GEORGIA ON MY MIND IF YOU'RE RUSSIAN, THIS MIGHT BE DOWN-HOME COOKING.Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic They have this great arrangement at Tbilisi, a Georgian Russian restaurant in Encino. A few steps away, in the little shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into that showcases Tbilisi as the anchor business, sits the Helati market. It sells meats, groceries, deli items and baked goods imported from and/or produced domestically in the style of Georgia and other parts of Russia. Consequently, if anything is needed in a hurry in the Tbilisi kitchen, it's probably only those few steps away. There seems to be a joint ownership situation of sorts. When you pay for a meal with a credit card, the waitress asks you to write the tip on the check before you get the credit slip to sign. When she returns with it, the slip noticeably bears the single total amount and is titled Helati, Inc. In Tbilisi's rectangular dining room, there's the necessary stage (nearly all Russian restaurants feature live entertainment on weekends), commissary-style chairs around squarish tables, green linen napkins folded dramatically into 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic souvenir glasses. The decor features vertical blinds and green swag drapes drape v. draped, drap·ing, drapes v.tr. 1. To cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds: draped the coffin with a flag; a robe that draped her figure. on the windows with one wall of large, colorful paintings by a noted Georgian artist. There's an element of surprise here if you don't speak Russian, but no hesitancy hes·i·tan·cy n. An involuntary delay or inability in starting the urinary stream. of a thoroughly friendly welcome. Ask for Georgian specialties and you'll notice increased pride and interest. But like many lengthy menus these days, not everything is available, and you have to order those missing items before you find out. A Georgian vinegared chicken soup chicken soup Chicken broth Folk medicine Jewish penicillin A fowl broth with a long tradition as a home remedy for URIs, which may be a nasal decongestant, inhibit growth of pneumococci in vitro, and stimulate immune responsiveness in WBCs Mainstream medicine A called chikhirtma ($4.99), a Georgian stuffed meat offering named kupati ($12.99) and the familiar Russian dish chicken Kiev ($9.99) have been among the missing. But hearty Georgian-style culinary enjoyment has been experienced in the form of khachapuri ($8.99) a really good, tart cheese pie dubbed ``Georgian-style pizza'' but more like a calzone cal·zo·ne n. A baked or fried Italian turnover of pizza dough filled with vegetables, meat, or cheese. [Italian, pant leg, calzone, from calza, sock, from Vulgar Latin *calcea ; a fried Georgian suluguni (string) cheese appetizer ($6.99) that lies somewhere between the mozzarella moz·za·rel·la n. A mild white Italian cheese that has a rubbery texture and is often eaten melted, as on pizza. [Italian, diminutive of mozza, a cut, mozzarella, from mozzare, of mozzarella marinara ma·ri·na·ra adj. Being or served with a sauce of tomatoes, onions, garlic, and spices: spaghetti marinara. n. Marinara sauce. and the Greek flaming cheese known as saganaki Saganaki (Greek σαγανάκι) is a salty and aromatic cheese-based Greek appetizer of fried or broiled cheese. The cheese used is usually Kefalograviera, Kasseri, or sheep milk Feta cheese. ; and an especially rewarding recipe of a curried eggplant roll ($5.99) typically Georgian in the use of walnut paste, served cold as an appetizer. If it's peanuts in America's Georgia, it's walnuts in Russia's Georgia. A walnut paste of sorts also appears in a more saucelike manner in a cool Georgian chicken starter plate called satsivi ($7.99). To munch with either of these walnut-enhanced appetizers or the restaurant's gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. soups, there's a freshly baked warm loaf of delicious shoti puri Georgian bread delivered to dinner patrons at no charge. Those soups, by the way, include a fulfilling bowl of beet and cabbage borscht ($4.99) or a spicy, meaty, rice soup called khartcho ($4.99). Like many Eastern European entrees, Georgia's main courses are often stewlike casseroles. Chakhohbili ($8.99) is chicken in a well-seasoned tomato sauce. Tbilisuri ($10.99) comes forth as cubes of beef in a similar sauce, both with added vegetables. A satisfying surprise arrives one evening as a Georgian lamb entree called chakapuli ($12.99). Along with rice pilaf and a cold cabbage salad - the accompaniments to most main courses here - a ceramic hotpot on the plate is put down sizzling siz·zle intr.v. siz·zled, siz·zling, siz·zles 1. To make the hissing sound characteristic of frying fat. 2. To seethe with anger or indignation. 3. and steaming. Inside the pot are chunks of lamb, onions and mixed greens, a nourishing, homey melange mé·lange also me·lange n. A mixture: "[a] building crowned with a mélange of antennae and satellite dishes" Howard Kaplan. that should quickly appease any hungry diner who happens to order it. Tbilisi's piroshki pi·rozh·ki also pi·rosh·ki pl.n. Small Russian pastries filled with finely chopped meat or vegetables, baked or fried. [Russian, pl. ($2.50 each), stuffed with either meat or potato, are much bigger but somewhat cumbersome in comparison to the ones Elizabeth Taylor supposedly sent home to L.A. while filming ``Cleopatra.'' But they're no less flavorful. As for endings here, the Georgian-style cake or cakes du jour ($2.50 per order) are definitely worth trying. And yes, a superbly light, fluffy, cranberry and mocha-flavored layered cake contained that Russian-Georgian staple - walnuts. Tbilisi. Where: 18000 Ventura Blvd., Encino. When: Open for lunch noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. nightly except Monday. Recommended items: Soups, eggplant roll, fried suluguni (string) cheese, chicken in walnut sauce, piroshki, khachapuri cheese pie, chicken or beef in spicy tomato sauce, chakapuli lamb and onion hotpot with greens, cranberry-walnut mocha Mocha (mō`kə), town (1990 est. pop. 2,000), S Yemen, a port on the Red Sea. It was noted for the export of the coffee to which it gave its name but declined as a trading port in the late 19th cent. with the rise of Hodeida and Aden. layered cake. How much: Starters and salads from $2.50 to $11, entrees from $9 to $15, desserts $2.50 each. Prix-fixe lunch $6.99. MC, V. Wine list: No alcohol license. Reservations: Taken. Needed in advance for large parties, especially on weekends. Call (818) 996-3718 or (818) 344-0466. Our rating: Three stars for food; Three stars for service. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Boris Mikhelson, owner of Tbilisi, holds a plate of eggplant rolled in walnut paste and herbs, left, and a Georgian salad. John Lazar/Staff Photographer |
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