I have this odd habit of each time I choose a fancy restaurant for a nice evening out with my husband or friends, I go looking around for somewhere divey nearby to go to after. Do any other Southerners do this?
Try this foodie-lover’s list of my favorite high- and low-brow restaurants in Atlanta. It’s a mix of casual and fine dining around the city.
For someone who grew up in the South, what is known as low brow culture—state fairs, pimento cheese, field parties, honky tonk bars—is entangled in all the memories that make my heart ache for a simple, perfect way of life. But at the same time, my parents were well-traveled, voracious readers, loved the theater and arts, and made sure to instill an appreciation for sophisticated, more esoteric culture in me.
I can remember attending the Georgia Shakespeare Festival in Atlanta from first grade through my twenties, going to see new exhibits at galleries and also carving out time for Atlanta’s smaller theater productions. But here’s where I’m Two-Sided Southern: Booting-up for Pioneer Days in Acworth and eating corn dogs was a highlight of my youth, pre-partying in a field before hitting up a summer country concert at Lakewood Amphitheater, and stomping over crushed peanut shells at Buckhead Saloon were also uniformly appealing in my upbringing.
Being Two-Sided Southern means I am equally as comfortable at a Monster Truck rally as I am opening night for the latest exhibition at High Museum of Art, or at a University of Georgia tailgate party with a red Solo cup in my hand as at a $1,000-a-ticket fundraising gala for the Atlanta History Center. I’ve also lived in New York City a couple of times in my life. Does that mean I get conflicted? Yes. Sometimes I feel like I’m trying to ride two horses with one ass. But instead of hiding one side of me from the other, I decided to embrace it all and start this site for people like me. Those Southerners who feel torn between two worlds, but also feel at home in both as well.
It also means that while I’m a career woman through and through, I adore being a mom and hands-on parent. So, like many women I know in the South juggling both, I want to give (and take!) mom advice and tips on the coolest places around town to shuttle my kids as well as advice on how to navigate leading a team, handling office culture and more. So you’ll see a little of that peppered in around here.
If you ever feel Two-Sided Southern too, then pitch a woo, ‘cause you’ve come to the right place. A place where an affinity for both cheese grits and caviar mean you have great taste.
