Every now and then — more often than I like — I mark the passing of one of the great pit masters or founders of barbecue places and other great restaurants.  I did with another Bessemer place, then to remember Mr. Jimmy Koikos of the Bright Star.  I think it’s important to recognize their contribution. The current lockdown of our country, though, has really brought to the … Continue reading Rest in Peace Mildred Dowdley, Bill Bryan, and Betty Fuller of Bessemer, Alabama

As regular readers know, this Blog is a great supporter of the Fine Arts.   You will recall, for example, from this post about music and the visual arts.  We celebrate all of those things that go into making a richer and fuller life, a life of movement from the shallows to the depths.  Since everyone is sitting at home watching television all day anyway, as a … Continue reading New on the Blog — Our First Film Review

I just learned from my good friend, Fred Cooke, that the Inaugural Buxton Hall Smokeshow, originally scheduled for May 17, has been moved to August 23, 2020, for obvious reasons.  That should be a good time to head for some mountain air, and any time is a good time to eat barbecue.  There’ll be some whole hog barbecue stars there, as well as music and … Continue reading Change of Date: The Inaugural Buxton Hall Smokeshow, Asheville, North Carolina

Birmingham, a major medical and research center outside Homewood, is home to not only great barbecue, but also some extraordinarily good fine dining. In 2018, Frank Stitt’s Highlands Bar and Grill was chosen as the Best Restaurant in the United States by the James Beard Foundation, and he’s been member of the Foundation’s Hall of Fame since 2011. He also owns nearby Bottega and Bottega … Continue reading Gianmarco’s, Homewood, Alabama

Your lockdown preparations involved boxes and boxes of pasta, untold cans of tomatoes, and bags of potatoes, onions, and carrots — stuff that you can keep for a while. By now you really need to perk things up a bit. Do you have some garlic on hand? Good. And there’s a green pepper hidden in the fridge behind that wilted … what is that stuff? … Continue reading The World’s Best Sauce for Pasta

At last the clouds are lifting. One of the great Eastern North Carolina barbecue places is well on the way to re-opening. Here’s the latest, which I learned, naturally, via the excellent Barbecue Bros blog, which all y’all should follow. If you’ve never eaten there, or even it you have, read this. Despite it’s greatness, Wilber’s was struck down by the malignity the North Carolina … Continue reading Wilber’s to Re-open!

Recognizing the culinary rut you may be falling into after a long quarantine with limited access to a grocery store, I posted some recipes a few days ago. The post was good as far as it went, but I fear that I made a couple of unfortunate omissions. It happens. More and more with each passing year. Let me try to rectify things and fill … Continue reading More Recipes for Quarantine Times and Any Other Time