Toné Café

"Toné Cafe is home to a traditional circular clay oven, where they bake the bread that forms the basis of popular Georgian items like khachapuri, the cheese-filled, egg-topped bread boat that seems to be everywhere these days. Toné has both a to-go bakery and a sit-down cafe with a nice outdoor seating area that’s both a pleasant alternative to the noisier restaurants under the train tracks and a great place to linger at the end of a beach day. Get an order of khinkali, the oversized soup dumplings you eat with your hands, liberally seasoned with pepper. If you’re fighting a hangover or are just looking to feel rejuvenated after this brain-melting year, a bowl of khashi soup is also a good choice - the broth is mild, comes with a heaping pile of minced garlic, and can be enriched with milk to make it extra soothing. Toné also has a strong wine list, including a wide variety of amber and skin-contact wines." - carina finn koeppicus

"Khinkali Toné Cafe in Brighton Beach is home to a traditional circular clay oven, where they bake the bread that forms the basis of popular Georgian items like khachapuri, the cheese-filled, egg-topped bread boat that seems to be everywhere these days. Get an order of khinkali, the oversized soup dumplings you eat with your hands, liberally seasoned with pepper. If you’re fighting a hangover or are just looking to feel rejuvenated after this brain-melting year, a bowl of khashi soup is also a good choice - the broth is mild, comes with a heaping pile of minced garlic, and can be enriched with milk to make it extra soothing. Toné also has a strong wine list, including a wide variety of amber and skin-contact wines." - team infatuation

"If you’re in Brighton Beach and are able to consume gluten without causing your intestines to unionize, we simply see no reason to avoid Toné Café—a calm Georgian spot on Neptune Avenue named for the big circular clay oven that bakes the restaurant’s puri. Every meal at Toné Café should involve something baked in said clay oven, which functions in the same way as a tandoor does. If you need to narrow down the list to one choice, make it the adjaruli khachapuri. This boat-shaped flatbread has a center overflowing with molten farmer’s cheese, a sunny yolk, and a thick sliver of butter that melts so fast it looks like it’s running away. In addition to their small dining room, Toné Café also sells cakes and pastries in their bakery next door. Unless you’re short on time, we’d suggest having a sit-down meal in the restaurant over the quicker grab-and-go approach. That way you can try all of the menu’s highlights–including thick-skinned khinkali, Georgian orange wine, and fizzy tarragon soda that tastes like a piece of licorice after a spa day. Toné Café’s nap-inducing Georgian dishes are much better suited for a post-beach meal rather than a pre-beach excursion. (The restaurant is about a 20-minute walk from the boardwalk, FYI.) If you fall asleep on the shore and unfamiliar 8-year-olds cover you in sand, don’t say we didn’t warn you. Food Rundown photo credit: Carina Finn Kashi Soup Allegedly, Georgian people have eaten this beef-based garlic soup to cure hangovers. If you think the broth tastes too light, you can always pour in some milk to make it heftier. photo credit: Carina Finn Beef Khinkali These squeaky broth-filled dumplings have thick wrappers, but the doughiness doesn’t outshine the herbaceous beefy center whatsoever. Each one also has enough black pepper to remind you that black pepper can in fact pack a punch. We like to pick up these babies with our hands and bite towards the top of the nub. Adjaruli Khachapuri Toné Café makes about a half-dozen varieties of khachapuri, but this is the model we think you should try first. The combination of oozing farmer’s cheese and egg yolk gives it seemingly-unnecessary-but-totally-necessary richness. In a word, this is a dairyscape." - Hannah Albertine

"This small cafe off the beaten path in Brighton Beach in the former home of the bakery Georgian Bread is a great place to dash in for a quick bite, though more elaborate, sit-down meals are also available. While pastries and stuffed breads are a specialty, Toné also provides complete main courses, including chicken satsivi, which features boneless cuts of poultry covered in a thick walnut sauce — perfect to pair with one of the Georgian wines." - Robert Sietsema