Show-Stopping Bread from Georgia

Published on Monday, July 19, 2010, by Mark Hokoda / Edit Post

The stuff ChiefHDB's recent dreams are made of is a buttery round of bread, filled with cheese and crowned with a raw egg and yet more butter. That’s the Georgian acharuli khachapuri at Pirosmani in Brooklyn, and it left him sated but not speechless: "I don't think you can make something more perfectly decadent than this khachapuri. What more could you possibly want? What more could you possibly need?"

It was the big winner of a blowout spread that the Chief recounts through a honey-pepper vodka haze. Breads were front and center, as you might expect at a Georgian restaurant. Shotis puri was a crusty and awesome thing, "a long, thin bread that looks like it swallowed a football." (But imeruli khachapuri was an overly buttery misfire.)

Balancing out the starch were badrijani, eggplant filled with a crunchy walnut-and-herb paste; lobio, fresh-tasting kidney beans with walnuts; and a dill-scented salad of cucumber, tomato, and parsley. Mtsvadi (lamb and pork skewers) were grilled to a great smoky char, a nice match for the sweet/sour plum sauce that came on the side. And khinkali, dumplings filled with beef, pork, and broth, posed a daunting challenge. "The goal," says the Chief, "is apparently to not lose any of the broth. I failed miserably by sending an explosion of it over my plate (blame the vodka)."

Pirosmani [Sheepshead Bay]
2222 Avenue U (between E. 22nd and 23rd streets), Brooklyn
718-368-3237

Discuss: Pirosmani for Georgian?

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  • Don't get me wrong, it was definitely sweet, I just have an aversion to too much of that black licorice flavor. There's a pic of it on the post from my blog: http://lawandfood.blogspot.com/2010/07/pirosmani-stalin-would-approve.html

    Anything that has more people discovering this great food culture would be a terrific idea. The problem is getting the people in the kitchen to think/move beyond...+READ

    Don't get me wrong, it was definitely sweet, I just have an aversion to too much of that black licorice flavor. There's a pic of it on the post from my blog: http://lawandfood.blogspot.com/2010/07/pirosmani-stalin-would-approve.html

    Anything that has more people discovering this great food culture would be a terrific idea. The problem is getting the people in the kitchen to think/move beyond their ethnic enclaves, which (broad generalization here) would typically occur with 2nd and 3rd generations of emigrants. Right now, the majority of this food is confined to certain neighborhoods in Brooklyn and is geared towards people from that area, save for some adventurous CH'ers. It was really only my luck of travelling with some friends who'd spent time in Georgia and knew the language that we were able to get the full experience in the first place.-COLLAPSE

  • ChiefHDB - ah, too bad the Tarkhun (tarragon soda) was the sweet stuff. the original recipe is herbaceous and refreshing. i am an expat Nyer living in Moscow, and Georgian food is by far the greatest culinary offering from Eastern Europe.

    here;s a question - what would you think of upscale Georgian in NYC? think georgian inspired plates, respectful of the originals, but pushed a little...+READ

    ChiefHDB - ah, too bad the Tarkhun (tarragon soda) was the sweet stuff. the original recipe is herbaceous and refreshing. i am an expat Nyer living in Moscow, and Georgian food is by far the greatest culinary offering from Eastern Europe.

    here;s a question - what would you think of upscale Georgian in NYC? think georgian inspired plates, respectful of the originals, but pushed a little farther, refined...-COLLAPSE

  • Marco, thanks for the clarification (I'm still a Georgian food neophyte). I too have seen about fifty different spellings for khachapouri.

    Also, we did have the tarragon soda, definitely not my thing-- way too strong on the licorice.

    Everything at Pirosmani was fantastic, though, I highly recommend it.

  • the honey pepper vodka is called "pertsovka". there are many variants of hachipuri (and ways to spell it in English) - they are all magical. One of the most profoundly used herbs in Georgian food is Tarragon. In Georgian "tarkhun" - -they make a bright green soda from it, it gets chopped into a filling for a hachipuri variant.

    as for the Lobio - -you did not describe it well. Lobio is a cold...+READ

    the honey pepper vodka is called "pertsovka". there are many variants of hachipuri (and ways to spell it in English) - they are all magical. One of the most profoundly used herbs in Georgian food is Tarragon. In Georgian "tarkhun" - -they make a bright green soda from it, it gets chopped into a filling for a hachipuri variant.

    as for the Lobio - -you did not describe it well. Lobio is a cold paste-like salad that also has many variations - green beans, kidney beans, lots of celantro, cumin and always ground walnuts. served cold, it is so very delicious with a fresh warm bit of flatbread called "lavash".

    Khinkali is a MAGNIFICENT dish. and messy as hell.-COLLAPSE