Est. 2025 · Crystal Palace
Our story
Khachapuri began as a homemade dish shared between two people — and grew, in a whirlwind of pop-ups, believers and one very silly question, into a Georgian restaurant in the heart of Crystal Palace: a khachapuri lunch spot by day, a proper Georgian table by night. Here’s how it happened.
How one khachapuri became a restaurant.
- 2013
Georgian wine in the family
Masha grew up in Moscow, where her father imported Georgian wine in the years after the USSR broke up — until that trade dried up. She moved to the UK in 2013, bringing a love of Georgian food and hospitality with her.
- 2024
It started with one khachapuri
Daniel and Masha met on their first date at The Alma in Crystal Palace, and it blossomed fast. On one of those early dates she cooked him khachapuri — and that was the moment she saw it in his eyes. A restaurant would grow from that look.
- Early 2025
A whim, and a domain
On a whim, Daniel checked whether khachapuri.co.uk was free. It was. Within weeks the tiny one-page site was on page one of Google — the first sign this was real.
- Late Jul 2025
Backed by the neighbourhood
Etude Coffee’s Mridz was the first to say yes — khachapuri every weekend since. More than anything, it was local support that brought the idea to life.
- 3 Aug 2025
“Do you like cheese?”
Daniel filmed himself asking statues and animals around Hyde Park one silly, slightly divisive question. The bright-yellow t-shirts followed. A joke quietly became the brand.
- 8 Aug 2025
The first pop-up
Their friend Nick handed them the keys — and the pizza oven — at his Covent Garden bar, Mrs Riot, refusing any rent so they could test the idea for real. Khachapuri met the public for the first time, by the slice, with Masha’s homemade adjika and satsabeli. Nick’s generosity didn’t end there: much of what surrounds you today — the panelling, tables, benches and chairs — came from him.
- 7 Oct 2025
Crystal Palace
They looked everywhere, then realised home was the answer. They took on a former vegan café and ran evening pop-ups while the neighbourhood — and the local press — took notice.
Read the article - 12 Nov 2025
Our Christmas popup
A Christmas-market chalet, festive street-food khachapuri, and hidden “Mr Cheese” characters to hunt down — all while quietly negotiating the lease behind the scenes.
- 5 Dec 2025
Opened in five days
Bought on a Monday, open by Friday — five days, start to finish. On savings, loans and the belief of people who backed them, they worked round the clock to get the place ready, filming every minute of it.
- 25 Dec 2025
Christmas at khachapuri
Their first Christmas in a home of their own — free mini khachapuri handed out on Christmas morning, kids getting their hands doughy upstairs where Masha bakes, and a full house of neighbours who’d already become regulars.
- Today
More like a home than a café
Sandy greets everyone at the door; cosy, family-friendly and personal — the place is run like a home, not a café. Making every guest feel properly looked after, as though they’ve come round to a friend’s, is the first thing every new team member is taught.
And it all still begins with the same question