Passionate about Georgian food, cooking and people, Dinara has been in the food industry for many years. Dinara learned to cook from her grandmother who was an excellent cook and continued to train in several restaurants. A former café owner, Dinara is a city guide who enjoys sharing the knowledge of her city and culture with travelers. Dinara says that being a Traveling Spoon host gives her the opportunity to combine her profession and her passion. Dinara lives with her husband, daughter and friendly dog in an apartment in Tbilisi. As a family Dinara, her husband and daughter love having guests over to share traditional Georgian food together. Dinara skillfully blends eastern and western cooking techniques to introduce you to traditional Georgian cuisine.
Please note menu might vary. If there are particular dishes you are interested in trying, please include your request in the booking form.
In-home meal: (1-12 guests) Meet your host Dinara at her Tbilisi apartment with a large dining table and open kitchen. Sip on a refreshing drink as your host shares stories about life in Georgia. Join your host at her dining table to enjoy a traditional Georgian meal. Your family-style meal includes dishes such as khachapuri (cheese and egg filled bread), a Georgian salad, khinkali (Georgian dumplings) or Shkmeruli (fried chicken in a garlic sauce) and pkhali (a dish of minced vegetables, nuts and herbs). Your meal will conclude with a Georgian dessert like matsoni, yoghurt with honey and nuts.
Cooking experience: (1-7 guests) Join your host Dinara at her large open kitchen to learn to cook a traditional Georgian meal from recipes that have been passed down through generations of her family. Your hands-on cooking class involves learning to make 3 dishes made from scratch and will last about 2.5 hours. Enjoy learning about the tips and techniques involved in preparing Georgian cuisine cooking before you sit down at the table to share the meal you helped prepare with host Dinara. Dinara is excited to share her culture through food and offer an authentic/traditional cooking class in Tbilisi. She can also accommodate dietary requests like vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free in her Georgian cooking class.
Notes: Dinara can accommodate dietary requests like vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free. Please indicate your dietary restrictions, if any, when making your booking.
Languages spoken: English, Russian
Our hours spent with Dinara and her family in Tbilisi were delightful. The afternoon incorporated the two most important components of a great dining experience: delicious food and wonderful company. Dinara smiles easily and has a contagious laugh; we instantly felt at ease with her. We enjoyed learning a few cooking secrets and the fine Georgian art of making a successful toast. (Making at least one toast to Georgia’s success is essential, Dinara explained.) After the experience, Dinara was even kind enough to share copies of the recipes by email.
We have a few dietary restrictions, but Dinara was easily able to accommodate them. (One of us eats a gluten-free diet, and both of us only eat poultry and fish.)
Dinara taught us how to make eggplant filled with a walnut paste (garnished with pomegranate seeds); spinach and peppers filled with a walnut paste; Shkmeruli (fried chicken in a sour cream and garlic sauce); cheese rolls stuffed with a ricotta-like cheese and mint (garnished with pumpkin seeds), Adjaruli Khachapuri (Georgia’s celebrated “cheese and egg bread boat”); Kakheti salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, Kakheti oil, Svaneti salt, basil, and walnuts; Georgian yogurt with walnuts, apricots, plums, and honey; and a fruit plate with pears, oranges, grapes, and peaches. Beverages included homemade feijoa fruit juice, as well as a semi-dry white wine from Georgia’s Kakheti region. Since we had been in Tbilisi for a few weeks prior to the experience, we had already tried some of these dishes. However, Dinara’s eggplant rolls were much more flavorful than the ones we had eaten in Tbilisi’s restaurants. The Shkmeruli chicken was also delightfully creamy. (Of note: the Khachapuri was not gluten-free, so we didn’t both eat it. Finding gluten-free flour in Tbilisi can be a challenging feat, but perhaps you could bring a bag of flour from home and see if it offers the right consistency for making Khachapuri.)
The dishes were presented in an attractive fashion. Dinara set the table using vintage cutlery that belonged to her grandmother, pretty wine glasses, and attractive serving boards for the colorful pkhali and eggplant rolls.
We got to Dinara’s apartment by using Tbilisi’s metro system, and it was easy. Her home is just a few minutes’ walk from the metro station.
Finally, a review wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t mention Dinara’s adorable dachshund, Bruno. He’s small, but he’s got a big personality. After the meal, ask Dinara if you can toss the ball to Bruno. You’ll be impressed by his jumping abilities. :)
Tricia and Shawn, Traveling Spoon Ambassador
We had the best day learning to make amazing Georgian food! Dinara and her family made us feel like family and were so knowledgeable about the food and traditions. Not only did we learn but we enjoyed sitting down and sharing a meal and stories. The recipes are going to bring back memories every time we make them at home. This truly was our favorite experience in Tbilisi.- Tag December 06, 2025
Last time, I rated here 1, it was because of the bad attitude from Viator's Help Center. If the staff contacted Traveling Spoon with necessary action, the host nor I didn't had to go through this unnecessary things. Anyway, thanks to Traveling Spoon who had tried their best to contact the host Dinara, I was able to participate even just 2 days before the class. Dinara and I could communicate through whatsapp which made it easier for me to explain what I wanted to learn and also to know how to access to her place. Dinara and her families including cute dogs welcomed me warmly. Not only cooking together the Georgian foods, but also, we had a good time while drinking Georgian wines. Of course, learning how to cook is important, but what made me so glad is that we could know each other's culture through nice conversation. If you are looking for such kind of experience, I highly recommend to join. Dinara is quite busy, but I hope you could join.- Yuki May 23, 2025
For us, it was really a pleasure and exciting to do this class with Dinara in Tbilisi. We had nice and funny conversations, so we felt very welcomed at her nice home. In the beginning we could taste some awesome georgian cheese with really good dry red saperavi wine. We made some Kinkhali, Salad und Chakhokhbili. She told us a lot of her cooking secrets and the taste was amazing. We definitely can recommend this to everbody, who loves delicious and authentic kitchens.- Manolo October 04, 2022
Dinara was wonderful since the moment we booked the experience. We were welcomed with wine and delicious homemade chips; we always felt comfy and at home. We chose to learn how to make khinkali and she was super patient the whole time. Dinara guides you every step of the way and explains to you why things are made the way they are made. I also have to mention she’s very knowledgeable about Georgian culture and will share it with you. Everything we made was delicious, and she even gave us some Georgian candy/dessert and a bottle of wine for us to take home. And her dogs are adorable! So playful and cute, they made the experience even better. I will remember this experience with much love!- Nomad December 29, 2021
Dinara's class was relaxed, fun, and very interesting. We decided to learn how to make khinkali instead of khachapuri, and thanks to Dinara's patience and teaching skills, we were able to make beautiful and tasty khinkali! We also learned how to make several other Georgian dishes and learned a lot about Georgian food, history, and culture. Easily my favorite part of my trip to Tbilisi, only wish I had time to take more of her classes! Highly recommended!- sully_08 December 28, 2021
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