Tuesday, November 17, 2009

11/17/09 - My first blog, ever!

I will admit up-front: I am not a food expert! I have no formal culinary education, and I've not traveled extensively around the globe. Am I an expert on authenticity? No, probably not. Do I have an open mind and an adventurous palate? Absolutely!

That wasn't always the case. Growing up in the Deep South, my idea of "ethnic food" was the Panda Express in the mall food court. Thankfully, my tastes have been refined since then (though I still kind of like their orange chicken), and I owe much of this, strangely enough, to my employer.

More than three years ago, I went to work for a public health consulting company located... you guessed it... in an office park just off of Buford Highway. I still remember a conversation with a rather negative co-worker when I first started in which I was told "unfortunately, there aren't many good places to eat around here." Boy were they mistaken! Thankfully, I did not heed their warning and followed another colleague to a Vietnamese restaurant (Co'm) just up the street from the office. I was hooked at first bite!

Since then, I have bravely marched up Buford Highway from Sidney Marcus, to I-285 and Beyond, stopping in as many restaurants, markets, bakeries, etc., along the way that I could. I've had some great food, and met some great people. I've also had some... eh... "interesting" food, and met some "interesting" people. I've found some amazing deals, and I've left restaurants feeling like I was taken for a ride. I've been amazed by the freshness of ingredients, and I've found fried cockroaches in my crispy calamari! I've pretty much seen it all, and I've had a ton of fun along the way. Check back often for reviews of some of my favorite Buford Highway haunts.

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