It’s been said that the best thing about traveling is coming home, and I couldn’t agree more. During my travels from coast to coast, I made a brief stop at my folks’ in Georgia. I started eating at the bar after I moved away from home, and the city became my community. Although I’ve come to love my independence and freedom, I’ve always made it a priority to stay rooted, and come home often…especially for my mom’s home-cooking.
It’s rather commonplace for food lovers to credit their mothers for their palate and I’m no exception. My mother’s food is simple, clean, and it always tastes authentic…despite the variety of influences ranging from Chinese to Italian to Russian. One of the things I’ve always admired about my mother is her ability to elegantly weave her favorite aspects of eastern and western culture…in life and in food.
Peppers stuffed with pork
Eggplant with Bell Peppers and Potatoes
I’ve moved around most my life and my family continued to move as well. They finally ended up in Roswell, GA (an hour outside of Atlanta), where they call home…for now, anyway. Home is a funny thing. Even for those of us who love to spread our wings, it’s still nice to think that there’s a stable world to waiting for us – the world that has existed since our own existence on earth, around our existence – in a vacuum, untouched, unchanged. I’m very aware how selfish this sounds, but in an ideal world, I would venture out of the nest to grow, change, evolve, but when I came home, bruised and tired, it will be exactly as I remembered: the same house, the same neighborhood with the same neighbors who watched me grow up; the same shops with all the same local owners where I had my first job, my first date…and everyone will be there waiting, preserved in time.
But of course, change is inevitable…especially when you’ve moved as often as we have. What I love about food is its ability to instantly trigger memories. The sense of smell is incredibly powerful in transporting you to a specific place and time even if that place and time have gone.
Roast Duck
Beijing duck is one of my absolute favorite comfort foods. It’s simple, but very difficult to prepare well. My mom’s preparation is near perfection (especially for not having a wood furnace at home)…though the same can’t be said about my dad’s carving techniques. At a table or at the bar, with friends, family or strangers…the philosophy for me is the same – eating is about communion. With my mother’s cooking, no matter where or when I sit at her table, I know I’m home.
Colorful Table
As a sign of my gratitude for a wonderful meal, I agreed to accompany my mother later in the weekend to visit some historic southern houses. It was worse than Chinese water torture – I needed a speedy recovery and we stumbled upon the perfect remedy, INC Street Food, on Canton Street in Roswell, GA.
INC Street Food Exterior
I was pretty stunned to find a place like INC in Roswell. Although Canton Street is one of the hipper blocks in town, Roswell is still a very small place. The decor was bright and colorful and an indoor taco truck facade frames the serving station/counter from the kitchen. We were instantly given a warm welcome by the owner, Hicham Azhari, who chatted us up about his various inspirations for the restaurant – one of the major ones being Susan Feniger’s Street in Los Angeles, which I’ve yet to try. Anyone know if they have a bar?
INC Bar for Lunch
kitchen/server window
BBQ Octopus tacos
Poblano Chile Relleno
Gearing up for my big Asia trip, I was really psyched over street food in general and INC didn’t disappoint. Octopus tacos were incredibly tender, flavors were vivid and memorable. Even my mother was happy!
My philosophy lately has been to embrace change, rather than to fight it. There’s too much in life to fight – I’m a stubborn perfectionist, not to mention strong-willed…and it gets exhausting to constantly try to will things to go the way I want them to. By letting go and adapting to different situations, I grow stronger…and so does my stomach! Next time I’m ‘home,’ I’ll definitely squeeze in a visit to INC between my mother’s familiar home cooking. Or maybe I’ll discover someplace new! Or maybe I just won’t make any plans and see what happens…
