Georgian Restaurant Supra in Washington D.C.
By Mariam Chanishvili
Tuesday, November 7
Georgian restaurant debuts in Washington D.C. on November 7th. The founders of the restaurant are local citizens – Jonathan Nelms and Laura Dunleavy Nelms.
The restaurant’s chef is going to be Malkhaz Maisashvili, the former chef of the Embassy of Georgia in Washington, who also has over 25 years of experience preparing Georgian food. He has been actively working on the menu which will include Khachapuri, Khinkali, Satsivi, spinach with walnuts, green beans, etc.
The restaurant is located on 1205 11th Street NW in Washington D.C. The restaurant will be designed for 136 guests and the interior will be filled with Georgian traditional elements
The whole interior will be filled with a couple hundred wines from Georgia, which is thought to be one of the first wine producers in the world. Labels include Orgo and Pheasant’s Tears as well as smaller, family-owned operations like Naotari.
The restaurant has caused a lot of excitement among the blogs and websites.
Eater.com has included “Supra” on their list of The 16 Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings of fall 2017 in August.
According to Eater.com, Nelms, who fell in love with Georgian cuisine as an exchange student in Moscow (where he fondly recalls Georgian food being “as common as Mexican and Italian restaurants are here”), believes D.C. has never been more ready for Supra.
Nelms describes the cuisine as “an incredible combination of Silk Road food” that borrows from Asia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East: accessible, he says, “but not like anything else you’ve had.”
While the working relationship of the Nelms and the chef is a new one, they go way back: A few years ago, the Nelms went to Georgia for their anniversary and dined at Maisashvili’s restaurant.
“Thanks to first-time restaurateur Jonathan Nelms and Georgian chef Malkhaz Maisashvili, the city will have the chance to do a deep dive into the world of Georgian cuisine beyond the iconic boat-shaped cheese bread,” stated Eater.com
The Washington Post has also showed interest in Supra Restaurant.
“When readers ask me what Washington lacks, my wish list often includes the cuisine of Georgia. That’s about to change with the expected arrival of Supra, whose name refers to a Georgian feast, at 1205 11th St. NW,” stated The Washington Post.
“Supra means "celebratory feast" and we hope to turn every night at the restaurant into a celebration of Chef Maisashvili's take on traditional Georgian dishes!” stated Supra Restaurant’s Facebook page.
