Omnivore Atlanta

You live in, say, Paris and you are planning a trip to Zee Atlanta. You are curious what the International Herald Tribune has to say about dining on a budget in Margaret Mitchell’s hometown. This is what you find, as far as restaurants go, in a Nov. 6 story entitled “Best of Atlanta is free history”:

FOOD: What is a trip to the South without finger-licking soul food? Try Mae’s Soul Food at 34 Peachtree St. NW. The mac and cheese and fried chicken is just like your momma’s (that is, if your momma could cook).

Dine at Six Feet Under at 437 Memorial Drive SE, a seafood restaurant and pub that overlooks the Historic Oakland Cemetery, http://www.sixfeetunderatlanta.com.

Ru San’s 1529 Piedmont Ave. NE has weekday lunchtime all-you-can eat sushi buffet, complete with miso soup, fried rice and stir fry, that is more than worth the price of $8 per person.

DeKalb Farmer’s Market at 300 East Ponce De Leon Ave. in Decatur is the best place for an afternoon snack. Sample exotic foods in the 140,000-square-foot (13,000-square-kilometer) international grocery store or dine in the Market Restaurant where the buffet is charged by the ounce, http://www.dekalbfarmersmarket.com.

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Here’s a pleasant memory … and the best paella I’ve ever tasted. The restaurant, whose name I’ve forgotten, is in Montefrio, outside Granada, in Spain. We rented a house there almost 10 years ago. It was winter and the house, up a mountain side, only had a fireplace and a couple space heaters to keep us warm.

We visited this restaurant down the hill from us twice daily. You had to order a paella during the day for the evening meal. The tables held hot coals covered with heavy blankets to keep diners warm.

It was really a magical, inexpensive vacation (pre-Euro!). When we left for Granada, it began snowing as we drove through the olive groves .

You can see a picture of Montefrio on the website of our host, Lorenzo. Unfortunately, costs are now at least double what they were 10 years ago, thanks to the devalued dollar.

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