For Georgian chef Dona Giorgadze, cooking was a hobby before finding a job in the US. It all began gradually, posting her dishes on cooking websites, creating recipes, working as a barista and baking Khachapuri for a local bakery that give her career a start. 

We were curious to learn more about her background and how it led to numerous interesting projects:

How did your American story begin?

My American story started in 2004 when I got a wedding invitation from my childhood best friend who was getting married in Austin, Texas. In the beginning, I wasn’t even planning to attend the wedding, but after a while I started thinking about it. I was very lucky to get a visa and on October 13th, I left Georgia for the first time. After the wedding, I decided to stay for a few months and work. I started working as a babysitter for one family and that’s where I met my future (second) husband. David was my employer’s friend who I met at a party a month before I had to return home; we only had a few weeks to get to know each other. 5 years later, I came back to the States with my daughters and married David. That’s how it all began.

Dona, how did you discover your passion for food and decide to become a chef?

It was hard for me to figure out what I wanted and could do as I didn’t know much. I only knew English and didn’t acquire any other skills in particular. I had lots of free time till I got working papers and could start looking for jobs, so I watched lots of cooking shows and then implemented those recipes. I enjoyed cooking and found it very therapeutic so I began  taking pictures of the dishes I created and posted them on different Georgian cooking websites. At the time, this was just a hobby to me and I honestly had no idea I would turn it into a profession.

There were so many unknown ingredients that I was fascinated with at the store: I could stay there for hours and wander between the isles of spices and hundreds of different varieties of each product. Soon I started working at a local bakery as a barista. It was a bustling little bakery and coffee shop where all the locals stopped by for a cup of coffee, a muffin or a croissant and freshly baked bread. I loved working there, meeting with new people, talking to them, making coffee, especially espresso based drinks and creating some latte art, it was a lot of fun. Within a year the owners offered me a manager position and I accepted it.

One day I made Khachapuri for them to try and they loved it so much, we added it on Friday menu. Even though I gave them my recipe, I was the one who was making it and not the bakers, because I felt like I would put more love and care in it. It actually was a big hit, I loved explaining to customers what it was, how to make it and then, of course, talking about Georgia. I met so many amazing people through this place and still friend with many of them. That made my next move much easier.

In 2014 I left the bakery, registered my company Georgiancook and started my personal chef business, meaning I was cooking meals for busy families on weekly basis and catered small parties/events. In a few months I had about 7 families and became very busy. The fun part of this kind of job is that my customers had different needs and dietary restrictions and I had to cook different dishes for each of them. Because of this, I hardly had to cook the same things over and over and had the privilege to get creative with the process. I loved learning how to make new dishes or inventing my own. It’s really difficult for me to put all these years of experience in a few sentences. I met the most amazing people who were grateful for what I did and I was grateful for their existence in my life.

Is there any dish you always choose to introduce Georgia to a foreigner?

There are so many Georgian dishes to be proud of. I just catered a small Georgian dinner party for a few very important people and since it’s summer and I love using local and seasonal ingredients, I made eggplant rolls, roasted peppers with cilantro/garlic/vinegar sauce, Khinkali, Adjaruli, and Kabobs. They absolutely loved everything and said the food was really unique. Thanks to my friends I still get the spices from Georgia and I think it’s very important to get that traditional distinct flavor.

Where do you draw inspiration for new recipes and food combinations?

I love cooking with seasonal ingredients. That’s what we were used to in Georgia. Even though all kind of fruit and vegetables are around year long, I don’t buy summer fruit in winter. I go to farms and farmers markets where you can get the most flavorful tomatoes, peppers, carrots, beets, herbs. When they are in peak, they taste so good you don’t need to do much to transform them, you need to keep their natural flavor and treat them as simple as possible. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice and good olive oil; that’s my favorite way of treating the ingredients. I call myself a shoemaker without shoes since my fridge is mostly empty and one can hardly find anything there. However,  I can still make something delicious using whatever I can find in the fridge or in my pantry. At the end of the day after cooking at least 15-20 dishes for my customers,  my meal consists of cheese, tomatoes, crackers and a glass of wine or cup of Turkish coffee. I’m very content with it.

Can you think of a project you are most proud of?

I did several events that are very special to think of, farm to table dinner for 100 people, weddings and bridal showers. Probably the most memorable and crazy thing I did was a Georgian feast couple of years ago. While working on my cookbook, I needed to prepare certain dishes so I decided to throw a little party, invite my American friends and let them taste. I even invited Darra Goldstein who wrote first Georgian cookbook 25 years ago, called The Georgian Feast. Even though I’ve never made some of those dishes before (Khaladetsi, Apkhazura, Kubdari) I dared to make them for that day. It was insane. The party was a huge success as it wasn’t just eating food but was accompanied with Georgian wine, introduction of Georgian culture and traditions from Darra Goldstein, history of Georgian wine and a few toasts. The guests were super psyched and at the end everyone was dancing and hugging each other even though they had just met for the first time. I’m planning to do an event like this again in September with my book presentation.

As far as we know, your book, Around the Georgian Table, has already been printed. Tell us about it briefly. 

While still working at the coffee shop I decided to work on a Georgian cookbook since many Americans were curious about Georgian cuisine. When I started, I had no idea how much it takes to write a book, take photos and do all the other work. I was preparing dishes that I remembered from my family recipes and taking photos I thought were good at the time. Even though I finished writing within a year, I realized the photos weren’t good enough for the book. So, I took photography classes and learned about food photography, which is a really fascinating chapter of photography and I instantly fell in love with it. I redid all the photos in the book a few times. My daughters helped to format the book in Indesign (Adobe program) and Artron Printing helped to print it. I just got my advanced copies and they look great. The book will be for sale in USA in October.

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