The table
Georgian food and wine basics
A first-timer's guide to the Georgian table: vegetarian dishes, bread and cheese, wine from clay jars, and what a vegetarian dinner night covers.
Book the Tbilisi dinner and dance night ↗Quick answer
Georgian food is easier on vegetarians than most cuisines, built on field greens, beans, cheeses, eggplant with walnuts and bread, with meat dishes beside them. Its wine is made in buried clay jars called qvevri, a method UNESCO listed in 2013. The Tbilisi dinner night serves a vegetarian dinner with homemade wine, lemonade and water.
The vegetarian side of the table
Georgia's tourism administration calls Georgian cuisine heaven for vegetarians and vegans. In spring, field greens such as nettles, goosefoot and purslane become pkhali, made into patties with oil and walnuts or simply chopped with salt and vinegar. Fresh eggplant with walnuts, the administration says, is a delicacy of the supra and is made all year. Coriander, which it calls the major seasoning of Georgian cooking, flavours both the vegetable and the meat dishes. The dinner on the Tbilisi night is vegetarian, so this is the part of the cuisine that matters most for it.
Bread and cheese
Khachapuri is leavened bread filled with cheese, sometimes with eggs or other ingredients, and Wikipedia calls it Georgia's national dish. The tradition of khachapuri was entered on Georgia's list of intangible cultural heritage in 2019. Darra Goldstein, who wrote a book on the Georgian feast, suggests it probably dates to the 12th century. Shoti is a different loaf: Wikipedia describes it as traditional Georgian bread made of white flour, shaped like a canoe and baked on the inside wall of a clay oven, more popular on celebrations such as Easter, Christmas and weddings.
Where the meat is
A restaurant table of your own is where the meat dishes live. Wikipedia lists notable dishes from Kakheti, among them mtsvadi, meat cooked over fire; chakapuli, a soup of tarragon and lamb or sheep; khinkali, dumplings filled with meat and herbs; khashlama, boiled beef or lamb; and khashi, boiled meat often eaten after a supra. Georgia's tourism administration adds that every region has a defining dish, so the cooking changes as you move across the country. Some travellers who book the hosted night say a meat option would help; this is why. Ajapsandali, a ragout of eggplants, potatoes and tomatoes, comes from the same Kakheti list and needs no meat at all.
Wine in clay
Georgian wine is made in qvevri, large egg-shaped clay vessels buried in the ground. UNESCO describes pressing the grapes, pouring the juice with skins, stalks and pips into the qvevri, sealing it and letting the wine ferment for five to six months. Wikipedia adds that among the most unusual and archaic Georgian wines is the white wine of Kakheti, also called orange or amber wine, which is macerated for months with skins, seeds and stems in a buried qvevri. UNESCO inscribed the method in 2013. Georgia's tourism administration says wine in clay vessels has an 8,000-year history.
Chacha and churchkhela
Two by-products of the wine harvest show up on Georgian tables. Chacha is the grape brandy distilled from the pomace left in the qvevri after pressing. Churchkhela is a Kakhetian sweet made from grape juice, wheat flour and walnuts, which Georgia's tourism administration compares to an energy bar. Neither belongs to the dinner night, whose drinks are wine, lemonade and water, but both show why a wine-region day trip, with its family cellars, is a natural next step.
Eating and drinking on the hosted night
The ticket covers a vegetarian Georgian dinner, homemade wine at half a litre each, lemonade and water. If you do not drink alcohol, lemonade and water are included. Food allergies rule the ticket out, so decide before you book. If you want to try meat dishes such as khinkali or mtsvadi, add a separate restaurant meal on another night. The hosted evening gives you the vegetarian half of the table and the company of strangers; the rest of the menu is a second evening.
Frequently asked questions
Is Georgian food vegetarian-friendly?
Very. Georgia's tourism administration calls Georgian cuisine heaven for vegetarians and vegans, with field-green pkhali, beans, cheeses and eggplant with walnuts among its staples.
What is qvevri wine?
Wine fermented in a buried egg-shaped clay vessel, sealed for five to six months. UNESCO listed the method in 2013.
Does the Tbilisi dinner night include meat?
No. The dinner is vegetarian, with homemade wine, lemonade and water included. For meat dishes, book a restaurant table of your own.
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