This new Georgian BYOB in Fishtown is an affordable date-night charmer

Lasha Kikvidze says there were likely no more than 100 people from the Republic of Georgia living in the Philadelphia region when he moved here as an exchange student in 2001.

More than two decades later, there are now over 25,000 people of Georgian descent settled in the Philadelphia region, largely living in Northeast Philly and Lower Bucks County, according to honorary local consul Hersh Kozlov.

Now 49 and the co-owner of two nightclub restaurants — Somerton’s Golden Gates and the Fishtown cabaret Fabrika — Kikvidze is on a mission to present his country’s distinctive cuisine to a broader audience in Fishtown.

Kinto, the cozy 72-seat BYOB he launched with partners three months ago on Frankford Avenue just south of Girard, is a promising test case: Fewer than 10% of his customers are familiar with Georgian food, he says. That tracks for a place set between the gaming sports-bar hubs of a Barcade and a Garage, although Georgian food has already reached Center City at places like Sakartvelo and Saami Somi in Reading Terminal Market.

Kikvidze is counting on the prominence of vegetables to appeal to Fishtown’s large vegetarian and vegan audiences. With chef-partner Bela Gogebashvili in the kitchen, the appetizer end of Kinto’s menu is a treasure trove of plant-centered dips and pkhali spreads. I love the contrast of pkhali balls turned pink with beets, verdant with spinach or green beans, or russet orange with carrots. (Kikvidze has thankfully refrained from making pkhali from poison ivy, which he says is popular in the mountainous Racha region of western Georgia.) A pomegranate seed-dusted variation simply called eggplant rolls, whose grilled sheets are pinwheeled around creamy walnut sauce, is another personal favorite.

A pot of stewed lobio beans with crispy corn cakes, another specialty of western Georgia and Kikvidze’s home city of Kutaisi, makes for a hearty vegan entree. Its lightly thickened pink bean broth — swirled with earthy notes of blue fenugreek, cinnamon, and coriander from khmeli sunelli, the country’s signature spice blend — speaks to Georgia’s location along the Silk Road trade route. Bite into one of the house-pickled red tomatoes on the side for a ripe burst of bright and tangy juice.

There are vivid glimpses of Kikvidze’s home country throughout the slender series of glass-walled dining rooms, with colorful woven rugs and mounted plates displaying the curling script of Georgia’s 33-character alphabet. A beautiful back bar features an intricate diorama of mini-balconies representing an old streetscape in the capital of Tbilisi. That bar is largely empty — because Kinto is BYOB — which might seem odd considering Georgia’s historic wine culture is having an international resurgence. The fact that this food is made for drinking was reinforced by the celebratory group of young Georgians in the rear dining room toasting with shots of chacha brandy. (Kinto is great for groups.)

Kinto is an affordable date-night charmer, thanks to warm (albeit slightly scattered) service and a mellow old-soul soundtrack that includes Sam Cooke and Roberta Flack. Keeping it BYOB, as Kikvidze emphasizes, only underscores the value of the restaurant.

Even if the menu is not quite as comprehensive, or the cooking quite as nuanced as some of my favorites in Northeast Philly, Kinto offers a very solid introduction to classic Georgian cuisine.

Kinto doesn’t have a traditional domed toné hearth oven but nonetheless turns out some tasty, petite khachapuri that give a taste of the famous bread boats without completely filling you up. The egg-and-cheese Adjaruli is a must, and the round, double-crusted Imeruli is basically the tangy cheese pizza of my dreams. The mashed bean-stuffed lobiani khachapuri — which looked like a bean burrito exploded inside a pizza — was not a hit.

But there were too many other good flavors on our table to dwell on that miss. We devoured the chebureki hand pies stuffed with spiced ground chicken, as well as the crispy chvishtari corn balls filled with oozy farmer’s cheese and served over a tan puddle of garlicky walnut bazhe sauce tanged with red vinegar. The Georgian farmer’s salad of tomatoes and cucumbers might sound boring, but a crushed walnut dressing similar to that bazhe (but laced with cilantro) made it irresistible.

Chef Gogebashvili’s array of khinkali was also a highlight. I savored these hearty soup dumpling cousins, especially the cumin-scented stuffing of the traditional meat khinkali, made here with ground beef, onions, and veal, the juicy, minced oyster mushroom dumpling wrapped in herb-tinted skins, and the ricotta cheese-filled dumpling served atop a creamy green swoosh of tarragon sauce.

Kinto only recently began serving kebabs, to mixed results. The ground lamb kebab, usually my go-to choice, was dry and overcooked. But the skewers of chicken thighs were superbly juicy thanks to a marinade of garlicky tomato sauce (Borjomi mineral water is also in on the tenderizing trick here).

Kinto’s best bets are some of the slow-cooked soups and stews, including a beefy kharcho and a chicken-based version of chikhirtma, an egg-drop soup steeped with coriander, saffron, and a side of yogurt that is a classic hangover cure. Chashushuli is a warm-weather stew whose blushing red broth is steeped from the ripest summer tomatoes, and we especially loved it bobbing with meatballs made of lamb and rice, although you can order it with other proteins or cauliflower for a veggie option.

When cold weather sets in, try the lidded crock of tiny pelmeni dumplings bobbing in a steamy broth of tart yogurt and dill. Or go for the sacivi, a walnut-based specialty typically served cold, but that is served here warm (technically, another variation of kharcho) alongside a handful of fried cornmeal balls for dipping. It’s luxurious when filled with tender chunks of chicken or salmon.

The ultimate in Georgian richness is shkmeruli, which dunks the garlicky, pan-roasted tabaka Cornish hens into a garlicky, simmering crock of heavy cream.

Kikvidze recently launched a brunch menu featuring pan-fried cheese patties, blintzes, chishi-bishi (beef stew with eggs), and a soft-scrambled egg-and-green bean combo he calls “Green Sunrise.” He also plans a monthly family-style tasting-menu event called a supra, a Georgian feast complete with a toastmaster, to expose his audience to Georgian hospitality in full (assuming, of course, diners bring plenty of their own wine).

One dish I hope that’s included in that supra is Kinto’s best dessert, which, of course, is another dumpling: a fruity khinkali filled with sweet cheese and sour cherries whose dough is tinted deep pink with raspberry juice. Served over a warm pool of melted orange jam with more cherries, pistachio, and powdered sugar, it’s the kind of playful, eye-catching dish that may launch a thousand Instagram stories from Fishtown’s little slice of Georgia. Kikvidze’s now-retired uncle Teimurazi, no doubt, will be proud.

1144 Frankford Ave., 267-857-9500, kintophilly.com

Dinner Monday through Thursday, 4 to 10 p.m.; Friday until 11 p.m.; Saturday, 3 to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 3 to 10 p.m. Brunch Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Entrees, $16-$25.

Wheelchair accessible.

The menu revolves around bread and dumplings, but there are several vegetable dishes, stewed beans and pan-fried corn cakes that are good gluten-free options. There are several vegetarian (and some vegan) options.

BYOB: Seek out a wine featuring great Georgian grapes such as rkatsiteli or saperavi.

Menu Highlights: pkhali trio of vegetable-walnut spreads; chvishtari corn balls; eggplant rolls; kharcho soup; Adjaruli khachapuri; khinkali dumplings; lobio bean pot; shkmeruli chicken in garlic cream; sacivi walnut stew; chicken kebabs; cherry khinkali dessert dumplings.