Georgian Cuisine in the US
Bego and Company by Niko Pirosmani. 1907. Oil, Oilcloth. Art Museum of Georgia (AMG), Tbilisi, Georgia.
Migration is not simply about the movement of humans, but the transformation of cultures through language, art, music, and of course, food. Georgian cuisine is unique, and its uniqueness emerged from its cultural exchange with the Middle East, China, Central Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Furthermore, Georgian cuisine is at once national, regional (Caucasian), and global. Georgian dishes and wines were always known to travelers, missionaries, and occupiers. However, it was not until the 20th century, with the expansion of travel across the Atlantic by ship and plane, that Georgian food and wine reached the shores of the United States. When immigrants came to the United States, they brought their own dishes with them – they promoted their own cultures, enriched American cuisine, and found opportunities in the restaurant trade. But the integration of foreign dishes into American cuisine —whether Georgian, Armenian, Jewish, Ethiopian, Chinese, or Italian—is not simply about the fantastic variety it introduces into the American diet, but about the cultural preservation and vitality of the ethnic communities which provide these new culinary traditions.
The Supra — Keeping the Community Connected
The supra (or keipi) is at the heart of Georgian food customs and is central to Georgian émigré life in the USA. It is a gathering of friends and family where Georgian dishes and wines serve as a means of communication and embody tradition, promote communion and cement friendships. A supra can last for hours, led by a toastmaster (tamada) who guides the toasts and keeps guests engaged in conversation as well as focused on their food. These feasts foster connections – strangers who sit together at the beginning often leave as friends. The Georgian feasting tradition is critical to preserving Georgian communities in the U.S. It is not a surprise that the Georgians’ domestic culinary skills spilled over into the U.S. restaurant business.
Bego’s Friends by Niko Pirosmani. 1910s. Oil, Oilcloth. State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow, Russia.
Introducing Georgian Cuisine to America
The Georgian Diaspora in the United States is small, and until recently its impact on the American cuisine has been limited. But today, cuisine (not just food) is one of Georgia’s greatest exports to the U.S. It is part of what we might call Georgia’s “soft power.” Georgia has name recognition among the American public for many reasons, but in the last decade its cuisine has become celebrated in U.S. food magazines, on TV shows and websites. Most recently, the popular Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil devoted an episode to the Georgian food scene in Tbilisi (Season 8, Episode 4), and in 2016, Anthony Bourdain featured a number of Georgian restaurants in his popular TV series Parts Unknown. Georgian restaurants are now thriving in almost all major U.S. cities (you can explore them via the interactive map provided on the website of the Georgian Association in the USA).
Recognition of Georgian cuisine in the U.S. began in the 1960s with Helen Papashvily (neé Waite), who married Giorgi Papashvily, a Georgian émigré and sculptor, in 1933. Both had literary success with their joint novel Anything Can Happen (1945), which focused on Giorgi’s early experience as an immigrant in the U.S. It later became a popular film in 1952 starring José Ferrer. In 1969, the Papashvilys wrote a popular book on Russian, Ukrainian and Georgian cooking, published by Time-Life Editors. Called Russian Cooking, it introduced Georgian cuisine to American readers, but the title suggested Georgian food was still part of the Russian world.
Giorgi and Helen Waite-Papashvily. National Parliamentary Library of Georgia.
Internet Archive. Anything Can Happen, 1948. George Papashvily and Helen Waite Papashvily.
Russian Cooking (Foods of the World Series) by Time Life Editors, 1969. George Papashvily and Helen Waite Papashvily.
It was not until 1993 that the first U.S. cookbook entirely devoted to Georgian cooking was published. Darra Goldstein’s The Georgian Feast combined family recipe story-telling with the geographical history of Georgian food. It was a wildly successful publication in the US and won a Julia Child award. It was a breakthrough for Georgian cuisine in America.
The Georgian Feast. The Vibrant Culture and Savory Food of the Republic of Georgia, 2018. Darra Goldstein. The University of California Press.
The Georgian Restaurant Business in the USA
Georgian restaurants in the U.S. were rare before the 2000s. George Machabeli, the famous Georgian perfumier, recalls that the initial Board meeting of what became the Georgian Association in the USA (1932) began in a restaurant called “Sarjveladze’s Cellar.” Little is known about this. In the 1960s through to the 1980s, there was a renowned restaurant on Nob Hill in San Francisco called Alexi’s Tangier. Owned by Alexi Merab (Merabishvili), a Georgian immigrant who arrived from China, it was a magnet for San Franciscoans interested in “exotic” cuisine of the East. The menu included at least two Georgian dishes, Chakhokhbili and a dish called Shish kebab Amirani. Alexi’s son carried on the family business and ran a restaurant called Archil’s, also in San Francisco.
