Hot Date

One of the first dates my husband and I had when we first moved to Birmingham was at Hot and Hot Fish Club...talk about setting the bar high!! We have been fortunate to return several times over the years and we have never been disappointed!

Chris and Idie Hastings of Hot and Hot are locally and nationally recognized for their attention to detail on every plate, creative use of fresh, seasonal and local ingredients and overall culinary imagination! At the forefront of the farm~to~table movement, you can taste their commitment to quality in every bite and sip!

We recently celebrated an Anniversary dinner there and our experience from start to finish was another example of flawless service, quality and flavor!

We started out the night with an cocktails...for me an award-winning cocktail..The Summer Jewel...muddled garden cucumber with Bombay Sapphire, fresh squeezed grapefruit, finished with sake and rimmed with sweet ground pink peppercorn and juniper...Ah-mazing! Refreshing yet spicy..perfection in a pink rimmed glass! The hubby had a Chilton County cocktail - you can see it in the background..local muddled peaches, Vodka, sparkling Muscato..yep..as delicious as it sounds! And if you are wondering about that bread in that basket - or those biscuits which you can slather with the most amazing butter you can imagine..soft, smooth, velvety, rich..well it was like...butta!












If you are like me then over the past few years you have been wondering where all the good tomatoes have gone...well I'll tell you where they went! They are in the Tomato Salad at Hot and Hot! They are famous for this dish and we were lucky enough to enjoy it on one of the last nights they served it this season (back in Sept) I could list off all the ingredients in this magic salad; several varieties of amazing local tomatoes, ridiculously good bacon, corn, local field peas, buttermilk-fried okra, and the list of deliciousness goes on and on.. None of these ingredients listed on a page could prepare you for the amazingness that is this salad! (Yep - that is a word and if you don't believe me you have never tried this salad!)











The quality of this next photo is a slap in the face to the perfection that was The Fig Tasting..let me pause here for a brief explanation of how I feel about figs: LOVE..TRUE LOVE! This was a love song to figs..and by that I mean Figs with Foie Gras, Figs with Country Ham, Figs with Mascarpone, Figs with Rosemary, Figs with Anchovy and Spicy Walnut..is that the most delicious group of ingredients you have ever heard? That is what I am talking about!! Let me admit that I was not good at sharing bites of this! And for my main course...the Pork Trio..BBQ Shoulder with Arepa Cake and Peach Mojo, Loin with Creamy Pea Salad, Sausage with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash..each bite was worthy of its own blog..real talk..delicious!

And we finished off this fab meal off with another award-winning dish..Hot and Hot Doughnuts: tonight's version featuring Apple Butter and Cinnamon Sugar, Pecan Pie and Chocolate Eclair..

Perfect finish!

Ok fine...confession time..we had TWO desserts! Look at that patience being demonstrated while i snap this picture! ;) Late Summer Verrine with Pear Mousse, Asian Pears, Muscadine Grape Gellee and Ginger Sorbet.. What else is there to say..I have just reached my maximum delicious ingredients per blog limit....

Great Food Truck

You may spot it driving down I-75 like I did this week, making its way to the city to deliver eats to the streets. Its an old boxy red truck with a giant lace doily on the side that says "Good Food Truck". Mostly it can be found at the Urban picnic that is usually located at Sweet Auburn Market. Sadly, the season of weekly events is coming to an end with colder temps approaching but keep tabs on their locations on their facebook page and you can be sure to score a Poodle. What is a Poodle???



Only the best hot dog you have ever tasted! Hands down this one wins. These people, George Long and Jessamine Starr Long, can cook! Their specialty is the perfect balance in every bite of every dish between spicy, savory, and sweet. The Poodle does just that. It is a hot dog served on a french toast bun with Apple Maple slaw and drizzled with spicy mustard and maple syrup. Their savory waffle cone treats are wonderful too, ranging in flavors from curry cones filled with butternut squash to thai cones with panang curry veggies and coconut rice. All menu items change daily and sometimes include pressed sandwiches and drunken brownies.



If you try any street food in Atlanta, make this your first stop. You will be hooked! The only improvement that could be made is that this truck could stand to be renamed "the GREAT food truck".

Outstanding in the Field

I am sitting at the end of a table of 150 guests, eating this salad made up of ingredients grown on these grounds. My salad has beets in it which I hate admitting I do not like. What food lover doesn't like beets?? I have never met another one. I am of the opinion that your tastes can change and mature and so I always, always try the beets hoping this is going to be the beet bite that makes me fall in love. Suddenly my phone vibrates in my pocket and it is a text from my cousin who adores beets. She has sent me a picture of the fig tasting she is enjoying at Hot Hot Fish Club in Birmingham so I must shoot back a picture of where I am sitting and what I am eating.

I am at Love is Love Farm in Douglasville, GA attending the Atlanta stop of Outstanding in the Field. If you do not know of and love these people, check out their website and you will be hooked. It is October and I have had my tickets since March and I am finally seated at this farm to table dinner that is more than worth the wait. This dinner is the brain child of Jim Denevan and the meal has been prepared on site by Chef Steven Satterfield of Miller Union.

Here are a few more pictures to whet your appetite to sign up for one of these dinners whenever their bus travels to your area! And just for the record, the beets were delicious.