Old Town and Beyond: A Tbilisi Silk Road Feast with Culinary Backstreets

As Georgian food culture slowly emerges from its Soviet-era deep freeze, Tbilisi’s chefs are looking beyond their country’s borders while also reviving and safeguarding Georgia’s unique culinary traditions. The open spirit of the Silk Road is back in town, and on this epic day of eating, we’ll get a taste of what it’s all about.

Our day begins where Tbilisi got its start millennia ago, by the natural hot springs in the oldest part of the city. Here, a mosque, synagogue and Georgian Orthodox cathedral provide a panorama that tells much about the city’s diversity and its history as an important center of trade and culture and a key stop along the ancient Silk Road. Tbilisi’s strategic location made it a desirable place to occupy, and there’s no shortage of conquerors that passed through: Romans, Byzantines, Mongols, Khazars, Arabs, Persians, Ottomans, Russians and, finally, the Soviets.