One of the most interesting items to eat at Saperavi, a Georgian restaurant that opened last week on the Upper West Side, is the adjaruli khachapuri, a canoe-shaped bread loaf sporting a cargo of three cheeses: It reaches you fresh from the oven garnished with a raw lone egg yolk that you pierce and stir into the bubbling molten filling. The khachapuri is one of the country’s national dishes and has been granted “intangible cultural heritage” status in its homeland.
One of the most interesting items to drink at Saperavi is the eponymous saperavi, a hardy wine and wine-grape variety famous for its capacity to stand up to extremely cold temperatures and high altitudes. The grape’s pulp as well as its skin contain anthocyanin, a pigment that, depending on its pH, can appear red, pink, purple, blue, or black.
Saperavi, 410 Amsterdam Avenue (bet. W. 79th and W. 80th Sts.), 636-978-0178.
