Not everything at Marani mixes so freely.
Georgians love their cheesy khachapuri and their beef-and-lamb-filled khinkhali. At a glatt kosher restaurant, however, dairy items and meat items can't mingle, either in the kitchen or in the dining room, and many such establishments serve only one or the other. Marani takes a second approach: two kitchens, two dining rooms, two sets of dishes. It's possible to take part in a progressive dinner without setting foot outdoors, first with khachapuri in the downstairs bakery, which resembles a spartan pizzeria with a communal table, and then with a succession of appetizers, skewers, and entrees in the more formal setting upstairs.
But beware: The aroma of fresh cheese bread, baked to order, can lead to overindulgence on the first leg of your expedition. Seven of us polished off an adjaruli khachapuri — stirring egg yolk into runny cheese and then tearing off bits of the oblong bread to dip in the goo — as well as a platter-shaped imeruli (shown sliced) and its extra-cheese-on-top cousin, megruli. Perhaps we should have swapped out one khachapuri for a nice green salad. After climbing upstairs and settling in at our second table of the evening, we ordered sparingly but nonetheless found ourselves flagging all too soon. In the photos below, you'll look in vain for dessert. We simply had no room.
Also shown: sliced fried eggplant rolled with walnut paste and pomegranate seeds; a pickle plate sporting the Georgian capers called djonjoli; a skewer of beef liver; baby beet leaves bound with walnut paste; especially juicy khinkali filled with a blend of beef and lamb; chakapuli, on-the-bone lamb braised with tarragon and mint.
Marani
97-26 63rd Rd. (97th-98th Sts.), Rego Park, Queens
718-569-0600
www.MaraniNYC.com
Closed Friday evening till Saturday evening
