If you haven’t picked up this month’s issue of Food & Wine and if you love Southern cuisine (and chefs) as much as I do, then stop missing out. Go get your copy. Stat.
While you’re flipping through the glossy index of recipes and pairings and culinary star profiles, be sure to hit page 88. Writer (and wine enthusiast/snob) Lettie Teague tries to tackle the question “Is every great FOOD town always a great WINE town?”.
Well, Birmingham, if you count the Western Supermarket and Piggly Wiggly, then yes…or at least that’s what Teague thinks.
Local heros (and renowned chefs) Stitt, Hastings, and Dupont all are stops along her vintner journey. For those other newcomers out there, that would be Highlands, Hot and Hot, and Cafe Dupont.
Teague offers an interesting interpretation, indeed, of the Magic City’s unique wine offerings in both their quality and extensiveness, though not at all found where one might think. And it’s refreshing to see Birmingham’s rich culinary district highlighted. (Of note: Teague also mentions her stay at the Hotel Highland in Five Points South – a fitting rest stop for any culinary enthusiast, since its proximity to said chefs is ideal.) We love good PR, don’t we, Birmingham!
Now, to her detriment (in my opinion), Teaque casually points out that one of the only reasons people know about Bir-ming-ham, Alabama (other than Highlands Bar and Grill) is because of ”its notoriously troubled racial past”. (Seriously? Was it necessary to point this out in a foodie magazine? I wonder if she took the time to visit the Civil Rights Institute. currect exhibition: Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits.> )
And, we drift back to the original point…
Let this brief article spark your interest on what’s happening in those downtown dining rooms and kitchens, not to mention the wine aisles at local grocery stores. I suspect you’ll be inspired to go make nice with the staff at Piggly Wiggly. I also suspect we’ll see a revised wine list from Hastings sooner than later.
<…shameless plug coming…>
And what better way to indulge in a culinary tour than during the first ever Birmingham Restaurant Week? Buon Appetito, Birmingham!
Oh, yeah…For the article of interest, jump here!
11 Comments
You know…. a little while back Elle Decor did an article on Birmingham as well….and I asked almost the same question…. WHY oh why would a DESIGN magazine bring up the racial history of Birmingham….but the Elle Decor article went one step further…. it brought up our former incarcerated mayor….. While they did talk about all the great things Birmingham has to offer (food, shopping, architecture)…. I was dissapointed in the negatives they brought up……
Yes, this is the article: http://www.elledecor.com/entertaining-travel/articles/elle_decor_goes_birmingham
This issue of elledecor came out right when I landed in Birmingham. How fashionable to be in such a publication, but yes – what an unnecessary representation.
It’s true what they say (or at least what I’ve been hearing for the last eight months). Birmingham is plagued with an inferiority complex that either (a) is so apparent to outsiders or (b) is just so engrained into our culture that its seed continues to grow and flourish.
Let’s try to get some good exposure for the Magic City!! Who can we pitch to and what story should we include?? Three Parks Initiative, highlighting the soon-to-open, oh-so-amazing Railroad Park? Our abundance of farm to table upscale dining? Our incredible music and arts scene? Take your pick, world. Birmingham has so much more to offer…
Maybe I should apply to the City. They need a good PR person…
Even the attractions they featured in the Elle Decor article weren’t terribly interesting. One reader likened it to “Stuff White People Like.”
I don’t really notice the references to Birmingham’s “troubled past” in travel articles anymore. The fact that Birmingham is earning positive press is a step in the right direction. It is a part of our past, and whining about whether a travel writer (who most likely will never return) mentions it doesn’t change the fact that it happened.
I don’t think the lack of a sommalier is hurting Birmingham’s food reputation. If we get one, great. If not, let’s keep offering great food that encourages travelers to visit.
If everyone supposedly knows about B’ham’s racial history, according to these magazines, then there’s some sloppy writing/editing going on. Doesn’t need to be mentioned if everyone knows it.
Seriously, though, highlighting the Civil Rights Institute would be far better, since it exists in the present, and plenty of people around the country aren’t aware of it.
As for other outlets to target, it would be wonderful to submit a “design guide” to the popular Design*Sponge blog. I think Apartment Therapy does something similar. And if everything stays on schedule between now and Oct./Nov., you’ll see B’ham appear in another national magazine. More on that later!
WK:
To some, elleDECOR is an important publication (it’s obviously successful in its focus industry), and let’s keep in mind that its audience is an affluent, creative class who seek beauty in design and architecture…precisely the type of urban dwellers that we want to attract and recruit to start new business here and to take up residence in our City Center.
Sure, the article was a bit “white bread”, but the choice to point out/ridicule the city’s tragic racial history and ridiculous political present is…well, unecessary. Having just moved here when that article came out, a seed of skepticism was planted and writers like Teague only feed its growth.
