Category: food
Prost! Brät Brot is Back!
The biergarten has become a gartenbar, but those awesome pretzels remain. was popular from the start. The Magic City’s first German biergarten opened about a year ago to rave reviews and consistent crowds but then took a cold-weather hiatus to make a few changes. It reopened on April 23 and very quickly became popular again. I [...]
More Than Just Sweet Treats at Big Spoon Creamery
The small-batch, artisanal ice cream at Big Spoon Creamery is every bit as awesome as people say. It’s deliciously inventive with quality ingredients: goat cheese with strawberry-hibiscus jam, fresh mint chip with Valrhona chocolate chips. Many of these ingredients are locally sourced, supporting area makers and farmers like Stone Hollow Farmstead (where they get the [...]
Dine Out and Make a Difference
On Thursday, April 25, your dining dollars will make a big difference to a lot of people—if you’re eating at the right places. Dining Out For Life will involve more than 30 local restaurants that are committed to making our community better, including Bottega Café, Crestwood Coffee Co., El Barrio Restaurante Y Bar, 5 Point [...]
All Kinds of Goodness at Ashley Mac’s
Lots of people want to make a living doing what they love. Ashley McMakin made that dream a reality with her Ashley Mac’s cafés, catering and gourmet-to-go business. It all started with her hobby of cooking for those she loves. McMakin grew up in a large, food-loving family, and she learned to cook alongside her [...]
Charleston Charm
I took a quick trip to Charleston, South Carolina a few weeks ago—so quick, in fact, that I was very limited in what I could do. So it was two days of food and drinks and then some solitude in my very favorite place. I usually spend some time shopping on King Street. I also [...]
Celebrating an Unsung Hero of Birmingham’s Food Scene
I had the absolute honor of helping out with Alabama NewsCenter's awesome coverage of food-related stories to celebrate Black History Month and the contributions of African-American cooks and chefs to our state's rich food scene (current and past). One of my favorite pieces was about Juliette Flenoury, a name we all should know. My editor [...]
Central has Become Essential to Montgomery’s Downtown Food Scene
In downtown Montgomery, steps from the reclaimed riverfront and right in the middle of an important past, a restaurant called Central is delighting guests with inventive dishes and gracious hospitality. Central is named for the old central warehouse area, now a hip and happening entertainment district of restaurants, hotels, bars and museums. Common Bond Brewers [...]
Sunday Dinner: Dijon and Cognac Beef Stew
I've looked forward all week to an afternoon of cooking. It's cold and gray outside, and I wanted to make something warm and comforting. A from-scratch stew--rich and deeply savory--is about as comforting as it gets. This recipe from the New York Times Cooking website is an exercise in the meditative process of quality time spent [...]
Designing Delicious Dining at Blueprint on 3rd
Blueprint on 3rd, one of Birmingham’s hottest new restaurants, is named, quite simply, for the building it occupies – the old Birmingham Blueprint Company headquarters. But, really, owner Dean Robb’s decades-long career as a restaurateur has been a kind of creative, working blueprint for this place. Robb understands the value of honoring the past, and [...]
Easy Apps
The holidays are hectic for everyone, but entertaining doesn't really have to be hard. Here are some quick and tasty appetizers that are truly super-easy—--especially when you start with already-prepared ingredients. I made all these recipes for a Portico Mountain Brook story. It's in the Winter issue, which is out now, and you can access [...]