My fondness for humble Southern ingredients comes from my own roots in rural Alabama. I feel a real spiritual connection to the food and to the land because of my Southern agrarian upbringing. As a child, I was equally at home experiencing some of the great restaurants of New York and New Orleans while traveling with my family as I was picking the first tender shoots of asparagus with my Grandmother White in early spring.
My culinary journey took me from Cullman, Alabama, to San Francisco, where, as a philosophy student, I began to find myself piling high the cookbooks and leaving Plato and Kierkegaard behind. After learning and honing my kitchen skills in various Bay Area restaurants, I was finally allowed into the kitchen of the now legendary Chez Panisse. Humble through the work I was doing was, it was my time there that resulted in an introduction (by Alice Waters) to Richard Olney, who was then working on the Good Cook series for Time-Life Books and needed an assistant. I was able to work with Jeremiah Tower, Elizabeth David, Stephen Spurrier, and Simca Beck, eventually traveling throughout the French countryside. I worked in vineyards in Provence and Burgundy and then returned home to the foods and traditions that continue to be so much a part of my present-day vision. I remain highly committed to the ideals of sustainable agriculture and humane animal husbandry.
Most modern cooks don't have a close connection to the land or small family farming. When I grew up in Cullman, it was the largest agricultural county in Alabama, and there was a lot of pride in being a small family farmer. Today, I'm involved with the Chef's Collaborative, Slow Food, and the Alabama Governor's Advisory Board of Farmers' Markets. Recognizing my own responsibility to promoting sustainable agriculture, I only buy produce from area farmers' markets for my restaurants.
My first restaurant, Highlands Bar and Grill, opened in Birmingham in 1982. Here, humble Southern ingredients such as stone-ground grits and country ham meet French sauces and braises, creating superb flavors and elegant balance. Highlands was an immediate success, and soon after, I opened Bottega and Bottega Café, and then in 2000, Chez Fonfon -- all in Birmingham.
I have received the James Beard Award for the Best Chef of the Southeast, and Bon Appetit named me a culinary legend in September 2003. Highlands Bar and Grill has been awarded the prestigious DiRoNA Award (Distinguished Restaurants of North America), and I have appeared on the Food Network's "Best Of." series, "Great Chefs, Great Cities" from the Discovery Channel, PBS's "Chef's A' Field," and am regularly featured in TurnerSouth's series, "Off the Menu." I live in Birmingham, equidistant to each restaurant, with my wife, Pardis.
