My trips to New Orleans always follow a few familiar patterns—habits we’ve formed over decades of visiting this beloved city. On the way there, we stop in East New Orleans for banh mi sandwiches at Dong Phuong Bakery, a James Beard Award-winning Vietnamese restaurant and bakery. This NOLA East institution has been around since 1982 and … Continue reading A quick but meaningful and memorable trip to The Big Easy
For more than half a century, Jefferson Country Store has offered grocery staples and a place to gather for the tiny community of Jefferson in Marengo County. Today, the store serves a much larger population – with people coming from miles away, and even other states, to enjoy a burger or some homemade pimento cheese or to … Continue reading Country Store 2.0
Food brings people together. No question about that. And creating a gathering place for conversation and fellowship, as well as good food, was one of the reasons behind Hubbard’s Off Main in Historic Main Street Oxford. That’s because the restaurant’s owner, Charlotte Hubbard, is one of her city’s most steadfast champions. Hubbard has served on … Continue reading Hubbard’s Off Main is a Main Attraction in Oxford
The Birmingham Chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier, an international organization that supports professional women in food & hospitality, is coming to Pepper Place Market every week in September to spotlight some of Birmingham's female culinary superstars. This week, we're celebrating women food leaders who keep us connected to our culinary roots in the Mediterranean. Quite … Continue reading Celebrate Mediterranean food with Birmingham Les Dames d’Escoffier
When most restaurants right now are tweaking their business models to simply remain viable during a pandemic, one Indian restaurant in Birmingham is off to a fresh, new start. The new Bay Leaf, rebranded and reimagined, used to be Bayleaf Authentic Indian Cuisine. The Highway 280 location opened in 2014; they expanded to Five Points … Continue reading Turning Over a New Leaf
Run, walk (or skip, for that matter) to benefit service industry workers. A virtual 5K can make a real difference to local hospitality workers right now. COVID-19 has hit Alabama’s restaurant and hospitality industry hard, and thousands of service industry workers across our state have seen their hours reduced or have lost their jobs altogether. … Continue reading Virtual 5K = Real Results
We've been baking bread here at my house. Well, my husband has been baking bread, and I've been really enjoying it. Here's my blog post with the tried-and-true, no-knead, made-in-a-cast-iron-dutch-oven recipe. The original recipe is from Sullivan Street Bakery. But one bread we always buy: bagels. We just can't do them like my friend Jennifer … Continue reading Still Serving: Crestline Bagel Co.
Friends, we don’t know half of what this coronavirus is taking from us. Not even half. Our time with family. Our time with friends. Our time to just freely walk in this world and not think about the distances between us. I have often taken for granted the absolute delight of a sentence spooling out—one … Continue reading Lost and Found
My older daughter told me about the Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer Hot Air Brush when I was recovering from shoulder surgery recently. Blowouts at Blo Blow Dry Bar in Homewood were awesome (love that head massage!) but I couldn't do that every week. But even with very limited range of motion (happy to … Continue reading My Favorite (Game-Changing) Hair Tool
I miss my friends (and the energy!) of The Bike Room at Ignite Cycle at Pepper Place. Often I was the oldest rider in the room, but that never mattered. We all become equal on those bikes, riding for ourselves and, recently, for each other. Also, I loved, loved, loved going to class there with … Continue reading Virtual Dance Party
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