For many years, my palate for foreign cuisine consisted of Chinese and Mexican food. I remember the first time I ate at a Mexican restaurant thinking that it was the best food I’ d ever had. Later, on a trip to Cozumel, I discovered that authentic Mexican food tastes nothing like the Americanized version. These days, my husband, Jerry, and I often try new international restaurants for the experience and pleasure of sampling dishes from around the world, so Kathy Patrick’ s global restaurant roundup on page 30 really piqued my interest. We have three Indian restaurants within a few miles of our house that we frequent. The closest one, Chaska, is vegan and features a robotic server that delivers meals to the tables. There’ s also a fantastic Thai restaurant in Marietta we like called Lemon Grass.

One of the reasons I fell in love with my husband is his enthusiasm for trying new, sometimes daring adventures like skydiving and hang gliding. Jerry can convince me to tandem jump out of a plane or get muddy spelunking— things that never sounded enjoyable to me

Jerry and I enjoying some of the local cuisine on a trip to Cancun, Mexico. but turned out to be amazing experiences I’ ll never forget. When he chose to run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, I told him he was crazy and that I’ d watch him safely from a balcony. He survived it and ran it again the next day!

Jerry’ s zeal for trying new cuisines is equally appealing. While I’ m picky like Mikey from the iconic’ 70s ad for Life cereal, Jerry would eat a grilled toad, eyeballs and all. I remember we went to an authentic Korean restaurant in Chamblee once and Jerry ordered one of his favorite dishes, bulgogi, for us. It consists of marinated beef that’ s grilled or stir-fried, and is so good. They brought us several small bowls as side dishes, one of which was kimchi, a traditional fermented cabbage. Jerry was enthusiastically enjoying another one of the side dishes and kept trying to get me to taste it. I asked him if he knew that what he was devouring looked like beady-eyed pickled minnows, and he just grinned and said,“ Taste one. They’ re squishy.” Uh, no thank you.

We went to an interesting Korean barbecue place in Marietta not too long ago called Tofu Village, and it was nothing like the Southern barbecue I’ m used to. It was a fun, interactive, social dining adventure, with marinated meats you cook yourself on a grill built directly into the table. Cartersville has several of these Korean barbecue places now, which is further proof that you don’ t have to drive far to have an authentic international dining experience. So go ahead, order the bulgogi with kimchi, but just leave off the minnows!

Besides learning about some new area eateries to try, this issue’ s menu of stories includes an introduction to the sport of bouldering( page 22), a profile of the owner of an old-fashioned soda fountain in Cartersville( page 16), and, in commemoration of America’ s upcoming semiquincentennial, a visit to some of the historic presidential sites across our state( page 28). It’ s a full plate, so bon appétit!

4 | NW GEORGIA LIVING MARCH / APRIL 2026

MAR / APR 2026 Volume 17 | Issue 2

Publisher and Founder Editor-in-Chief Laura Wood Erickson

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NW Georgia Living Mar/Apr 2026 | Page 6

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