News for January 1st 2010

Birmingham Alabama’s Restaurant year in Review

On the first day of the new year, let’s take one last look at some of what happened on the Birmingham restaurant scene in 2009.

Here are a few highlights.

Stitt Returns To Beard Awards

Frank Stitt, the godfather of fine dining in Birmingham, made his second trip in as many years to the James Beard Foundation Awards in New York City, where Stitt’s Highlands Bar and Grill was one of five finalists for the country’s most outstanding restaurant.

Jean Georges of New York City won the Beard Award as the country’s top restaurant, but Stitt said it was an honor to be among the top five.

“We strive to be one of the great restaurants of the world,” he said, “and I think to have this nomination is kind of affirmation of, ‘Hey, our hard work has paid off.’”

The previous year, Stitt had been a Beard finalist for the country’s most outstanding chef, an honor that went to Grant Achatz of Chicago’s Alinea restaurant.

The Beard Awards are considered the Oscars of the food world.

Hastingses Release Hot And Hot Book

Another top Birmingham chef, Chris Hastings of Hot and Hot Fish Club, was one of 20 Beard semifinalists for best chef in the South region.

Last spring, the multi-tasking Hastings also helped developers Russell Lands open the sensational SpringHouse restaurant near Lake Martin, and in the fall, he and his wife, Idie, released their handsome “Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook: A Celebration of Food, Family & Traditions.”

As has their restaurant, the Hastingses’ book has received rave reviews, including a glowing write-up in The Wall Street Journal.

“When we opened the restaurant, we said we would want people to close their eyes and say they could be in any city in the world,” Chris Hastings said. “We always had very high expectations of what we wanted to bring to the table.”

Cobb Lane Closes, Browdy’s Goes Dark

Birmingham said goodbye to a couple of longtime dining landmarks last year.

In January, Cobb Lane Restaurant, a historic gathering place known for its she-crab soup and oak-shaded courtyard dining, ended an era that began in 1948.

The restaurant, which was tucked away on an alley near Five Points South, first opened as a tearoom run by the late Virginia Cobb and went through a number of owners after she died in 1987.

“Cobb Lane has been through some tough times, but apparently, these are some of the toughest,” Jeff Stykowski, Cobb Lane’s last owner, said upon its closing.

Then, in August, Browdy’s delicatessen, whose famous fried chicken satisfied generations of customers, turned out the lights after nearly a century in business, the last 20 or so in Mountain Brook Village.

“We’ve had a long run of it,” Marilyn Browdy Leonard said when she and her brother, Stan Browdy, closed the business that their grandfather started in 1913. “We have mixed emotions about it, but the economy hasn’t been that good, and we just think now is the time for us to call it quits.”

Kelley’s Moves Into Old O.T.’S Space

In August, almost a year to the date after Lakeview favorite O.T.’s Neighborhood Sports Grill shut down after owners filed for bankruptcy protection, Kelley’s Neighborhood Sports Grill opened in the same Lakeview location.

Although she changed the name, Kelley’s owner Kelley Rhea Harris, who used to wait tables and tend bar at O.T.’s, brought back beloved cook Carolyn Green and many of the same dishes, including fried pickles and crawfish pie, that made O.T.’s famous.

Dodiyos Opens In Soho Square

In October, a dream team of Birmingham restaurateurs combined their culinary skills to open DoDiYos, a new Mediterranean restaurant in the former Tria Market location in Homewood’s SoHo Square. It quickly became the happening new place to meet and eat.

Investors include Dean Robb, a former managing partner at Bottega Restaurant; George Sarris, chef-owner of the Fish Market; Connie Kanakis, former owner of Connie Kanakis’ Cafe; and former Tria Market owners Andy Virciglio and brothers Basim and Naseem Ajlouny.

It was Sarris who came up with restaurant’s distinctive name to honor members of his family, all of whom are from Greece.

“I chose the name DoDiYos for this restaurant because I want it to be a real family place,” Sarris said. “But also, I saw this as an opportunity to honor both the people who have made me what I am today and my children who have enriched my life.”

New Eats: From Avo To Zea

Despite an economic hammerlock that wouldn’t let go, a slew of other new restaurants, sandwich shops and barbecue joints opened elsewhere, as well.

From A to Z, here are a few:

Another Broken Egg Cafe in Mountain Brook Village.
Avo in Mountain Brook Village.
Big Bolton’s BBQ in Argo.
Blackwell’s Neighborhood Pub in Cahaba Heights.
Brannon’s: A Public House downtown.
Chuck’s Fish on U.S. 280.
Dyron’s Lowcountry in Crestline Village.
The Egg and I in Riverchase.
Flip Burger Boutique at the Summit.
Kool Korner Sandwiches in Vestavia Hills.
Max’s Delicatessen in the Colonnade.
Michael’s Restaurant in Homewood.
Nino’s Italian Restaurant in Pelham.
Rogue Tavern downtown.
Saw’s BBQ in Edgewood.
Spiced Pear Tea Room in Homewood.
Tilted Kilt on U.S. 280.
Yogurt Mountain on U.S. 280.
Za Za Trattoria downtown.
Zea Rotisserie & Grill in Colonial Brookwood Village.

The Baskits Takes The Gold
It was a big year for the little, family-owned Homewood eatery the Baskits.

In April, after nearly 10 years in their original location in a strip center on Green Springs Highway, Paul Shunnarah and his father, Fred, moved into a swanky, new, stand-alone building just a couple of hundred yards up the road.

Then, four months later, the Baskits won the gold medal in the Favorite Chicken Fingers contest sponsored by The Birmingham News.

“To me, a good chicken tender is not only about the sauce,” Paul Shunnarah said. “If you taste one of our chicken tenders, it’s flavored, it’s marinated. We do all of that from scratch.”

Edited: January 1st, 2010