ATLANTA CHEF AND RESTAURATEUR ASHA GOMEZ AND HER SON, ETHAN GOMEZ-PALAYAM, WHO IS 11.

Gomez recently closed her Old Fourth Ward restaurant, Spice to Table, to focus on a new tea venture.

Gomez’s most recent cookbook, “My Two Souths: Blending the Flavors of India Into a Southern Kitchen,” was named one of the best cookbooks of 2016 by the AJC, The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Ethan: What is a moment when you are proud of me?

Asha: You make me proud every day, Ethan, every single day. I love when you accomplish things that you thought initially were a challenge for you, but then you come out of it and you are like I did it, and you put the hard work in. And your kindness makes me proud. I love how kind you are, even to strangers.

Ethan: When I came to you as a child, what did you think? What were your feelings about having a new kid?

Asha: This is a special question. Mommy always wanted children. But mommy also always knew mommy would adopt. And that was the only way I wanted to have children was through adoption. I say this all the time: Whether a child is born from the womb or a child is born from the heart — like you were born from mommy and daddy’s heart, it is the same kind of love. There is no difference. … I like talking about adoption because I think it is so beautiful. There are almost 8 billion people in the world, and we found each other. If that isn’t special, I don’t know what is.

Gomez, with Ethan, talks about adoption: “We found each other. If that isn’t special, I don’t know what is.”