Georgian Bakery [Pictures]

LTH,

I seem to be posting pictures of ovens this morning, here's a pic of Georgian Bakery.

Georgian Bakery




Georgian Bakery (Chicago)


Georgian Bakery Menu


Georgian Bakery


My favorite item at Georgian Bakery are the long loves of slightly chewy bread (Shoti), delicious eaten out of hand, even better when lightly griddled or toasted. I quite enjoy Hachapuri, flaky pastry filled with mozzarella, farmers cheese and feta, spinach filled are good as well, but it's the breads that bring me back to Georgian Bakery.

Enjoy,
Gary

Georgian Bakery
2812 W Devon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60659
773-764-6322

Great pictures of a very cool spot, Gary. I also like their meat pie as a good snack.

We should get up there soon to replenish our stash of dumplings in the freezer. With pelmeni, hinkali, and three kinds of vareniki one could have a dumpling-athon with just one stop!

Has anyone tried their pierogi? I wonder if the farmer-cheese variety is savory or sweet. I'm not big on the sweet cheese pierogi.

I agree. The bread here is fantastic. In fact, I feel this bread is among the best in the city. Given the recent rise (pun intended) of outrageously expensive loaves this is an example of how truly excellent bread can (and should) be reasonably priced....despite the fact that this is truly an 'artisanal' product in every sense. I also find the hatchapuri addictive...but they don't travel well. They also carry an interesting array of Georgian hot sauces . Pierogi are not too sweet.

Amata wrote:Great pictures of a very cool spot, Gary. I also like their meat pie as a good snack.

We should get up there soon to replenish our stash of dumplings in the freezer. With pelmeni, hinkali, and three kinds of vareniki one could have a dumpling-athon with just one stop!

Moin, moin...

This place is a great bakery and, as Amata and I have mentioned a couple of times, I believe, the little stuffed pastries are great, and the frozen dumplings are pretty darn good too.

Antonius

I, too, love this place. One other recommendation is the Humintash (I think that's how they spell them). These are a yeasty, bready, version, which folks may not be used to, but I think they're great. They usually cook the outside until its quite dark (almost burnt), which adds a nice flavor, and the poppy seed filling is not too sweet.

Jonah

Argo Georgian Bakery – Devon Avenue



Though I’ve walked in front, and looked through the windows, of Argo Georgian Bakery probably 50+ times today was my first visit to sample some of the pastries (but not the bread)

Spinach Pie (l) and Hachapuri (r)



First up was one each of the spinach pie and Hachapuri (mozzarella, farm and feta cheeses). I sat at one of the two small tables along one of the walls. The spinach pie was room temperature, the Hachapuri was warm – both came from the small display case near the front door. I thought the Mexican empanada-like thick dough interfered with tasting the bland spinach filling. I liked the thin, crispy dough of the Hachapuri and the cheese filling.

Tapluna





For something sweet I chose the Tapluna – a honey and walnut pie. The cannoli-like (closed end) shell was a bit hard and the honey didn’t stand out taste-wise, but I did enjoy the walnut filling.

Watching the man working in the bakery move about in the prep/baking area I was surprised to see that some or all of the pastries aren’t freshly prepared then baked, but, rather, they’re first taken from a freezer, brushed with an egg wash and then placed into a small stainless steel oven to defrost and then bake during the same time in the oven.

Maybe the bread is the draw here, and reason to visit – but I didn’t sense anything special about the pastries that would distinguish them from many other bakeries in the city. However, I do want to stop back some day and get a bag of palmeni to give those a try at home.

Stopped by for some warm hachapuri this morning and noticed bags of what looked like chanterelles in the freezer case. The gentleman behind the counter confirmed that they were 'mushroom'(the conversation was hampered by my limited Georgian and his limited English) so I bought a bag ($10). I'm planning to make risotto with them this week--I'll post on the results (I've never used frozen mushrooms before).

Hachapuri


Frozen Chantarelles (hopefully)

Hachapuri was celestial yesterday, and the frozen beef dumplings hit the spot this morning with sour cream and fresh herbs. Whatever happened to the Frozen Georgian Mystery Mushrooms, T-O? Happy dual-Easter and belated Pesach to all.

