Karavanserai Tone

Karavanserai Tone is a traditional clay-oven bakery at 13/40 Sioni Street in Old Tbilisi, Georgia, near Sioni Cathedral. A tone is the cylindrical clay oven in which Georgian bread is baked by slapping the dough against the hot walls, and the bakery is an underground space where this method can be seen at work. It has no outside signage and sits down a staircase, so first-time visitors often need to look carefully for the entrance. The cuisine is simple baked goods rather than a restaurant menu. Signature items include shotis puri, the long, canoe-shaped tonis puri bread pulled directly from the oven walls, khachapuri, the cheese-filled bread, and lobiani, a bread filled with seasoned beans. Freshly baked bread is the draw, and many visitors buy a loaf to eat on the street or to take to a picnic or a nearby wine bar. The atmosphere is warm, from the oven, and functional rather than decorative; it is a working bakery with a counter and little seating, and the pace is quick. There is no dress code. Prices are very low, roughly 3-12 GEL per person (about USD 1.1-4.6), which makes it one of the cheapest and most authentic food stops in the old town. Hours are listed as daily from 8AM to 8PM, and the best time to visit is in the morning when bread is freshest and the line is short. No reservations are taken and the bakery is walk-in only. Cash is the safest means of payment. Its position close to Sioni Cathedral, the Anchiskhati Basilica and the central river embankment means it fits easily into a morning walk through the old quarter. Visitors interested in Georgian food culture may find it a useful complement to restaurant meals, since bread underpins nearly every dish in the national cuisine.