Saami Somi co-owners Donna and Michael Kolodesh opened their Georgian restaurant in Reading Terminal Market to share not only more well-known Georgian dishes, but also “what our mom and grandma would’ve made with an American twist on it.” Emigrating from Georgia and growing up in Northeast Philly, which happens to have a large community from ex-Soviet countries, the siblings pull techniques and flavors from the cultures they grew up around. “We’re neither fully Georgian, nor fully American. We're somewhere in between.” One of their most popular menu items, pkhali, is a traditional dish eaten during a Georgian feast. Pkhalis are typically made with a purée of beetroot, eggplant, or bitter greens that is combined with a mixture of ground toasted walnuts, garlic, and a spice blend called Khmeli Suneli, a combination of fenugreek, thyme, coriander, basil, and dill, to name a few. To change up the format, Michael and Donna thinly slice and char eggplant, forming them into rolls, before stuffing them with the vegetable pastes. The pkhali rolls are then served with a dill labneh. “The technique and the ingredients are pretty true, but the presentation and how we integrate them are different.” Saami Somi also plays with less traditional fillings in their pkhalis, like pumpkin and green bean, and often rotates them out depending on the season.