“owners of Supra, announce the late 2019 opening of D.C.’s second Georgian restaurant, Tabla.”

Georgia and Lamont St, NW across the street from Call Your Mother Deli

From a press release:

“Jonathan and Laura Nelms, owners of Supra, announce the late 2019 opening of D.C.’s second Georgian restaurant, Tabla. Tabla will be located at Lamont Street and Georgia Avenue in the Park View/Petworth neighborhood.

The name Tabla comes from a west Georgian word for an outdoor table used to serve the copious amounts of food characteristic of a traditional supra. As fans of Supra and Georgian food will know, “supra” means “celebratory feast.”

Tabla will carry on Supra’s standard of serving top-notch Georgian fare but in a more casual setting. Chef Lonnie Zoeller and the Supra culinary team, including Georgia native Ani Kandelaki, will oversee the kitchen, which will focus on two mainstays: khinkali (soup dumplings) and khachapuri (Georgia’s beloved cheese breads).

Tabla will feature several varieties of khinkali and khachapuri, some with traditional fillings and others representing the culinary team’s own imagination. In addition to these featured dishes, Tabla will offer vegetable-centric salads and starters and mtsvadi (kebabs). Like Supra, Tabla will offer an all-Georgian wine selection but with a more streamlined list. A thoughtful Georgian-inspired cocktail program, along with Georgian soft drinks and a selection of local and imported beers, will round out the beverage offerings.

The 75-seat space will be airy, relaxed, and friendly, with garage-style doors opening up to 25 patio seats. The interior will feature a 14-seat bar, a 16-person communal table, and a khinkali bar with an open view of the chef hand-rolling each Georgian soup dumpling. 2Scale Interiors, who designed Supra, are designing the 2,000 sq. foot space. Artwork will include the work of LAMB, one of Tbilisi’s top street artists, known for depictions of his eponymous lamb character, often shown eating khinkali.

Tabla will be open seven days a week, serving late breakfast, lunch/brunch, and dinner.

Supra’s co-founder, Jonathan Nelms, is excited to expand the presence of Georgian food and wine in D.C. Jonathan’s interest in the region began in 1990 with a teenage friendship with a Soviet-Georgian exchange student, who inspired him to embark on his own exchange year in the Soviet Union. It was during this time that Jonathan had his first exposure to Georgian food and wine, a cultural passion that he channeled into a legal career focused on high-risk business transactions in the former Soviet Union.

A fluent Russian speaker, and a novice Georgian speaker, Jonathan frequently travels to the region and lived, together with his wife Laura and their daughters, for three years in Moscow, where they observed the overwhelming popularity of Georgian restaurants among expats and locals alike. They look forward to being a part of the Park View community with the opening of Tabla.”

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