For most diners, caviar appears at the end of its journey. It arrives chilled and carefully presented, often with a sense of ceremony that can make it feel more like a trophy than something to eat. Between us, we have spent decades in fine dining—tasting, sourcing, and serving caviar in many forms. We understand its rituals and pleasures, but until recently, we had never seen where it comes from. Earlier this year, we decided to change that. We traveled to Tbilisi, Georgia, to visit Panchenko Caviar House, widely regarded as producers of some of the best you can get. The experience has changed the way we think about buying, using, and explaining this ingredient in our restaurants. As chefs, we often talk about ingredients with a sense of immediacy: What’s fresh? What’s seasonal? What’s ready now? But caviar forces you to think in years, not weeks. At Panchenko, Altima’s source for roe, that’s because the final product..