F&W is another publication that caters to the high (culinary) design population who wants to find out about the best this country has to offer gastronomically and, in some cases, culturally. Perhaps a better angle would have been ” Is every GREAT food town also a GREAT art/music/museum/architecture/historical preservation town?” … Pick your cultural amenity (that Birmingham has) and give it a postive spit.
Perhaps Teague and her usual audience lived during (that) era and, therefore, have authority to remember. I suspect that, with a new generation of writers/editors and readers, we’ll start to see less and less of such rhetoric. Actually I’m relying on it…my generation (OUR generation) has every reason to move forward (while respectually embracing history).
CB: A GREAT idea to submit to designsponge and apartmenttherapy (the former being in my top ten blogs to follow). I can’t wait to see what shows up in print later this year. Promise to keep me posted in case I miss it!
Some would argue that it’s not Birmingham past racial trouble so much as its present racial trouble that keeps it from progressing quickly.
Issues of race and class need to be acknowledged and addressed. Maybe not in travel articles. But are residents talking about? Leaders? Business owners?
It is not enough to announce we’re in a “post-racial society” and wave it away. We actually have to be in one first.
WK:
I couldn’t agree more!! Hearing it from outsiders does little to solve the problem. If local leaders and businesses could openly discuss and work to diminish the issues of race and class in Birmingham, we’d be (I think) taking a step forward.
You bring up a very good point, my friend. Much of Birmingham has “waved it away” for decades, and that disregard only stimulates this bicentennial struggle.
Does the BBA have an open forum within its membership and corporate league that openly addresses these important issues within their businesses? What local organizations proactively speak about and foster positive race relations? If I went “over the mountain” and asked for the opinions of those that shop at said wine-rich grocery stores (I’m referring to the article here), would I hear the sounds of progress or would I get a tense anxiety in their evasive response?
Why are we, as a City, so non-commital when it comes to race relations? Pardon my idealism, but aren’t we well into the 21st century? Do we want to continue to be overshadowed by the problems of our past? Am I barking up the wrong tree and have I lost credibility in being so naive? (Knowing that you are a native and life-long resident leads me to believe that most of my opinion actually IS somewhat naive when stacked up against your own experience. And I respect that, 110%.)
> Does the BBA have an open forum within its membership and corporate league that openly addresses these important issues within their businesses?
The Birmingham Business Alliance does have an annual Diversity Summit coming up in October. I was lucky enough to be asked to serve on a panel; unfortunately, I have a scheduling conflict that day.
Once a year is not enough.
> What local organizations proactively speak about and foster positive race relations?
That is a good question. I can think of a couple that bridge the gap but don’t necessarily have race as an issue to address.
> If I went “over the mountain” and asked for the opinions of those that shop at said wine-rich grocery stores (I’m referring to the article here), would I hear the sounds of progress or would I get a tense anxiety in their evasive response?
Asking white communities in Birmingham and in other U.S. cities, I imagine you’d hear something along the lines of, “Racism is a thing of the past. No one judges people by the color of their skin any more.”
Asking black communities in Birmingham and in other U.S. cities, I imagine you’d hear something along the lines of, “Racism still exists, but it’s subtle. We are limited in opportunities and access.”
That gap, whether real or perceived, is the barrier that needs to be addressed. Even in the Obama era, we’re still facing a historic problem, one that’s been institutionalized.
> Why are we, as a City, so non-commital when it comes to race relations? Pardon my idealism, but aren’t we well into the 21st century? Do we want to continue to be overshadowed by the problems of our past?
Birmingham is the symbol of modern America’s most recent racial standoff. We are the yardstick to which everyone can point to and say: “See, we don’t turn firehoses on Negroes anymore. This is how far we’ve come.” Yet, as a nation, we’re still bickering over where a Muslim community center should be located, or the President’s nationality. Race, class, religion: even in the 21st century, these things divide many of us, rather than unite us.
Of course we don’t want to be overshadowed by the past. But as long as we continue to sweep it under the rug, rather than address the problems in front of us, the past will continue to haunt the present and the future.
> Am I barking up the wrong tree and have I lost credibility in being so naive?
No and no. This is my 2 cents. If *more* people would discuss and listen, we’d move forward. But people are afraid of being called out, as naive, as racist, as bigoted, as lazy.
Go ahead: Call me names. I don’t care. But I remain committed to dragging Birmingham kicking and screaming into the modern era.
Consider me kicking and screaming…but you won’t need to drag me anywhere. I’ll be on your front line.
Perhaps this is a good discussion for an upcoming review of “Leaving Birmingham”. I’m rallying a group…stay tuned…
Put me in your review group. Birmingham is definitely not “post-racial”. At our best we might be a little further along in being confronted by issues plague every divided society. At our worst we’re raising new generations of fear and hatred faster than the good guys can win their hearts and minds back. In the meantime we still rely on activist judges and pencil-neck paper pushers to keep our popularly elected officials from undermining the Bill of Rights.