Oda House....Georgian Cuisine at it's best!

Restaurant Critique

Pamela
Goldman

Patch.com
Upper East Side, NYC

Photography
by Gerald Feldman

Oda
House

406
East 73rd
street

Upper
East Side location

Oda
House, an authentic Georgian food experience, has a wonderful story
behind it. Maia Acquaviva, the main partner and executive chef is a native of the Republic of Georgia. She was first trained as a successful plastic surgeon, but after moving to the United States in 2007, she rediscovered her true calling: her passion to cook since she was a child.

Maia’s life motto is: if you want something with all our heart, the entire
universe mobilizes around you to make your wishes come true!

In fact her dream has come true. Approaching the beautiful stone facade, Oda House on the Upper East Side is on an appealing tree-lined street. George, the manager is a delightful soul who took great care in sharing his love for his native country by showing us pictures of the mountains and sea that the country of Georgia offers.

Oda House is a New York Times pick and wowed us with delicious wine and
cuisine. The restaurant also has a 5 star Yelp review, the highest rating a restaurant can get.

A dream for gourmands, this Michelin restaurant offered us a Georgian
red, semi-sweet wine called Kindzmatauli. Just a few sips and we knew we were in for a great adventure. Contemporary Georgian music wafted through the air as our first appetizer arrived. Megauli, a yogurt bread is a dish baked in the oven covered with two homemade cheeses: Imerule cheese, similar to feta and Sulgune cheese, much like a mozzarella. It was exquisite!!!

Next came an appetizer called Khinkali. This is a platter of oversized
stuffed dumplings which you can get boiled or fried. Ours were filled with seasoned organic lamb. When you bit into it juices flowed out. A great compliment to this is black pepper or sour cream. Soon after a lovely Georgian salad was presented to us. Quartuli Salata was composed of fresh tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, basil and dressed with vinegar and olive oil. Sounds simple? There was something else in the salad which was a chef’s secret, making it so outstanding.

Finally our main course arrived. Chakapuli. This was a stew of organic, grass
fed lamb, slow cooked with tarragon, mint, scallions, parsley, cilantro and dry white wine. The dish was served in an authentic Georgian clay pot on top of a decorative Georgian wood platter.

Oda House is an outrageously great food experience and the food is so
authentic that it is known to bring tears to people’s eyes who miss their homeland. We understand why…..it is the perfect delectable dining experience, all homemade from the large Georgian heart of chef Maia who had a dream.