About Us

Kristin Storla is a native Georgia peach. Brought up in Marietta, college in Columbus, and now here in Atlanta, Kristin has stayed close to home for the ever-evolving food and entertainment scene. Kristin found the perfect balance of mixing her two passions, good food and even better people, as a Culinary Storyteller. She makes a hobby of exploring the culinary nooks-and-crannies in Atlanta, eating her way through local favorites. Taking those two passions a step further, Kristin has even started a dinner club among friends.
Not just a foodie, Kristin works as a freelance actor and fight director. She’s worked with local companies such as The Shakespeare Tavern, Out of Box, Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare, and The Center for Puppetry Arts BUT her favorite roles have always been ones where she can eat on stage! She can not only tell you where to grab a great bite, but where to catch an amazing performance in town.

Brandy loves EVERYTHING about food. Brandy is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana so food is her reason for being.
She likes most about Atlanta that it turned her into someone who constantly searches for flavor. Growing up back in New Orleans, she was used to foods with flavors that would punch you in the face so when she moved to Fayette County, Georgia in 1993, it was a shock because people didn't even use salt, true story. Since she doesn't eat out much, she enjoys finding and executing rich recipes that challenge and expose me to new ingredients and techniques.
Aside from eating, Brandy loves to travel so that she can eat what those places have to offer, surprise! In 2011, Brandy went to school in Paris, France to learn the art of French pastry, and she operates a home-based bakery in Atlanta in addition to working as the Unexpected Atlanta operations assistant.

Jennifer has taken the advice and encouragement from family and friends to expand her passion for food beyond cooking classes, new restaurant finds and menu recommendations. She’s fully embraced the idea by becoming a culinary storyteller. Usually seen as the adventurous one for her food choices, she enjoys helping others step outside their comfort zone and discover things they never imagined they’d like, or even try.

Originally from Chicago, but having called Atlanta home for many years, the world’s busiest airport makes it convenient for Jennifer to indulge her passion for travel, as well. During the day, she advocates for underserved communities, developing programs that help them gain access to justice. As a food tour guide, she participates in community building in a different way, exposing people to unexpected hidden gems and bringing people together whose paths might not have otherwise crossed. Jennifer loves the fact that a simple meal can often become an experience to connect people and create great memories.

Akila McConnell is the founder and owner of Unexpected Atlanta and Unexpected Virtual Tours. She is also a travel writer and historian who focuses on the story of Atlanta.

Much to her delight, a lot of people like to call her a “food and travel expert,” including Conde Nast Traveller, USA Today, Yahoo.com, and About.com. She has written for numerous print and online publications, including National Geographic books, Wandr’ly, the Food Traveler’s Handbook, Atlanta Parent magazine and her own blog The Road Forks.

Akila grew up in Alabama and has lived in Atlanta for almost 20 years. In between, she spent three full years traveling across the world. Akila spends most of her free time reading biographies and cooking with her two micro-foodies.

Jessica Nicole Hill is an educator and entertainer from Newnan, Georgia. She earned a BFA in theatre performance and education at Columbus State University. She feels blessed to have the opportunity to tell these important stories as she believes strongly that each one must teach one.

Margaret grew up in Minnesota, but her pursuit of a chiropractic education took her to Atlanta in 2010. She’s worked numerous foodie jobs around the city like selling pickles at farmers markets and belly dancing in Turkish and Persian restaurants. When she’s not leading tours or supporting the Unexpected Atlanta team, she’s puttering outside in her garden or walking her two dogs Gryffindor and James Potter. Margaret loves exploring new restaurants in Atlanta’s fabulous food scene and often tries to recreate fantastic restaurant dishes at home. She is happy to call Atlanta home, and appreciates the diversity and progressiveness of this southern city.

Mila Bolash was born in Raleigh, NC and moved to Atlanta in 2021 to pursue her dreams of becoming an actor, singer, and storyteller. Over the course of her time living in Atlanta, Mila has grown to love and appreciate the rich flavors and cultural history that Atlanta has to offer. Atlanta has quickly become her home away from home, and as a relatively new Atlantean she loves nothing more than to learn new historic fun facts and discover new places to visit. When she is not working as a historic food tour guide, she can be seen performing as an actor locally and will always give you a good recommendation for a night at the theatre. She has performed in well over a dozen productions professionally at local theatres including City Springs Theatre Company, Aurora Theatre, Synchronicity Theatre, The Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse, and more. In her free time, she loves hosting and experimenting with new baking recipes to bring to her fellow cast members and colleagues. That is the beautiful thing about food- it brings us together as a community and as humans!

Arielle Stott grew up traveling to historic sights throughout the South and she never stopped being a tourist. Even on her days off you can find her walking around Atlanta neighborhoods trying to learn more about their rich history and current revival. Her background is in art and she's an avid reader. She's always happy to recommend local museums, and nightlife spots. If you'd like to get into some of the creepier and more unusual facts about the city, she'll never turn down a chance to thrill you with an eerie tale.

Courtney Overcash is from Warner Robins, Georgia, but fell in love with Atlanta more than 15 years ago and has no plans to leave. Admittedly someone who simply can't sit still, Courtney has a number of different enterprises: by day she's a Senior Digital Marketer, by night she's a performer and comedian, and on the weekends, she's a Storyteller with Unexpected Atlanta. Courtney loves her Storyteller role and how it combines three of her passions: food, history, and meeting new people! She'll always have recommendations for the best places to eat, drink, and laugh while in the ATL.

Chiriga Moore nicknamed Zoe (pronounced ZOH) is an Army Veteran with a passion for traveling, history, and homemade chocolate chips. She provides services as a speaker, writer, strategic consultant and course facilitator in her business Moore Consulting Agency affectionately known as Grow with Zomo. Believing that empathy, strategy and education will result in changed behavior, she works with individuals, committees, and organizations to improve their workplace culture and organizational health.
Having led committee’s internationally, she has received awards, been on the cover of publications and planned events for travel influencers in New Jersey, Florida, Ghana and Puerto Rico. Embodying her nickname Zoe, an acronym for Zone of Energy, she loves to educate and entertain people by helping them to think critically and strengthen their confidence to engage in difficult conversations.

Jay is a smiley guy that loves meeting new people. With nearly 20 years of experience in arts and entertainment, he loves using storytelling to paint a picture for people newly experiencing the city. Originally from West Philadelphia, he found his love of history while working for the "Big Bus Tours" of Philly. Now he looks forward to showing you a side of Atlanta you may not have seen before.

Paris Weeden is a multidisciplinary artist hailing from New York City and now based in Atlanta! She is passionate about all things performing arts, storytelling, and FOOD! As a graduate of an HBCU, (Howard University) she learned there is so much more to every story than what is read in history books, and she finds purpose in her work/art through illuminating untold stories! She enjoys bringing people together and what better way to do that than through stories and food!

Delaney came to Georgia by way of Florida for college in 2019 and she loved the state so much she never left. As a writer, reporter and tour guide Delaney likes to spend her time learning as much about Atlanta as possible – especially the offbeat and unexpected tidbits. Her storytelling skills and foodie passion found a perfect home at Unexpected Atlanta. As a longtime food tour attendee, Delaney sees the culinary walking tour as a way to connect with a place through its deepest tradition: food. That’s why she always has a recommendation for a restaurant, bar or nightlife locale at the ready for tourists and locals alike.