Georgia Mountain Trout Amandine at Atlanta Fish Market by Ruth Paget

Georgia Mountain Trout Amandine at the Atlanta Fish Market by Ruth Paget 

You can enjoy fish from all the US including lobster just 15 minutes away from joint base Clay-Dobbins Air Force Base at the Atlanta Fish Market in the ritzy Buckhead neighborhood. 

My husband Laurent and I started our meal with raw oysters from Maine. Cold water supposedly creates the plumpest and most delicious oysters, which is why we chose the Maine oysters. 

The oysters arrive with seafood sauce and crushed garlic on top and a sauce mignonette on the side. Sauce mignonette is made with red wine vinegar and minced shallots. “Ette” is a suffix meaning “little” and “mignone” is a French word for “cute.” All together mignonette means “little cutie sauce.” I tried some with my oysters and thought it was great for dipping. 

For my main dish, I ordered Georgia Mountain Trout Amandine for $29. “Amandine” means the fish comes with sliced almonds that have been sautéed in butter. The almonds are spread across the top of the fish. The fish itself came with brown butter made with emulsified herbs and seasonings. 

The trout was served with thin green beans and whipped mashed potatoes and butter. Both vegetables soaked up the excess brown butter and greatly enhanced the fish. 

The local catch trout amandine and Maine raw oysters at the Atlanta Fish Market were delicious, rather French, and a great deal for Georgia’s Buckhead neighborhood. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Chinese Buffet Strategy at Chow King in Marietta, Georgia by Ruth Paget

Chinese Buffet Strategy at Chow King in Marietta, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

There is so much food available at Chinese buffets on the East Coast like Chow King in Marietta, Georgia that you need a strategy to navigate them, especially as they now have pan-Asian offerings like Vietnamese phô soup, Japanese hibachi grilled food, and sushi in addition to piles of Chinese fried and stir-fried food. 

People from the West Coast should know that before going wild on all the sushi that the white they see in the maki rolled sushi is not octopus, but Philadelphia Cream Cheese. I like sushi and cream cheese, but not together. I ate what I took, but will pass the next time I see them. 

For the buffet offerings, I have taken my cue from Chinese senior citizens about what to eat. Most buffets have mounds of seafood refried rice and lo mein egg noodles that I always head for. The seafood rice is made with seafood broth, which gives it a bright orange color. It is then refried with egg, peas, and carrots. I fill half my plate with this item. 

The other half of my plate I fill with lo mein egg noodles that have been stir-fried in peanut oil with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil added at the end. 

On top of the rice and lo mein noodles, I fill ¾ of the plate with stir-fried broccoli, mushrooms, and carrots flavored with nuoc nam or nam pla salty fish sauces from Vietnam and Thailand. The remaining ¼ of my plate, I fill with tangy orange chicken, which I consider dessert. 

I do two rounds of this combination and then eat chocolate pudding for dessert. 

Almost all Chinese buffets have these delicious items like the ones at Chow King in Marietta, Georgia by joint base Clay-Dobbins Air Force Base. Chow King has five large rooms, plenty of parking, and air conditioning, which add to the reasons for trying Chinese food. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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The Italian Oven in Stockbridge, Georgia by Ruth Paget

The Italian Oven in Stockbridge, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

On a visit to joint base Clay-Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta (Georgia), my husband Laurent and I headed south of Atlanta to meet my sister and brother-in-law for a meal at the Italian Oven in Stockbridge.  

I knew I would love the Italian Oven when we entered and good scents of baked garlic and luxurious, warm Parmesan cheese wafted out from the kitchen. 

As soon as we sat down at our maroon colored booth for six, the waiter brought a large bowl of homemade bread with warm, grated Parmesan cheese on the edges and a plate of olive oil for dipping the bread in. 

I ordered meatballs as a starter. They were made with chopped sirloin, pork, Parmesan breadcrumbs, and eggs to bind it all together before baking. The meatballs were served in a marinara sauce made with tomatoes, garlic, and basil with mozzarella melted on top. Those were over-the-top good. I highly recommend them. 

Next, I had a Caesar Salad with a sharp dressing made with crushed anchovies, coddled egg yolk, and white wine vinegar. The salt in the anchovies tasted great in the sultry 90-degree Atlanta heat. This salad is highly recommended as well. 

I was pretty full by this time, but still ordered Mushroom Fettucine Florentine as my main dish. Florentine in a title signals that there will be sautéed spinach in a dish. The spinach and beefy mushrooms in this dish came with a sauce made with tomatoes and cream and juicy shrimp. This was another winner. 

I enjoyed this delicious meal in a friendly atmosphere. I would love to go back to the Italian Oven in Stockbridge on future trips to Atlanta, Georgia. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Thrift books is carrying my book by Ruth Paget

 Thrift books is carrying Eating Soup with Chopsticks!  Thank you for your support.

Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Walmart is carrying my book! By Ruth Paget

 Thank you Walmart for carrying Eating Soup with Chopsticks, my book about living in Japan as an exchange student in high school.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Laguna Beach Books (CA) is carrying my book!

 Thank you Lagunas Beach Books (California) for carrying Eating Soup with Chopsticks, my book about living in Japan as a high school exchange student.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Cajun Vegetables at Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen by Ruth Paget

Cajun Vegetables at Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen by Ruth Paget 

Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen is most famous for its deep-fried chicken sandwich combination meals, but I sometimes like going to Popeye’s for a spicy Cajun vegetable meal. 

Louisiana vegetable sides often feature an addition of spicy andouille sausage, whose ancestor is a mild andouille sausage from France. Andouille sausage from Louisiana is made with pork butt, garlic, salt, black pepper, and spicy cayenne pepper according to the Taste of Artisan website. 

This type of andouille sausage is added to a sauté of onions, green bell pepper, celery, tomato paste, garlic, cooked red beans, chicken stock and hot sauce to make a stew according to the Damn Delicious website. Once the stew is cooked, these beans are served alongside cooked white rice. 

Red beans and rice is a Cajun comfort food from the Louisiana countryside. I like to order it with a chilled coleslaw, a chopped salad made with cabbage, carrots, and onions with a cream dressing. 

Popeye’s also offers Cajun fries with cayenne-heavy Cajun seasoning and mashed potatoes with spicy Cajun gravy. 

Monterey County does not have a Popeye’s as of August 2024, but there are two locations within the Congressional district: 

-Watsonville Auto Mall outside Santa Cruz 

-Gilroy Cross Mall by Barnes and Noble outside San Jose 

I like exotic fast food at a reasonable price, and Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen is just perfect for this. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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