Why Tbilisi
Georgia sits at a crossroads that's been producing some of the world's most interesting food for 8,000 years. The wine is natural before natural wine was cool. The bread comes out of a clay oven called a tone. The dumplings — khinkali — are architectural.I went for three days in September and stayed for six.
Day one: The basics
Start at Shavi Lomi in Vera neighbourhood. It's not in the old city and it's not cheap by Georgian standards, but it's the best introduction to what Georgian food can be when someone is paying close attention.Order the Sulguni cheese salad, the bean-stuffed lobiani bread, and whatever fish they have that day. Drink the amber wine. Order more bread.
The khinkali question
Everyone has an opinion on where to get the best khinkali. The correct answer is: the place your taxi driver goes on his lunch break.My taxi driver took me to a canteen near the Dezerter Bazaar with plastic chairs and a laminated menu. Twelve khinkali for four lari. I ate sixteen.
The technique: hold from the top (the knot is not eaten), bite a small hole in the side, drink the soup inside first, then eat the rest. Anyone who tells you differently has never eaten them correctly.
What to buy at the bazaar
The Dezerter Bazaar is where Tbilisi does its actual shopping. Go early.Look for: churchkhela (walnut strings dipped in grape must, better than it sounds), dried herbs you won't find at home, fresh tkemali (sour plum sauce), and the small hard cheese that comes wrapped in cloth.
Don't buy the tourist khachapuri. Walk two streets away and get the real one.
Getting there
Ryanair and Wizz Air both fly direct from several European cities. Georgia is visa-free for most Western passports. The lari is cheap. The guesthouses are warm and serve breakfast that will ruin hotel breakfasts for you forever.Go before everyone else figures it out.