Cultural Cuisine

Earlier in this course we were assigned a paper that required us to eat at a restaurant from a different culture that we had never tried before. When I first discovered this I was quite nervous. I will admit that I am a picky eater and don't venture outside my "normal" foods very often. I did some research and got some advise from friends and co-workers and my husband and I decided to eat at Sawatdee Thai restaurant. We both ended up really enjoying the meal and I learned a lot about the culture and history of the Thai people during the visit as well. Even though the restaurant itself didn't look any different than your normal restaurant from the initial impression, there were a lot of pieces of history and culture inside. The one thing I remember most is the hand carved table at the cash register. It was a beautiful table with a farm type scene carved out of the top in great detail. Upon asking the cashier it was carved by an ancestor of the owner of the restaurant years ago. I find it very amazing and heartwarming that people that have immigrated to the United States take such pride in their history and enjoy sharing it with others both through the cuisine and artifacts they display.

I bring up this topic because my husband an I have a night out planned for tomorrow evening and have decided to go back to this restaurant. We both plan on trying something different than we had the first time, but us returning shows that not only was the food good but the atmosphere was welcoming as well. We tend to stay in our own comfort zone and this proves that you can still feel good about exploring other things that are out there.