We've been wanting to eat at Frank Stitt's Highlands Bar and Grill for quite a while, but never found a reason to travel to Birmingham. So with no place else to go, Edward planned a short culinary tour of two neighboring states. Good food (too much good food in fact) all along the way, with some history sites thrown in, made for a good little trip.
On our way to Birmingham we ate lunch in Anniston, Alabama, at Goal Post Barbeque. It was good and the service was BBQ quaint, but I wish the neon sign of the field goal attempt had been working. The star of the meal here was Edward's side of fried squash. It tasted pretty fresh.
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| Anniston, AL |
We stayed in the very nice boutique Hotel Highlands at Five Points South, a 1920's medical arts building that became the Pickwick Hotel in the 1980's. Decorated with a modern flare and Brazilian furnishings, the hotel was comfortable and interesting. We had reserved just an ordinary King room, but when we started to settle in, discovered Tropical Storm Lee had drenched the carpet in front of one of the windows; we were moved to a Luxury King Suite! This was a very nice suite with a spacious sitting room, wet bar and bistro table and a very large bedroom with a view of Vulcan. This is the first time we've ever gotten such an upgrade. Accommodations such as these could spoil a person. We only have one TV at home; here there were two.
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| Vulcan View |
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| Suite at Highlands Hotel |
Disaster # 1: The storm had dropped the temperature by twenty degrees or so. It was still raining and I was wearing shorts and hadn't brought any kind of jacket.
Disaster #2: I forgot to pack Edward's sport coat. He wasn't going to be a happy camper if he had to go to Highlands without a jacket. We had enough time to go out to buy something. We asked the girl at the desk where we could find a men's shop and she suggested Walmart. We were able to locate a mall with a Belk and Edward lucked into a Ralph Lauren sport coat on clearance for less than $30.00! I found a sweater to at least fend off a bit of the chill.
Disasters averted, that first night we walked to the Highlands Bar and Grill (http://www.highlandsbarandgrill.com/) and were treated to a wonderful meal. Signature martinis (Stitt insists on regular Bombay, but I'm still a Sapphire fan myself) hit the spot. For starters, Edward had a Charcuterie Plate of pork pate with foie gras and pistachios, duck rillettes and grilled chicken-apple sausage. I had Cornmeal Fried Mississippi Quail with fresh chicken livers with scrambled farm egg salad and warm bacon vinaigrette. Both these dishes were stellar. We had a bottle of 2009 Ken Wright "Abbott Claim" Pinot Noir with our entrees. Edward selected Grilled Veal Chop with Provencal zucchini gratin with Vidalia onions, parmesan and comte; I had Colorado Lamb Porterhouse Chops with herbed roasted fingerling potatoes with red onion, eggplant and olive oil. The entrees were good, but Edward's veal was not outstanding and my potatoes were potatoes. Perhaps we should have selected items less like Edward does so well himself. The zucchini gratin was really good. To finish off, we shared a Sweet and Salty Cake, chocolate with sea salt. SO good! And our waiter, who has been with Stitt since his beginning, added gratis moscatos! I think he couldn't stand the thoughts of us having dessert with nothing to drink. Our dinner at Highlands Bar and Grill was my idea of quintessential fine dining. Quiet, sophisticated, good, comfortable. The service was absolutely impeccable, probably the best I've ever experienced.
The next morning Edward played golf at Highland Park Golf Club (http://www.highlandparkgolf.com/highlandpark.asp?id=13&page=348), the oldest golf course in Alabama. For lunch we ate at Saw's Barbeque (http://www.sawsbbq.com/) in Homewood, where Edward had what he says is the best barbequed chicken of his life. This is saying a lot. Edward lives for barbequed chicken. It was done, smoked and juicy and served with white sauce. It was really good.
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| Saw's: "The BEST BBQ Chicken Ever" |
Later that afternoon we found Reed Books: The Museum of Fond Memories in downtown Birmingham. This eccentric book store looked like what E. Brumby Bookseller might be today if we'd stayed in Murphy.
One more dinner in Birmingham and it was a doozy! Just before our trip Edward had purchased ANOTHER cookbook, Chris and Idie Hastings' Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook and was already falling in love. I'd heard about Hot and Hot from Athens' FourCoursemen. Everyone was right, this is a really good dining experience. We ordered cocktails of course. Edward had a special manhattan with house-made sour mix and honey. It was excellent and something we plan to try to recreate soon. I had something with peach puree and bubbly. To start our meal Edward ordered one of the chef's signature dishes, Hot and Hot Tomato Salad with field peas, sweet corn, fried okra and applewood smoked bacon. This one is definitely making onto our "try this at home" list. I had an interesting (and I mean that in the best way) Hot and Hot Rabbit Tamale with black bean salsa, Ancho chili sauce and cilantro creme fraiche. For our main courses, Edward had 13 Mile Florida Hoppers (shrimp) with sweet corn and lobster mushroom risotto and oven roasted baby okra. There were six big shrimp in this nice dish. I had a really good Pan Roasted Long Island Duck Breast and Confit Leg with Anson Mills' white grits, sweet corn, chanterelle mushrooms, Petals From the Past muscadines, scuppernongs and red wine gastrique. Here we let the waiter select glasses of wine to pair with our meal. For dessert we shared a wonderful Elton's Chocolate Souffle with creme Anglais and whipped cream. Yum. Yum. Yum to this entire meal. The Hot and Hot dining experience wasn't as polished as Highlands, but the food was incredible. Chef Hastings came out and talked to us for several minutes. When he heard we were on our way to Nashville, he went to get his own phone to give us contacts for great places to eat there. He was so nice. He really believes in what he's doing and seems intent on staying where he is and making Hot and Hot Fish Club the best it can possibly be, which is already pretty darned excellent. Overall, our dinner at Hot and Hot was exactly the kind of experience we were hoping for on this food safari. Thanks, Chef Hastings. Right now there's a jar of cream and buttermilk sitting on the counter in my kitchen. What's Edward brewing up from the Hastings' cookbook?
That's it from Birmingham, on to Nashville in the next blog!
So the tonight that jar revealed homemade creme fraiche, which topped Edward's rendition of the Hot and Hot Tomato Salad. An excellent effort I must say.
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