A more recent pioneer of the Georgian restaurant business in the U.S. was the Pirosmani restaurant in New York City, located at 2222 Avenue U in Brooklyn. Founded in 2001 by Manuchar Pirveli (Kachakhidze), it was a community hub for Georgian Jews who arrived in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s after the opening of Soviet-US Détente under President Richard Nixon and General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. Pirosmani lasted 22 years until its closure in April 2023. Pirosmani brought a sense of home to Georgian immigrants in New York City for over two decades. Guests recall the restaurant’s murals inspired by the early 20th century Georgian painter Niko Pirosmani.
Pirosmani restaurant, NYC. Owned by Manuchar Pirveli. 2001-2023.
Alexis' Tangier Postcard. 1200 California Street, San Francisco. "Dining and cocktails in exotic continental elegance. Located atop Nob Hill in The City by The Golden Gate."
Pirosmani introduced Americans to Khachapuri, Khinkali, Pkhali, Badrijani nigvzit, and traditional Georgian wines made from unique grape varieties like Saperavi and Rkatsiteli. After Georgia’s independence in 1991, with the borders now open for young professionals, business people, and students, many left Georgia for opportunities in the New World. The restaurant business, as it had done for generations of U.S. immigrants before the Georgians arrived, provided a great opportunity for Georgian entrepreneurs. There are now over 90 Georgian restaurants in the U.S. as listed on the interactive map available on the website of the Georgian Association in the USA.
Georgian Restauranters and Vintners
As part of our exploration of Georgian food in the USA and how it contributes to the maintenance of the Georgian Diaspora in the US, the Georgian Diaspora project team interviewed a number of Georgian restaurateurs and vintners who have established themselves successfully in the U.S. The interviews examine personal immigrant stories but also the ways in which these personal stories connect to the larger narrative of the Georgian Diaspora. Here are the links to the full interviews.
The Story of Chama Mama
The Georgian Diaspora project at Harvard interviewed Tamara Chubinidze about her chain of Georgian restaurants in New York City, called Chama Mama. Tamara emigrated to the U.S. from Georgia in 1996. She was fifteen. She termed her first restaurant a “love letter to the motherland.” There are now three Chama Mama restaurants in Brooklyn Heights, Chelsea, and the Upper West Side in New York City. Like many Georgian restaurants in the U.S., Chama Mama eateries are more than just a place to eat – they are a cultural hub. Each restaurant promotes Georgian food and hospitality in the US, but also popularizes Georgian culture. They are a place for Georgians to connect in the vast and often fragmented urban terrain of New York City. Tamara Chubinidze’s story explores the links between her life in both her homelands in Georgia and the US, and the way in which they interrelate.
The Story of Saami Somi and its Tribute to the Legacy of Post-Soviet Culinary Experience
In recent years, Georgian bakeries have emerged as another key element of the culinary landscape of the Georgian-US scene. These bakeries offer essential staples of Georgian cuisine, such as shoti puri, khachapuri, lobiani, and a variety of sauces like tqemali and ajika. They serve the Georgian immigrant community with familiar ingredients but have also gained great popularity among non-Georgians. Their vegan-friendly and vegetarian offerings have made them particularly appealing for those interested in plant-based culinary traditions. The focus of our interview with Michael and Donna Kolodesh is on the Georgian communities in US cities other than NYC (in this case Philadelphia), and on the experience of second generation Georgians. Michael and Donna Kolodesh tell a fascinating story of how they grew up in Philadelphia in a Russo-Georgian community, and how they reconnected with their Georgian roots through their activity as restauranters. Diasporas are multigenerational, with each generation linked to their original homelands in different ways. In this case we look at the connections between Philadelphia, Georgian food, and Tbilisi, through the eyes of two young entrepreneurs who grew up in the mixed immigrant community of Philadelphia.
Bringing Wine to the US
Big Marani in the Forest by Niko Pirosmani. c. 1895-1903. Oil painting on tin-plate. Art Museum of Georgia (AMG), Tbilisi, Georgia.
An inseparable part of the Georgian cuisine and hospitality, Georgian wine, plays an instrumental role in introducing Georgian culture in the United States. Mamuka Tsereteli, the founder of Georgian Wine House, has been involved in the wine import business since 2005. In his interview, Tsereteli speaks about his immigration experience as a diplomat in 1994, leading to his involvement in the America Georgia Business Council, Georgian Association in the USA and Georgian Wine House. Tsereteli has given fascinating seminars on the role and significance of Georgian wine varietals, such as The History and Politics of Georgian Wine at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.