The chef-patron of recently opened Mayfair restaurant DakaDaka talks traditional Georgian fare, where to eat in London and the art of world-building
What can diners expect from DakaDaka?
DakaDaka is energetic, generous and flavour-driven. It’s rooted in Georgian hospitality, big tables, an open fire, bold sauces, wine that tells a story, but delivered in a way that feels right for London. It’s not fine dining, it’s not casual either. It’s precise food with soul and a Georgian spirit. Expect smoke, spice, texture and a proper sense of occasion.
How would you define modern Georgian food?
For me, modern Georgian food isn’t about reinventing tradition, it’s about refining it. Keeping the integrity of dishes like khinkali [soup dumplings], kharcho [soup] or pkhali [minced vegetable spread], but improving technique, sourcing and balance. Lighter where it needs to be, sharper, cleaner. Still deeply emotional and generous, just more considered.
Mitz Vora, chef patron at DakaDaka
What is the menu item you are most excited about?
Our khinkali. It sounds simple, but it’s the dish that carries the most cultural weight. Getting the broth inside perfectly seasoned, the dough thin but strong, the pleats precise, that’s where craft shows. When someone eats it properly, lifts it, bites, drinks the broth, that moment is everything.
What ingredient can you not live without – and why?
Fresh herbs. They run through so much of Georgian cooking and through my own cooking generally. They bring freshness, edge, brightness. Without acidity and herbs, food feels flat to me. Herbs give lift.
What item, apart from your passport, can you not travel without?
My phone. It’s basically my portable office – notes, menus, photos of dishes, inspirational elements in other restaurants, voice memos at random times. Restaurants don’t switch off just because you’re on a plane, and neither does my brain.
Khinkali at DakaDaka
Where is your favourite place to eat in London – and why?
I tend to gravitate towards under-the-radar Southeast Asian spots, the places that are more about flavour than scene. Those places inspire me because they’re confident in their identity. They don’t dilute themselves, and that’s something I respect deeply.
What are your biggest passions?
Building things. Restaurants specifically, not just the food, but the room, the team, the music, the wine, the lighting. I’m obsessed with the whole ecosystem. And outside of that, fitness and longevity. Discipline in one area sharpens the other, I believe.
Pkhali at DakaDaka
What do you like to do on a day off?
Train in the morning, be in nature, visit local vineyards, spend time with my family, and eat somewhere that inspires me. I don’t really switch off from restaurants. I just experience them from the other side of the table.
Who is your role model and how have they influenced you in your work?
My business partner and dear friend Giorgi – fearless in vision, calm in execution. With him, I truly believe we can achieve anything through perseverance and hard work. And chef Nick Nutting of Wolf in the Fog, in Tofino, in British Columbia, Canada – the biggest influence on how I cook. He taught me restraint. Power without overcomplicating.
If you could choose anyone from today or the past, who would be your ideal dinner party guest – and why?
[Noma’s] René Redzepi. He redefined what local identity can look like on a global stage. I respect how deeply he committed to place, not chasing trends, but building a philosophy around landscape, seasonality and culture. I’d love to cook him a Georgian supra and talk about how Georgia’s ingredients and traditions could be expressed with that same clarity and confidence.
10 Heddon Street, W1B 4BX; @dakadaka.london
Photography by Matt Hague
