/ Restaurant “CHAMA MAMA” / NEW YORK
TAMARA CHUBINIDZE | Chama Mama’s Co-founder
Soon Chama Mama will be opening their third branch, and before Tamara Chubindze starts telling us about its progress, she is fussing around the oven, in the same open-plan kitchen from where she soon will be offering her guests traditional, delectable, and most importantly genuine, Chama Mama style, Georgian dishes.
“This very oven is where the Acharuli Khachapuri will be baked and the guests will get the opportunity to observe the process in its entirety, from the moment it enters and then leaves the oven to the point where it’s brought to the dining hall, piping hot.”- said Tamara.
A relationship with every single customer is of utmost importance to me and this relationship, in our case, starts with falling in love with Khachapuri. In Georgia, Acharuli is always served on days off, mostly at brunch. When we first opened Chama Mama we realised that our guests are happy to consume it at any time of the day, at times they’ll be having it right at the bar, together with cocktails and wine, and at times in the morning or even at supper. Soon enough we concluded that the love for this Khachapuri is so infinite that the time when it’s consumed seems to be losing its significance.
Normally, in Georgia, we are not accustomed to serving Acharuli together with Khinkali or Mtsvadi, we traditionally enjoy Khinkali and Mtsvadi on separate occasions. Here, however, at the request of our guests, we decided to pair it with other dishes. It is this very process of pairing that our guests find so fascinating, the result of which is that finding Acharuli, Khinkali, and Mtsavdi with Pkhali and Chakapuli on the same table has become a common occurrence, and this makes everyone truly happy.
Chama Mama was the first restaurant to demolish the traditional way of eating Acharuli thus offering its guests an entirely new ritual. Initially, these guests did not know how to combine (mix together) the cheese, butter, and egg yolk, and subsequently enjoy it. So, instead of telling them about it, we decided to find an interesting way to demonstrate it. This is how the world-famous Chama Mama’s so-called performance first began and established itself -as soon as we bring the Khachapuri to the table we will start by mixing the egg, butter, and cheese together, then comes the most impressive part whereas we demonstrate how far out the cheese can stretch and we present its magnificence as a show.
All of this had an amazing response from our guests. As soon as I saw how our guests began to film the demonstration with their phones, I realised that this would become a very important part of Chama Mama’s life. Soon after we custom-made plates, on which Acharuli Khachapuri is hand painted. This is how Acharuli’s infinity was established with us: when guests watch the show then eat the dish and after finishing, on the plate, they find Acharuli again.
The third Chama Mama
We believe that our guests like what we do here a lot. Therefore, all of what we do and the way we do it will remain unchanged for our third establishment as well, but we will be adding some exciting new details. You know what kind of details?! Just when you thought that you knew everything that there is to know about Chama Mama, you come to us and find even more fascinating details, the details that enable us to emphasise once more that we always prioritise our guests’ needs. The rest will be the same -the Georgian alphabet, that we are known for, the menu, our signature dish Acharuli Khachapuri and the wine selection since I believe that our guests won’t forgive us if we were to do anything differently.
