Betsy Haskell, Founder of Betsy's Hotel and Businesswoman gives her top recommendations for where to eat in Georgia's capital.

KETO & KOTE

My top favorite now is Keto and Kote, which hits all the buttons; wonderful in summer and winter. The atmosphere both in the garden and inside the restaurant overlooking the city is magical and the food perfect; from the (non)standard tomato and cucumber salad with great sauce and warm homemade bread, the mini khinkali, the sauteed mushrooms, and the melt-in-your-mouth pork barbecue. They also have great desserts which I never have room for after the main course.

VINOTEL

Georgian but inventive Vinotel is ideal year-round, especially for wine. Worth visiting when you have guests in town. I had a fabulous business lunch at Vinotel with many different dishes, each one better than the last; so good we struggled to stop eating!  

RAINER'S

Ideal for summer, this is my top place for garlic biscuits and German dishes while sitting with friends.

LE MARAIS 

Don't miss Le Marais at Christmas; it's decorated so beautifully that it immediately puts you in a Christmas fairytale (and the food is always delicious and the service almost flawless)!  

BRASSERIE BUVETTE

Brasserie Buvette on Lado Gudiashvili Street is the place to go eat if you want to feel like you're in 1930s Paris- the food and service is really wonderful.

Betsy Haskell came to Georgia in 1991 at the request of the then President, Gamsukhordia, to assist his government in attracting USAID funds. She has been here ever since, and in 1993 founded the first western-style real estate firm, and then in 1994 opened Betsy's Hotel.  She sold the hotel to Steve Johnson in early 2000, and since then has had a gardening company, and was a consultant to a contractor to the US Treasury,  and now helps friends and friends of friends find their footing in Tbilisi.