Saqartvelo in Van Nuys

In a small café on Burbank Blvd in Van Nuys, three women from Georgia (the country) are cooking the kind of food that earns a write-up from the LA Times' chief restaurant critic and then keeps quietly being itself. Saqartvelo has built its reputation around Adjaruli khachapuri — the boat-shaped bread filled with cheese and butter that breaks open over a runny egg — backed by a short menu of stews and dumplings (don't skip the khinkali) done with the kind of specificity small kitchens manage and chains can't fake.

Bill Addison's LA Times review earlier this year called it a "masterpiece menu." The owners are still here, still cooking — independent, owner-led, exactly the kind of Valley place this section exists for.

Saqartvelo · 14116 Burbank Blvd, Van Nuys · Yelp for current hours.