In Every Kitchen
Flavors I’ve Found Across the World
I travel with my taste buds wide open because food is how we connect with a place and each other. I’m the kind of traveler that plans days and trips around meals, I book the hotel near all the best local spots, and I will absolutely go out of the way for a great plate. I love sharing the places and dishes I still think about, the flavors that surprised me, and the places you should definitely plan to try next.
Food tells you the truth about a place. It shows you what people value, what resources are available, what they celebrate, what they've inherited in the kitchen from years of tradition, and what they're doing differently now. Consider this page my running list. It’s part food diary and part travel guide for anyone who wants to eat their way through a trip the way I do.
National Food
Even before traveling nationally and internationally, some of my favorite meals came from a local gas station (shoutout to Circle D Mart) or a family-owned restaurant nearby. Exploring the United States one plate at a time has shown me just how much food can differ by region. Where I might order a side of yams in Virginia or Georgia, I may be offered rice in South Carolina. I might find southern food that reminds me of home in Chicago. A charming little cafe in Martha’s Vineyard may deliver a peach salad i’ve never had but would gladly eat again and again in the summer.
This section is where I round up the national spots and dishes that I visited, loved, and would visit again. It’s the hole-in-the-wall restaurants, the Black-owned spots, and local classics that make you understand a place and its community more.
Local Markets
As a photographer, the market is one of my favorite places to experience in a community. You’ll also find me there because I love fresh produce. The fruit and vegetables. The herbs. The fresh flowers. You can’t beat it.
The market is the best place to get an immersive crash course in a culture. You get to see what people actually buy, cook, and eat on an everyday basis. Markets are loud and sort of raw. It’s eventful to see vendors set up their stalls and produce and spices piled into dynamically colored pyramids. The market is a place that is not for tourists. It’s for the locals. We just happen to be able to stop by.
Every place does markets a little differently, and that's what I like about experiencing them. Some markets are neatly organized lines of stalls while others are mazes of any and everything. I've tried food that I’ve never had before and eaten some of my best meals standing up at a stall with no name and no menu.
International Food
This is probably my favorite part of traveling. I get incredibly excited about trying food in a new country, and I'll rearrange my day just to make it to a specific restaurant. Some of the time, I’m not even sure what I’m ordering, and that's kind of the point—staying open. Some of my best meals were because I took the advice of locals about what to order, and they, of all people, would know best.
I've eaten street food that blew away meals I paid way more for, and I've also splurged on a sit-down dinner that was worth every penny. There's no formula, I just follow what sounds good, what smells good, and what the locals seem to be lining up for. This section is basically a running list of the dishes and spots abroad that I keep thinking about — the ones I'd tell you to book a flight for, and the random little finds that ended up being the whole highlight of the trip.
During my first trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee, I quickly discovered that the city’s food scene is every bit as impressive as its scenic riverfront and outdoor attractions. From brunch at Honey Seed to dinner at Public House, STIR, and State of Confusion, these are the restaurants that stood out and what you should order when you visit.