Venue of the Week: Healthy, Comfy, Innovative: Skola Coffee & Wine Bar
While taking a walk along Paliashvili Street in the center of the Georgian capital, which is packed with shops, eateries and offices, a venue called ‘Skola Coffee & Wine Bar’ is certain to catch your eye. School, translated in Georgian as ‘Skola,’ is usually associated with an academic, formal establishment with multiple subjects and endless homework. Yet, Skola Coffee & Wine Bar on Paliashvili, which welcomed its first guests this summer, has something new and pleasant to offer Tbilisians and guests to the city.
GEORGIA TODAY sat down with Vakhtang Beraia, CEO of the Skola Coffee & Wine Bar, and Erekle Ghonghadze, its young chef, to explore the distinctive features of Skola Coffee & Wine Bar, as well as the secret behind the name of the eatery.
The story of Skola Coffee & Wine Bar chain kicked off on Rustaveli Avenue nearly two years ago, when it established itself on the market as one of the pioneers introducing and promoting the concept of specialty coffee to guests.
Aside from a wonderful, eclectic menu and a wide assortment of refreshments, which we’ll come to in a moment, coffee and wine represent the two major priorities of the founders of Skola. And why exactly, we ask them, coffee and wine?
Coffee is one of the oldest and best loved products worldwide, listed among the leaders of sales across the globe, whereas through 8,000 years of winemaking traditions, wine has become an inalienable part of the Georgian culture and the country in general. Skola Coffee & Wine Bar offers a stunning array of the best coffees, served in lovely mugs with the tinge of artwork on the top, and the best Georgian qvevri wines, undoubtedly winning the hearts of enthusiasts of these two drinks.
The concept of the venue is equally refreshing, as the founders of Skola Coffee & Wine Bar have gone beyond the limits of a simple eatery and, though modest at first glance, the establishment makes for a wonderful place for formal and semi-formal gatherings in the busy urban environ, where guests can benefit from an opportunity to socialize and establish new communications. In addition, Skola certainly justifies its name, as it has launched a project titled Book Club, where on specific days of each month, visitors, especially youngsters, have a chance to enjoy a pleasant evening, establish new communications, discuss a specific book and share their impressions and expand their global outlook. The founders of the venue also have a focus on young artists, giving them a chance to exhibit their works on site. It is no exaggeration to say that through this excellent initiative, Skola Coffee & Wine Bar has successfully assimilated the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
The chef of the venue briefed us about the menu, noting that the Skola team follows the latest trends of world gastronomy and spares no effort to offer the best choices from European cuisine, suitable for the tastes of local residents and foreigners. They also strongly accentuate the notion of healthy nutrition and provide high-quality dishes and snacks, suitable for lunch, as well as full dinners. The menu changes every season.
In addition to mouthwatering burgers of beef and chicken, served with perfectly fried chips, to quesadilla and fish salad, you can also try a number of diverse specialties, such as a pear salad, and their desserts are nothing short of spectacular. The venue is also distinguished for its huge assortment of healthy smoothies and lemonades, adding a sprinkle of freshness. The aesthetic appearance of all the above is not to be missed either.
If you are searching for the ideal mélange of tasty food, comfortable environ and innovative concept, Skola Coffee & Wine Bar is definitely worth a visit.
By Ketevan Kvaratskheliya