmers have adapted to the state of war. On a recent afternoon, as Andrei, 29, prepared to water a field planted with sunflowers, his tractor was decked out with netting meant to ward off drones. Radar jamming devices were appended to the top.

“A drone attacked a tractor in a nearby village,” he said, shrugging. “It’s just base cruelty.” He wasn’t sure the net could do anything, but it seemed worth trying. He said that once the Kharkiv offensive started, more and more Ukrainian drones were reaching the territory near the border.

Across the region, people are having to come to terms with the life-altering consequences of the war.

Dmitri Velichko recalled that he had been talking with his sister, Viktoriya Potryasayeva, about buying a house somewhere by the seaside. On Dec. 30, the day before the most important family holiday for most Russians, Viktoriya, 35, went out with her daughters, Nastya and Liza, to buy presents for her family, Mr. Velichko said. She got a fancy mixer for her mother, and was waiting for the bus to head home with her daughters when the shelling began.

She was hit by shrapnel and lost so much blood that she died. Liza, who at 8 months old was in a stroller, had to have her left leg amputated. Dmitri’s mother adopted Nastya, age 9, Mr. Velichko said, while he and his wife Olga adopted Liza. After months in the hospital being fed through an IV, Liza had forgotten how to swallow.

“She had to learn everything again,” Mr. Velichko, 38, said.

Liza has learned to crawl and soon she will get a small prosthetic leg so that she will be able to walk.

Back in the concrete shelter at the bus stop, Nataliya, who works in day care, worried about the long term effects of the war on children.

“The kids in day care are just learning to talk, and their first words are ‘Mama, threat of missile strike,’” she said. “We urgently need peace talks. This will not lead to anything good on either side, neither here nor there.”

She added, “We don’t need Kharkiv, why should we seize it?”

Valerie Hopkins covers the war in Ukraine and how the conflict is changing Russia, Ukraine, Europe and the United States. She is based in Moscow. More about Valerie Hopkins

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

News and Analysis

President Biden and the NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, announced that a record number of allies were meeting their military spending commitments  as they sought to present a united front against Russia.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia will visit North Korea  for a meeting with its leader, Kim Jong-un, as the two countries deepen military ties to support Putin’s war in Ukraine with North Korean weapons .

Scores of countries at a two-day summit in Switzerland joined Ukraine in calling for “dialogue between all parties” to end the war , but world leaders were divided on how to engage Russia.

Narrowing Press Freedoms: Journalists in Ukraine say they are subject to increasing restrictions and pressure from the government , adding that the measures go beyond wartime security needs.

Images From the Border: Photographs from two trips along Ukraine’s northeastern border regions, in the months before Russia renewed an offensive there, reveal loss and transformation .

A Russian City Adapts:  While in Moscow the fighting feels far away, residents of Belgorod, 25 miles from the border with Ukraine, have learned to duck for cover when the sirens wail .

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