There’s one rule at Bebo, a Georgian restaurant that opened on Atlantic Avenue on Wednesday: “You cannot change the recipes.”
Bebo, which means “grandma” in Georgian, was built on the owners’ grandmothers’ cookbooks. The owners, Gio Kopaliani and Gio Lemonjava, both recently lost their grandmothers.
“There’s no one who we love more than our grandmas,” Kopaliani told Pineapple Street. “Once she passed away, it was a weird feeling. There’s an empty space in our lives.”
Kopaliani and Lemonjava knew each other back home in Georgia but became even closer six years ago while working as dishwashers at Kitchen at Cobble Hill — both of their first jobs in the United States.
“We had no one,” Kopaliani said. “We became like a family.”
On walks along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, the two talked about how much they loved the view and the neighborhood. When it came time to open a restaurant of their own, they wanted more than a concept.
“We never wanted to have just a business idea,” Kopaliani said. Behind the business, he added, “should be a story to tell people.”
Inside Bebo, that story is everywhere. The interiors are modeled after both grandmothers’ homes, from fringed pendant lampshades to the same bathroom wallpaper they had as kids. There’s even a ’90s-era TV tucked into a shelf, where they’ll play old Disney cartoons.
Some ingredients come from home, too. The owners’ mothers ship over traditional Georgian staples they say they can’t find here, like Svanuri marili, a salt blend from the mountain region of Svaneti, where Kopaliani is from.
Diners will find khachapuri, a boat-shaped cheese bread that Kopaliani called a very traditional Georgian dish — “We are very proud to have it.” But the menu reaches back further, to khinkali, Georgian dumplings, and kubdari, a meat-filled bread Kopaliani described as a very, very old dish.
Giorgi Tchulukhadze, who runs Bebo’s kitchen, was a chef in Georgia before moving to the U.S. last year and working at a Georgian restaurant in Manhattan. Kopaliani said they interviewed a lot of people for the job, but Tchulukhadze stood out because of his commitment to tradition.
“You know, we love modernization, but when you are trying to open a Georgian restaurant and the name is Bebo, which is ‘grandma,’ you cannot change the recipes,” Kopaliani said. “You have to keep it as it is.”
The same goes for the drinks. Bebo is pouring traditional Georgian wines and beers for now, with cocktails in the works while the owners wait on their liquor license. Georgians have been making wine for a long time: Archaeologists found the oldest known evidence of winemaking at an 8,000-year-old village about 20 miles south of Tbilisi.
For Kopaliani, winemaking is also a family practice. “No one is buying the wines, we are making the wines, and also vodka,” he said. “We are not just selling only wines, we are selling also a tradition.”
Kopaliani said that Georgian hospitality is built on trust. Neighbors don’t need to knock before coming over. “We are just opening the doors for everyone and we have some fun.”
In Brooklyn Heights, Kopaliani said he has found a similar sense of community and hospitality. “It’s a weird feeling, I don’t know where the feeling is coming from, but this neighborhood really feels like home, because of the people maybe, but it really does,” he said.
Of his neighbors, he added: “They are acting like Georgians.”
He’s betting the neighborhood will show up for the story as much as the food. “They really, really love to support people, not just go to the restaurant, but also feel what’s the story behind the restaurant,” he said.
People who live near the restaurant have been “giving love and trust,” Kopaliani said, in a way he’s never experienced in the United States.
“The love I felt here in this neighborhood is priceless.”
Heights Happenings
As Pineapple Street noted last week, and multiple outlets have reported, the Hotel Bossert is becoming Ritz-Carlton Residences — the first branded condo development in Brooklyn, according to The Real Deal. Pineapple Street is looking to speak with neighbors about this development and other recent changes to the neighborhood! If you’re interested in chatting, please send a direct message via Substack, or email tips@pineapplestreetbk.com.
Permits have been approved for work on First Bloom, Alison Roman’s upcoming store on Montague Street, Caper Media reported.
Salter House is throwing a party with tarot readings and custom temporary tattoos to celebrate a decade of Mater soap at 117 Atlantic Ave. tonight from 6 to 8 p.m.
Daybreaker is hosting Alive, an all-day wellness festival, at Pier 3 in Brooklyn Bridge Park from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept. 26. The event will feature DJ sets, live music and wellness events.
The date has changed for Twice Desired’s pop-up outside The Breukelen. The pop-up will now be on Oct. 10, starting at 10 a.m., at 57 Montague St.
Emmy-winning actor and Brooklyn Heights local Matthew Rhys is hosting a fall regatta with Brooklyn Boatworks starting at 5 p.m. on Sept. 25. Join the waitlist or become a sponsor here.
There will be a community tag sale at this weekend’s Montague Open Streets. Forty Brooklyn Heights households will be selling secondhand clothing, decor, housewares and toys on Sept. 27 from noon to 4 p.m.
The Wildlife Conservation Society is hosting a STEM festival in Emily Warren Roebling Plaza in Brooklyn Bridge Park on Sept. 26 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will coincide with “Aqua Cosmos,” a public art installation by artist Anita Glesta.
Din Soup Dumplings has been going viral for its mini soup dumplings and Diet Coke combo.
Diljān is now taking walk-in orders for pizza, though pre-orders are still available.
The Brooklyn Book Festival is taking place outside Borough Hall this weekend. Children’s Day will be on Sept. 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Festival Day will be on Sept. 27 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Hernan Diaz, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of “Trust,” will speak with writer and journalist Jennifer Egan, author of “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” at First Unitarian Church at 119 Pierrepont St. on Sept. 29 from 7 to 8 p.m. Buy tickets here.
Two City of Forest Day events on Oct. 3: Hillside Dog Park, aka “The Great Bark Forest,” is hosting a tree-care morning from 9 a.m. to noon, and Councilmember Lincoln Restler’s office, Big Reuse and the Brooklyn Heights Association are leading a street tree cleanup from 10 a.m. to noon, meeting at 45 Pierrepont St.
There’s a new public bathroom in Columbus Park — one of 17 bathrooms the Mamdani administration is installing throughout the city as part of a one-year pilot program. The bathrooms are movable, as they don’t require connections to water, sewer or power infrastructure. They’re also touchless, and they have a 10-minute time limit.
Nearby News
Atlantic Antic, Brooklyn’s oldest and largest street festival, is back this weekend. It will take place rain or shine on Sept. 27 from noon to 6 p.m.
Your Best Friend is hosting a floral arranging night at June wine bar on Sept. 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets here.
Porta is hosting a marbling workshop with JJ Ansuini of Ansuini & Co., where you can make 12 one-of-a-kind cocktail napkins to take home, on Sept. 30 from 5 to 7 p.m.
There’s a two-hour cake fundamentals class at One Girl Cookies on Sept. 29 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Brooklyn Marine Terminal project, you can join elected officials and industry experts for a community forum on Sept. 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Sacred Hearts Church at 125 Summit St.
The Bebo story is heartwarming. I also lost my grandma recently and the only photo of hers we have looks exactly like the one hanging on that wall. Will be visiting. I can already tell they did a good job with the storytelling without going overboard 🫶🏼
What a great story thanks for sharing