Georgian khachapuri in small town USA...:)
I continue to plan for the big journey in autumn, and discovered that a Georgian bakery recently opened in my home town of Manassas, Virgina. It's a real tragedy that there are no Georgian restaurants in the Washington, DC area, only Russian eateries. To compare Russian and Georgian cuisine to me is pointless, because they are different in my view, and certainly to my taste buds. I remember tasting Georgian food for the first time in St. Petersburg, some type of spicy chicken dish covered in a decadent and delicious sauce. Then, the waiter brought chacha and some hot bread which the entire table devoured. I visited the bakery yesterday, called MamaAchma's, with the hope of having a similar meal, but alas, there is still no decent Georgian dining options in my area. :(( The small cafe had almost no food choices, but there was one good thing...
As soon as I walked through the door, the owners came from behind the counter, introduced themselves and greeted me with warm smiles. They began to tell me about the small bakery, their Georgian roots, and then a long discussion about my love for travel and my prior trips to Russia and former Soviet bloc countries took place. Here's the husband, Igor, a former journalist in Georgia and in the USA. When he grew tired of the profession, he decided to open this small bakery which sits in an ordinary strip mall in my home town. His wife works for the U.S. government, and didn't want to be photographed. In such situations, sometimes it's better to not ask what the "work" is, because it may be classified or secretive in nature. :) She didn't even tell me her name.
2. The house specialty is achma, not surprising given the bakery's name. Igor's wife proceeded to give me detailed instructions on how to make the dish at home. Perhaps I'll try it and write a post about the process and results. Seems pretty simple to me.
3. Other than the achma, they basically sell khachapuri in big, round pies and individual boats stuffed with mushrooms or chicken. The wife made me a whole pie from scratch, baked it and brought it to my table steaming hot. Price is about $20, which seems expensive to me.
4. Who doesn't like warm bread stuffed with hot, creamy cheese? It was tasty, but so huge and I ate only one piece. Btw, remember all the comments about paper plates in my post about Thanksgiving? Here you can see that in a casual cafe like this, paper plates are also used to serve food to customers. Completely ordinary in America.
5. There were no other customers at the bakery, except these two ladies. I can't imagine there is a big demand for Georgian cuisine in a small town like Manassas, which is filled primarily with immigrants from Central America and Mexico. The other guests were from Russia or some former Soviet bloc country because they spoke Russian with the owners the entire time.
6. The bakery offers only a few other sweet treats, but they are just usual bakery items and nothing related specifically to Georgian cuisine.
7. I wish Igor and his wife luck! I hope they continue to expand the business and the food offerings there. Until then, I will have to wait until I visit the country to eat a proper Georgian meal again. :(
What's your favorite Georgian dish? To me this cuisine is much more interesting and tasty than Russian food...About my hometown of Manassas, you can read here.