Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1518483
April/May 2024 | maconmagazine.com 107 STORY BY SIERRA STARK STEVENS H O W O N E W O M A N M A D E D O W N T O W N M AC O N A This January, we shared a cozy booth with Miyang Rutherford, proprietor of Kimchi Factory. She opened the restaurant in 2020 in the old Len Berg's location on Walnut Street. Her story spans two continents and more than half a century—from learning to cook from her mother in Gwangju, South Korea, to immigrating to Mississippi, then Atlanta, and becoming a mother to five girls. In Macon, she turned hardship into compassion, delicious food, and fulfilling relationships with her community, her customers, and most of all, her daughters. Kimchi destination M iyang Rutherford grew up in southwestern South Korea in a region as famous for its kimchi as its strong women (like nearby Jeju Island's female free divers). For those who haven't tried it, kimchi is chili-spiced, fermented vegetables, often cabbage. With her large family of six brothers, and therefore, a mother who never stopped cooking, her upbringing in Gwanju gave Miyang all the culinary training and inner strength she'd need for the path she would ultimately trek as proprietor of one of Macon's most delicious restaurants: Kimchi Factory. THE THOUSAND WAYS OF KIMCHI Growing up, Miyang's mother, Poksun Na, never pushed her daughter to cook, but Miyang always marveled at the process. "When my mother cooked something, I was always next to her. She explained every seasoning and let me taste things at every stage." Going back another generation in turn, Miyang's mother had learned from her grandfather. A hanyak (Korean herbal medicine) practitioner, he trained Poksun to recognize and use different herbs and preparation methods to treat a variety of physical complaints, from high blood pressure and arthritis to labor pains. "He knew the medicine of the earth, of the mountain," Miyang said. "I cannot get all of those ingredients here in the United States, but I remember FROM FRONT TO BACK Sundubu- jjigae, kimchijeon, side dishes, bulgogi. Photo by MM staff.