"When Tamara Chubinidze moved to the United States from Georgia in 1996, people would ask the teenager where she was from. Her response would often elicit a blank stare. Occasionally, someone would vaguely recognize her country of birth, light up, and say, "Oh, that's in Russia, right?" Tamara would be crestfallen. "I was in New York City, a place where diversity rules, and no one knew where my home was," she says over lunch."
"Those experiences inspired Chama Mama, the Georgian restaurant she opened in Chelsea in 2019. "I not only want people to know where and what the Republic of Georgia is, but to really appreciate what we have to offer the world," she says. Since then, Chubinidze's mission has picked up steam. After opening restaurants on the Upper East Side and Brooklyn Heights, she's opening the fourth and fifth locations in Bushwick and Greenpoint this winter."
Tamara Chubinidze emigrated from Georgia in 1996 and founded Chama Mama in Chelsea in 2019 to introduce Georgian cuisine to New York diners. Chama Mama expanded to the Upper East Side and Brooklyn Heights and plans locations in Bushwick and Greenpoint. Georgian restaurants have proliferated citywide: roughly 40 now operate in New York, including seven in the West Village. Georgian cuisine blends Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influences with distinctive seasonings such as blue fenugreek, coriander seed, and marigold. Signature dishes include Adjaruli khachapuri, khinkhali dumplings, lamb stews with tarragon, and chicken preparations.
Read at Eater NY
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