Khabar Magazine. August 2022. For the longest time, one of the pet peeves of Indians has been that our cuisine does not get its due credit in the American dining scene. Well, that has changed in 2022, and how! In June, the Asheville, North Carolina-based Chai Pani (which also has a location in Decatur, Georgia) […]

HuffPost. August 2022. For decades, nutritionists and researchers have been talking about the health benefits of consuming spices and spice supplements ― we’re not talking about spicy foods like jalapenos, but spices like ginger, cinnamon and turmeric. What has been a staple in many Eastern diets is now becoming a health trend around the world […]

Georgia Trend Magazine. July 2022 print issue. Before it got famous for music, Macon was a mill town. You can find echoes of both identities in the city’s historic downtown, where Cherry and First streets intersect with Cotton Avenue at a 45-degree angle. Here stands the new Hotel Forty-Five, its name a nod to both […]

Khabar Magazine. July 2022. After a long hiatus during the pandemic, one of Atlanta’s favorite restaurants, Zyka: The Taste, reopened for dine-in. The iconic location at Scott Boulevard, Decatur, which has been around since 1997, offers the same, familiar experience with its modest interior renovations, while the newer Alpharetta location that opened in 2020, is […]

AAA The Extra Mile. June 2022. It’s summer, and that means its BBQ season. As you sip on a beer while firing up your backyard grill, it may be time to rethink your choice of beer. Your palate deserves a pleasant contrast of bitterness against the spice, heat, and meat on your plate. Brewers and […]

Georgia Trend. June 2022. While you’d expect an 8-year old to love ice cream, you would rarely find one who dedicates his childhood to building an ice cream enterprise. Not satisfied with his $7 allowance, Beau Shell wanted to make money to buy his own toys, help the family and his school’s missionary. After he […]

Khabar Magazine. June 2022 print. How to source, store, and cook the most important ingredients in your Indian pantry.  Spices are an integral part of the Indian kitchen, and most of our knowledge about them has come naturally through tasting and observing. Most of us never went to a formal cooking class or read the […]

Georgia Trend Magazine. May 2022. If you frequent some of the farmers markets around Atlanta, you may have had a chance to taste the fresh baked cinnamon rolls and cheddar scallion scones from Just Bakery Atlanta (JBA). Since 2017, this unique bakery has been serving customers baked goods via delivery, pickups and at the Grant Park, Morningside, […]

Zagat. March 2022. Okan Kizilbayir is executive chef of Salt restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, one of the only 2 AAA Five Diamond rated restaurants in Florida.  Growing up, my family had a summer home in the woods an hour outside Istanbul. My dad grew vegetables, my grandfather made old Turkish style one-pot stews, and I […]

HuffPost. Feb 2022. Chef Daryl Shular is the world’s first African American and minority chef to earn the prestigious title of certified master chef, the distinction administered by the American Culinary Federation and currently held by fewer than a hundred people. Shular has also won 12 gold medals in local and national cooking competitions, including the Culinary Olympics, […]

Georgia Trend Magazine. Feb 2022. When you dine at a trendy restaurant, you may not think of army veterans in middle Georgia. But a group of vets may have grown the heirloom tomatoes or raised the pork that’s on your plate. For them, working the land has not only helped provide quality food, but also […]

HuffPost. February 2022. Matthew Raiford is a chef, author and farmer on a mission to raise awareness of the life cycle of food, especially in the African-American community. As a sixth-generation Gullah Geechee in the coastal South, Raiford is working to pass on his ancestral and acquired knowledge of growing, cooking and preserving food, by hosting […]

Georgia Trend Magazine. January 2022 print edition. Located in one of Savannah’s oldest buildings that dates back to the 1890s, St. Neo’s Brasserie is not your typical hotel restaurant. For starters, the interior is a dream come true for decorators and makeover enthusiasts. What was an eyesore of an abandoned building that once housed American […]

Zagat. December 2021. Zagat Stories presents Restaurants 21/22, a collection of interviews with leading voices in dining, hospitality, food, tech, politics and more. Each story takes the turning of the calendar as an inflection point to consider what happened in 2021, or what’s likely to happen in 2022, in the world of restaurants and food. See all […]

Georgia Trend. November 2021. Pecans, peanuts, pistachios, walnuts, macadamia – oh my! Georgia produces a wide variety of nuts. In fact, Georgia leads the way as the nation’s top pecan producer, growing 142 million pounds last year. Nuts are a good source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, have very low sodium (if unsalted) and are […]

Fifth Season. November 2021. When I entered my suburban apartment kitchen, the once bare white walls were covered with stringy orange slime. It looked like a chaotic scene from Ghostbusters. But these were pumpkin fibers, not viscous green psycho-reactive slime. And there were no ghosts. Just my own mom and grandma attempting to make pumpkin […]

Georgia Trend Magazine. November 2021. Overlooking the colorful downtown, swaying in my rocking chair, sipping a blueberry sour cocktail, I feel I could be in any Southern small town. But this is no ordinary place, building or porch. It is the same spot where global heads of state and accomplished billionaires have wined and dined. […]

Georgia Trend. October 2021. Tis’ the season! With pumpkins, turkeys and candy on our minds, the last quarter of the year is all about celebrations over food. Restaurants and bars across the state are getting creative with food and drink items to get customers into the celebratory spirit. Whether you’re tickled by edible ghost candies, […]

Cuisine Noir. September 2021. Many African American decedents of enslaved people lived along the barrier islands and along the coast of Georgia, Florida and both Carolinas. “Instead of dying after their landowners abandoned their cotton, indigo and rice plantation, the Geechee thrived in collectives that shared their bountiful resources as well as their own language, […]

Cuisine Noir. September 2021. Charlise Johnson is the chef and owner of In My Fillings cupcake shop in Suwanee, Georgia. Her unique business model offers customers an opportunity to make their own cupcakes by combining different base cakes, icings and toppings. She opened her first, what she calls the “Chipotle for cupcakes,” style location during the pandemic […]

HuffPost. September 2021. Veronica Wandui is the executive banquet chef at The St. Regis Atlanta, where she orchestrates weddings and conferences for up to 600 guests at a time. After graduating from culinary school in Nairobi, Wandui was demotivated, harassed and told to stay “in her place.” She migrated to the United States and restarted her […]

Oxygen. July 2021. You’re eating right, taking all the right supplements and exercising regularly, but you’re not seeing the results you want. Maybe you’ve nailed down exactly what you have to eat to live your healthiest lifestyle, but have you thought about the combinations of foods you eat? How about the ingredients you’re combining, beyond your basic […]

AAA The Extra Mile. July 2021. As you embark on a road trip across the U.S., your choices to eat are no longer limited to fast food and gas station snacks. With the rise of South Asian truck drivers on American roadways, a demand for Indian cuisine has also surmounted. As a result, Indian fast-food restaurants have […]

Greatist. June 2021. The Juneteenth season is about remembrance and celebration. We remember the day Union troops arrived in Texas, announcing that the Civil War had ended and enslaved people were free. And we celebrate the cultures that have been preserved and reborn out of that time.  One such culture is that of the Gullah Geechee people, one […]