In Georgia, visitors are considered gifts from God. Georgians like to call them okros stumrebi – “golden guests” – an endearment demonstrating the stature the ever-hospitable Georgians give to those they host. Nowhere is this reverence for hospitality more palpable than Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital. As the city sheds its Soviet past, abandoned factories have been converted into modern bistros, crumbling yellow terraces open out to leafy organic wine bars, and cracking a bottle of wine is met with a hearty toast to ‘the land, the food, the people’. And the food you ask? You can taste the world in the local dishes. Their traditional flatbread is baked in clay ovens, similar to a tandoor, and khinkali, broth-filled dumplings, rival Hong Kong’s. There’s a host of young chefs forging a retelling of Georgian culinary traditions, and several winemakers are bringing back the 8,000-year-old kvevri method of production, which involves storing wine in clay vessels underground. But while the city’s contemporary offerings are on the rise, there is a humble quality and a love of communal dining that runs through its old and new venues, underpinned by that most Georgian of experiences: sharing a meal with family and friends. And perhaps a couple of golden guests.
EAT
Set in a rambling wooden house lined with batik wall hangings and bright pink and orange lampshades – arriving at Shavi Lomi feels like stepping foot into the home of an illustrious 19 th century painter (albeit one who is also a very good cook). The iconic Georgian eatery was founded by chef Meriko Gubeladze, credited with spearheading the renaissance of the Georgian cuisine after Soviet rule. Order the Ghobi, an enormous wooden bowl packed with appetisers – jonjoli, a cheese assortment, phkali (beet, walnut and spinach paste), pickles, beans, cornbread and other delights – setting the tone for a proper supra (feast).
A stream of hungry locals pile through the door at Retro, an unassuming bakery in Tbilisi’s Saburtalo district. Weary parents and kids on the school pickup, tradesmen clocking off work, university students between lectures: they’re all here to get their fix of the lip-smacking Adjara Khatchapuri. A canoe-shaped slab of supple dough loaded with gooey cheese and topped with a raw egg, plus a healthy gob of butter, this is holy grail of comfort food. Dive in with your hands, ripping off pieces of crust and mopping up the molten mess of cheese, egg and butter.
We all experience Shemomechama, even if we can’t say it. It usually comes on around 4pm on Christmas Day, when you are bursting at the seams but plough through three more courses at an unrelenting pace. Roughly translating to ‘I unintentionally ate the whole thing’, it’s a fitting name for this hole-in-the-wall diner specialising in Khinkali - traditional Georgian dumplings, filled with minced beef, lamb, cheese or potatoes. Hot tip: pierce the side of the dumpling with your teeth and slurp up the juices, before biting down into the tender, fragrant filling.
“This place has made a big change in people’s lives,” local Tbilisi resident Nodar tells us, as we stroll into Fabrika, a former sewing factory turned urban hub for food, art, and fashion. “It’s injected a bit of colour into this part of town.” He’s not wrong there. Emblazoned with giant wall murals and endless streams of bunting, its central courtyard features numerous cafes and bars, as well as artist studios, a record store and a barbershop. Swing into Moulin Electrique for a cappuccino and crepes, enjoyed al fresco beneath a giant glittering disco ball.
Giorgi Iosava had just started on the well-worn Georgian path of law school when the culinary arts started calling his name. After more than a decade of study and stints at several esteemed Tbilisi kitchens, he realised his dream, opening Salobie Bia in 2017 with his wife Natalia Buskhrikidze, and sous chef Gari Saakian. The handwritten menu takes you on a mouthwatering tour of Georgia’s regional dishes, including the eponymous lobio (bean stew).
With its purple neon signage, pinball machines and funk music blasting through the speakers, good times are par for the course at Lolita—a modern bistro set in a soviet-era boarding house, once home to some of Tbilisi’s most prominent cultural and artistic figures. Dishes like burgers, mac & cheese and wood-fired pizza dominate the versatile day-to-night menu, complemented by an impressive cocktail list.
Located in a former wine factory, Veriko is a modern Georgian eatery surrounded by lush gardens in Tbilisi’s central Vera district. Grab a table on the wide, sunny veranda and order a pkhali to start (traditional vegetable dips including pumpkin, paprika, beetroot, and homemade cottage cheese), followed by the roast chicken in blackberry sauce.
DRINK
In the heart of Old Tbilisi, Café Littera is a refined café-cum-bar tucked into the leafy courtyard garden of the Georgian Writers’ House. Lounge beneath the towering palm trees and savour a Saakashvili Sidecar, a take on the classic cocktail using local brandy.
Step down into the cosy cellar at Vino Underground. A oenophilia’s haven in the historic Sololaki neighborhood, it features more than 100 family-produced, organic Georgian wines. Ask for the Tsitska Nahkshirgele, a distinctive tannin-infused, amber coloured wine.
Continue your love affair with Georgian wine at 8000 vintages, an immaculate wine library- cum-bar. Swirl and sniff your way through hundreds of varietals, like Kapistoni Winery’s Chinebuli: a full-bodied white featuring spring cherry blossom aromas and notes of green apple.
Art-Café Home is a labour of love for owner Giorgi Kekelidze, who converted his late father’s home into a bohemian four-storey bar. It has all the ambience you would expect: plenty of antiques, plant life, creative clientele, plus a rooftop strung with twinkling lights, where local DJs play most nights of the week.
Opened a little over a year ago, Vineria is a modern vinoteca that has its roots firmly planted in tradition. Alongside hundreds of qvevri wines the cavernous space offers a cinema focussed on viticulture flicks and a replica of a traditional wine cellar.
WHERE TO STAY
STAMBA HOTEL – housed in a soviet-era publishing house, this design-centric hotel impresses with its glass-bottomed rooftop pool and curb-side Café Stamba stambahotel.com
ROOMS HOTEL – with rich fragrant leather, mood lighting and velvety textures, this regal property combines the sophistication of 1930s New York with old world Tbilisi charm roomshotel.com/tbilisi
MOXY TBILISI – futuristic design pairs with high-tech yet petite rooms, plus bright, open social areas for entertainment including music, talks and cinema marriott.com