Community Keipi, January 6

Your keipi dinner will be a grand night full of toasting, stories, laughter, memories, and victories (Gagimarjos!). The keipi (sometimes called a supra) is the place where heaven is united with earth, where all the potential of the unseen above is united with the present beauty of the material below.

Get ready for a table overflowing with salads, small plates, khachapuri (cheese bread), mstvadi (meat kebabs), and other Georgian specialties. (There may even be some brandy and a sudden song or two.) The wine will be plentiful, and the joy will be as full as your glass.

You will join a group of sojourners at a long table. As the evening begins, we will quickly fill the table with a growing variety of food. If the dishes begin to crowd together and you lose sight of the tablecloth, we've done our job correctly.

At your table, you will meet the two constant companions of the Georgian feast--the Melekipe and the Tamada. The Melekipe has a simple role--to keep everyone's glasses full (wine or otherwise) and make sure the table never runs out of wine. The Tamada, or toastmaster, will lead you and everyone at the table through a series of toasts to universal themes that everyone can relate to. Also present at the event will be a plenteous amound of wine. The wine is the shared bond at the table (in the Georgian tradition, the common blood of mankind). The wine provided for the evening will all be Georgian, displaying the full range of their craft--whites, ambers, and reds.

At the beginning you may be nervous, but don’t worry! When you are moved to expand on the theme offered by the Tamada, your words will be welcome. If you’ve come simply to feel a connection to those around you though, your silence will be understood. Fellowship and communion are the essence of the table, and we accommodate all those who take a seat. We will discuss heavy things lightly with love in our hearts.

So relax, come ready for a feast, and be calm in the knowledge that your presence alone already means the world to us.

If you would like to book a private Keipi for your group, please contact our General Manager at AMartin@keipirestaurant.org to coordinate.