Stopped by to pick up some pelmeni (thanks PIGMON for the rec) and grabbed a hachapuri while I was there. Really amazing. Soft and fluffy and filled with delicious cheese.


Drool

I made my maiden voyage to Argo Georgian Bakery today for hachapuri and cabbage/mushroom pastry. Both were light, flakey, and wonderful. I also picked up some frozen kraut/mushroom dumplings and some bread.

Pastries from Argo: Hachapuri (left), Cabbage/mushroom (right), bread (in the distance)

Stopped next door at Eastern Breadstone Bakery for some Thyme pie:

G Wiv wrote:My favorite item at Georgian Bakery are the long loves of slightly chewy bread (Shoti)

I had never been before last week, on Friday I brought a loaf of this up north to the cabin, the whole weekend was filled with "do you have anymore of that bread?"
Our whole family REALLY enjoyed this bread.

mimismartypants wrote:Has anyone tried their pierogi?

we picked up a bag of their frozen lamb pelmeni, I prob will be making these shortly & will report back.

I can attest that the pelmeni are awesome. My stash is running low, so I think I need a return trip soon. And it sounds like I need some Shoti while I'm there.

fropones wrote:I can attest that the pelmeni are awesome.

was there one in particular you are smitten with? I was offered 5 or 6 different kinds of pelmeni, being a lamb fanatic it is obvious which one I had to choose.

Mine were a beef and pork combo. I don't believe they had choices when I went in last. I definitely do plan to return soon, as lamb pelmeni (and hachapuri and other baked goods) sounds awesome.

I'm still in a hachapuri buzz. We stopped by this morning and had one fresh out of the oven.

I've been meaning to check this place out for years. The timing has never worked out when driving by.

I had the day off today and spent it running errands with my daughter. One of our stops was Patel Brothers to stock up on some pantry staples. We found ourselves finished with shopping at 11:30 a.m. and hungry for some lunch so perfect timing.

Audrey picked out a chicken pastry, I went with spinach, and we shared a sweet Farmer's cheese. Perfect lunch. Bonus that the cheese version contained golden raisins as that is her current favorite ingredient (she's 2.)

Will make an effort to get back there again soon and try more items. Hope to be there sometime when the oven is in active use as Audrey was fascinated by it.

I recently asked what 'Hachapuri by Order' meant on their menu - they have two other types of hachapuri listed there (see the bottom left hand corner of the picture above), both with a bread dough rather than puff pastry. I've tried to make these kinds of hachapuri and also had them in NYC. The lovely man at the register said that if we call and give him 24 hours notice, he will have them for us when we get there. I haven't been able to organize my schedule around this yet, but I plan to. They also sell Sulguni cheese in the refrigerator, which is the traditional hachapuri cheese, although he also told me they use a combination of cheeses that doesn't include sulguni for their hachapuri because sulguni is too expensive.

More info on the various khachapuri:
http://georgiaabout.com/2012/07/13/about-food-khachapuri-georgian-cheese-bread/

Stopped by today for the first time in a long while and was sad to find that there seem to be new staff. The old men who used to work there were nowhere to be seen. We just got a loaf of the flat bread and the first sign that it wasn't the same was that it was placed in a plastic bag instead of paper. Since the bread was warm out of the oven the plastic bag made the bag sweat and dampened the bread. The bread itself lacked the density it used to have - instead it was kind of fluffy and lacked flavor. I didn't try the hachapuri so I don't know if that's also changed, but I was sorry to see the bread go so downhill. Maybe it was an off day....

Drove by this am and looks to be closed. Two big for rent signs in the window

Seconding the above- hopped out of the car, and they have certainly removed items like the refrigerator and freezer. Will try to stop into a neighboring business, and verify if this is a move, or a hard close...

We were there a couple of months ago to pick up cheese (which they didn't have) and they had no bread and said the baker was not there. It was unclear whether this was a permanent or temporary thing, but clearly it was permanent. BTW, if anyone has a source for sulguni cheese, I would love to hear it! We've always gotten it from the bakery.

bon2mic wrote:BTW, if anyone has a source for sulguni cheese, I would love to hear it! We've always gotten it from the bakery.

Have never looked, but Fresh Farms is my first thought.