CUMMING — Forsyth County has no shortage of fine dining, but on Wednesday one restaurant was a little finer than others.

As part of a nationwide book tour celebrating his new book “Fed, White and Blue” and recent American citizenship, Food Network star and celebrity chef Simon Majumdar stopped at Summit’s Wayside Tavern in Cumming.

“My new book is about becoming an American citizen, and before I did that, which happened last September, I decided to go out and meet as many Americans as possible by sharing their food experience,” Majumdar said. “For the book tour, my wife and I decided we wanted to replicate the trip.”

Like most book tours Majumdar signed copies and met with fans, but he also cooked — both as a demonstration and for customers to order.

Last year, Majumdar stopped at the tavern as part of a web series and decided to return for what would be his only stop in Georgia.

Majumdar has been all over the country, joking that he doesn’t know where he’s going on most days

“It’s been extraordinary,” he said. “We’re not even about halfway through yet. We started up in the northeast in Hartford, Conn., then we were down in … New York and [had] some events back home in [Los Angeles].

“And now for the last three weeks, we’ve been in the South. So Texas, Little Rock, we were in Mississippi, we were in Alabama, we were in Florida. Now we’re obviously in Georgia, tomorrow we head up to D.C.”

Majumdar said for the book tour, he could have gone to a bookstore, but it made sense to go to a restaurant since he writing about food.

“Maybe two people will show up, maybe 200. We never know on this tour,” he said. “Rather than just go sit in a book store, and hope people turns up. At least if no one turns up here, then at least I’m cooking and eating and drinking beer.”

Before the event, Majumdar prepared dinner for Summit’s customers, which included chicken tikka masala, Korean chicken wings and chutney sauce to go with some locally baked naan. He later did a cooking demo for the crowd, during which he offered tips and fielded questions.

He said that due to the Food Network and other avenues, food has become far less regional.

“I think it’s totally changed,” Majumdar said. “Could you imagine being in a pub — that sounds disrespectful, but we’re in a big pub, a great pub, in Cumming, Ga. — and serving chicken tikka masala and Korean chicken wings and people knowing exactly what they are.”

Summit’s owner Andy Klubock agreed.

“I thought it was sort of cool that you had one of the leading chefs in the world come to our location, come to Forsyth County,” Klubock said. “It shows that there’s an expansion of our palates and a willingness to try new items. I was pleasantly pleased that everybody was ordering it.”

Klubock said the response from customers — most ordered Majumdar’s cooking — shows the growing taste of the county.

“[I thought] how cool it was that someone who doesn’t live in New York or Los Angeles to sample the wares for that. And what a great experience it was for us to learn from a world renowned chef,” he said.

“People asked a zillion questions, which was great. It’s awesome to see your customers have passion.”

He also said the lower price — the most expensive item was $13.99 — is also a testament to local dining.

“They’re not having to go to downtown, Midtown or Atlanta to get it, they can come to Forsyth and get a nice meal,” Klubock said. “I think it’s cool that they got it at a reasonable price.

“You put this same meal on a plate in Manhattan and you probably would have paid $28 or $29.”

While the cooking was good, Majumdar said his favorite part of the tour was meeting people.

“We’ve made some amazing new friends,” Majumdar said. “The food, it’s one thing, but it’s not just about stuffing your face. It’s all about making great new friends. That’s what we’ve done with Andy and hopefully we’ll do with a few new people here.”

Still, Majumdar said he believes that great food could go a long way in solving some of America’s problems

“I think that’s one of the keys to my journey, is sometimes you need an outsider to go, ‘Despite the fact that we all disagree with each other all the time … as long as you always have good food in front of you’ … it’s like I always say, ‘It’s hard to have an argument when you have a mouthful of ribs,’” he said.

“If we had more of these discussions over great food, we’d probably get on a lot better.”