FOOD
OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL
Thursday, January 10, 2019 • 29
New in Town
FOODIE NEWS
SAVE THE DATE: TEACHING FARM LAUNCHES TWILIGHT SUPPER SERIES Jones Valley Teaching Farm is launching a new food event based on its popular Twilight Supper fundraiser. The JVTF Twilight Supper Series will have seasonal dinners featuring award-winning chefs at locations in the Birmingham area. The suppers will benefit the organization’s foodFrank Stitt based education model, Good School Food, in Birmingham City Schools. Tickets are expected to sell out fast for a Feb. 21 dinner featuring chef Frank Stitt of Highlands Bar and Grill, Bottega and Chez Fonfon. It’s at 6 p.m. at Bottega, 2240 Highland Ave. in Birmingham. For tickets and more information, visit twilightsupperseries.com.
High-Profile Food Folks Will Open Birmingham Eateries in 2019
NEWS ABOUT NIGHTCAPS: LEARN ABOUT DESSERT DRINKS AT HOMEWOOD LIBRARY
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In 2018, Rodney Scott won the James Beard Foundation Award for best chef in the Southeast.
By Donna Cornelius
irmingham food has been getting pretty good press in recent years, but 2018 took the city to the top of the culinary charts. q Highlands Bar and Grill won the James Beard Foundation Award for best restaurant in America, and Highlands’ Dolester Miles was the foundation’s outstanding pastry chef. q The Beard awards also showed some love to Timothy Hontzas of Johnny’s Restaurant in Homewood by naming him a semifinalist for best chef in the South and to downtown’s Atomic Lounge, a best bar program semifinalist. q Jeremy Downey, chef of Bistro V in Vestavia Hills, won the Alabama Seafood CookOff in Bayou La Batre. q TV food guru Andrew Zimmern visited Birmingham in May to film an episode of “The Zimmern List,” which aired last month. q Birmingham’s Martie Duncan, a Food Network Star finalist, was on TV, too, as a contestant on Guy Fieri’s popular “Guy’s Grocery Games” on Food Network. q Blueprint on 3rd, Whistling Table, The Essential and Shake Shack were among new restaurants that quickly gained praise – and a loyal customer following. While 2018 might be hard to top, 2019 promises to be an exciting year for Birmingham food lovers. Three new restaurants slated to open early this year already are generating a buzz thanks to the high-profile people behind them. Automatic Seafood and Oysters
Chef Adam Evans will open his first restaurant, Automatic Seafood and Oysters, in Birmingham’s Lakeview neighborhood. Evans is a Muscle Shoals native who stood out in Atlanta’s crowded culinary landscape. His signature seafood dishes at The Optimist helped the eatery earn Esquire magazine’s restaurant of the year award as well as a spot on Bon Appetit’s top 10 best new
restaurants. In 2015, he opened Atlanta’s Brezza Cucina with chef Jonathan Waxman. Evans returned to Birmingham in 2017 with the goal of opening his “dream restaurant” with his wife, interior designer Suzanne Humphries Evans. Automatic Seafood and Oysters gets its name from the building’s former occupant, Automatic Sprinkler Corp. Evans will work with local vendors, mar-
Chef Adam Grusin is partnering with Nick Pihakis and others to bring Mile End Deli to Birmingham.
kets and fisheries to offer a menu featuring high-quality, simple seafood dishes. The restaurant will have a coastal vibe inspired by different shorelines. A website, automaticseafood.com, is still under construction, but you can visit the site to sign up for email updates. Rodney Scott’s BBQ
Rodney Scott’s BBQ will bring the South Carolina whole-hog barbecue tradition to Birmingham. The restaurant will be at 3719 Third Ave. S. in Avondale. Scott is an award-winning pit master who cooked his first whole hog when he was 11 years old. He had a small family barbecue operation in Hemingway, South Carolina, when he accepted an invitation to prepare pig for the Charleston Wine + Food Festival in 2010. That appearance was a turning point in his career, and he got invitations to cook in places ranging from Australia to Belize. He partnered with the Pihakis Restaurant Group in 2017 to open the first location of Rodney Scott’s BBQ in Charleston, South Carolina. It didn’t take long for Scott and his restaurant to earn some pretty cool honors, including a spot on Bon Appetit’s list of 50 best new restaurants and the Chef of the Year title from Eater Charleston. In 2018, Scott won the James Beard Foundation Award for See NEW, page 31
BOURBON TASTING: EVENT BENEFITS MS SOCIETY
Taste a selection of more than 50 bourbons/ whiskeys at BourbonHam, set for 2-6 p.m. Jan. 20 at The Haven, 2515 Sixth Ave. S. in Birmingham. The event also includes award-winning barbecue sampling and live music. BourbonHam raises money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Tickets range from $25-100. To buy tickets or for more information, visit bourbonham.com.
See FOOD NEWS, page 31
Photos special to the Journal
Chef Adam Evans is a Muscle Shoals native who stood out in Atlanta’s crowded culinary landscape.
Author and bartender Clair McLafferty will lead a discussion about sometimes sweet, sometimes savory dessert drinks from 6:308 p.m. on Jan. 18 at the Homewood Public Library. “Drink Your Dessert” is for ages 21 and older. Tickets are $12.50 and include two adult beverages and light refreshments. To buy tickets or for more information, visit homewoodpubliclibrary.org. The library is at 1721 Oxmoor Road in Homewood.