She Ordered an Uber and Found Her Future Husband

New York Times

31-01-2025

When Kristen Rita Grennan got into an Uber outside Nancy Whiskey Pub, in Manhattan's TriBeCa neighborhood, in the wee hours of March 17, she locked eyes with the driver, Guram Robakidze, in the rearview mirror. She immediately noticed how handsome he was.
'He said hello, and I noted his accent and asked him where he was from,' said Ms. Grennan, 35, who had been out with friends.
'I told her Georgia, but didn't say that I was referring to the country, and she replied how great the skiing there is,' Mr. Robakidze, who goes by Guga, said. 'Most people don't know about Georgia and think I'm talking about the state. I liked her from there.'
His English was limited, so they chatted for the rest of the ride to her apartment in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Manhattan using Google Translate. They discussed his homeland's beautiful mountains, beaches and delicious wines.
Ms. Grennan knew when Mr. Robakidze pulled up in front of her building that she wanted to see him again, and inquired if he had a girlfriend. 'When he said 'no,' I asked him for his number and a kiss,' she said.
Mr. Robakidze agreed to both requests.
The two had their first date hours later, that evening. Mr. Robakidze took Ms. Grennan to one of his favorite Georgian restaurants in New York, Chama Mama, in Chelsea. He picked her up in his burgundy Toyota, but this time, she sat in the front. They talked all the way downtown, again with the help of Google Translate.
Ms. Grennan told Mr. Robakidze about her upbringing in Long Island, her interest in public service and her ambitions to be a corporate lawyer. He shared his story about immigrating to the United States and told her that she was the first American he had ever interacted with beyond a casual conversation.
'Guga explained how he lived in a bubble of a tight-knit Georgian community in Kensington, Brooklyn,' Ms. Grennan said.
At the restaurant, Mr. Robakidze ordered a spread of dishes, including a pkhali vegetable dip, and khachapuri, a cheese-filled bread. Both discovered a shared passion for travel and swapped stories about their most memorable trips — Rwanda and China for Ms. Grennan; Russia and Ukraine for Mr. Robakidze. They held hands across the table.
Despite the language barrier, their conversation flowed easily, both said. The date ended with drinks at the cocktail bar Apotheke Chinatown.
'It was love at first sight with Kristen, and we were an item from that date on,' said Mr. Robakidze, with the help of Google Translate.
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Mr. Robakidze, 31, is from Baghdati, Georgia, and moved to New York in August 2022. He had worked as an events manager for the event planning company the Soko Event Group, in the capital city Tbilisi, and is now an Uber driver in New York City. He has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Georgia, in Tbilisi.
Ms. Grennan-Robakidze, 35, grew up in Massapequa, N.Y., and is the senior director of communications for Mayor Eric Adams's public engagement unit. She is also a student at New York Law School. She received bachelor's degrees in French and history from Binghamton University and a master's degree in public administration from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs.
After their first date, Mr. Robakidze and Ms. Grennan quickly fell into a rhythm of texting and talking by video. Mr. Robakidze began learning more English, but said he is not yet fluent.
Given their long work schedules, they met only once a week. 'Guga would pick me up at law school in TriBeCa when I finished class, take me out for dinner and drop me off before going back to work,' Ms. Grennan said.
By July 2024, they said that they were fed up with being 'ships in the night,' and Mr. Robakidze moved into Ms. Grennan's Hamilton Heights apartment, where they still live.
'We had started talking about getting married in April, and moving in with Kristen got us closer to that,' Mr. Robakidze said.
'It was easy to live together, and we joked about how we were an old married couple,' Ms. Grennan said.
The couple made plans to marry in January, after Ms. Grennan finished her law school final exams. 'I didn't think or expect that there would be an official moment we would get engaged,' she said.
But on Jan. 3, Mr. Robakidze surprised Ms. Grennan on a trip to the Pocono Mountains by getting down on one knee in the living room of their Airbnb and asking her to marry him as 10 of his close friends stood watching.
'He proposed in Georgian, and his friends translated for us,' Ms. Grennan said. 'After I said yes, they broke out in traditional Georgina wedding dances. It was pure joy.'
Ten months to the day that they met, Mr. Robakidze and Ms. Grennan, who plans to go by Grennan-Robakidze, were married Jan. 17 by Yanfang Chen, an officiant at the Manhattan City Clerk's office, before four guests. After the ceremony, they hosted dinner for 12 family members and friends at Fraunces Tavern, in the Financial District.
'We had toasts in Georgian and toasts in English,' Mr. Robakidze said. 'Everyone toasted our love and the bringing of two cultures together. And then we danced.'