242: Frank Stitt, Highlands Bar & Grill, Chez Fonfon, Bottega (Birmingham, AL)

There is a magic picnic basket on this show, a fantastical idea of a dream meal, and I struggle to recount how many of my 240+ guests have included a dish from Frank Stitt. Let's just say it's more than a few.. Writer Charles Gaines in Garden & Gun called him the Godfather of Southern Cuisine, and this James Beard award winner has built a dynasty of dining delight in Birmingham, AL with Highlands Bar & Grill, Chez Fonfon, and Bottega. A studious youth, he turned his philosophical eye from studying Plato to learning from Alice Waters, Simca Beck, and Richard Olney, not to mention Jeremiah Tower, but he's still as delighted at seasonal produce coming in the kitchen door as he;s ever been, the rotation of the culinary calendar a deep well of inspiration. That enthusiasm weaves its way through his restaurants, his staff, and the dishes that are crafted, and the idea of a restaurant as revelry, as reverence, and as a respite is perhaps Stitt's true philosophy shining forth.