Author Archives: Kley Sippel

Peter Dale at City Grit

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Family style picnic tables, all antiques.

Simply set Southern tables ready for supper.
Vintage lights for sale; I wanted them all.

My wine glass often looked like that, too–empty.
Casual conversation before the meal.

When you serve good food on a big table you build a bridge to many things–family, fellowship, and friends to name a few. Tonight, City Grit built a bridge from New York all the way from Athens, GA.

Having moved to New York from South Carolina, I fancy myself an ambassador of my homeland. Sarah Simmons shares this passion with her creation of City Grit, a supper club in lower Manhattan dedicated to Southern food traditions.

So with two tickets in hand, I invited my friend Jeff for a taste of the South. Originally from upstate New York, he intends to move South. Has he visited? Nope, he just knows it’s that great. The family-focused, laid back lifestyle draws him in, but I wanted to show the food-focused life is worth the move, too.

Peter Dale, chef at The National in Athens, GA prepared a great 5-course meal, featuring his Ecuadorian heritage and Southern roots. We started with a New Year soup of blackeyed peas and amazing cornbread croutons. Cornbread croutons–brilliant.

Next, Peter stewed some amazing shrimp in a plantain sauce with peanuts (from Georgia, of course).

He gave a culinary shout out to my home state and the Palmetto Tree with an amazing beef tartare with hearts of palm. It was a close second to my favorite entrée, the chicken thighs with endives and a surprisingly refreshing orange marmalade. Definitely a new spin on chicken thighs for me.

But oh my word–the Carolina plantation rice pudding stole the show. The lady beside me phrased it perfectly: “It’s like rice pudding got in a fight with crème brûlée and they both won.”

The only un-Southern thing about this supper was I couldn’t go back for seconds, which I would have with rice pudding…multiple times.

Beef tartare.
Chicken thigh. Should have been plural.
Rice pudding meets tiramisu.
Soup!
Clearly, my guest was not preoccupied with Instagramming dinner.

Photography by Kley Sippel

Highlands Bar & Grill

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Every blue moon I’ll have a random night that just goes perfectly. All is content, the moment is chill, life is happy…such nights usually involve food and friends. They’re impossible to plan and difficult to recreate.

But Highlands Bar & Grill (Birmingham, AL) has a magical ability to create them every time I eat there. Between the great servers, local ingredients, and french-chic Southern atmosphere (yes, that’s possible), I understand why it packs out each night.

Last year I moved from Birmingham to New York, and my last night in the ‘Ham was one that just went well. A close friend treated me to my last meal, and though I told him pizza was fine he read my mind and drove to Highlands. Stitt’s magic went to work and the evening was a great celebration of friendship, food, and life in a city that had become home for me.

I’m sure the libations helped fuel the good times, but fellowship and food made it a great evening. Through several courses, we enjoyed some of Stitt’s best dishes. The oven-baked grits won the evening, though. They always do, and always will. Hands down.

It is genuinely worth the trip, flight and all, just to savor these grits. (Go ahead, book your flight here and make reservations here.)

Several months have passed since I left Birmingham for the Big Apple, and I only miss three places. Highlands is one of them, and while the friends made each night special, you can’t gather around the table unless there’s good food on it — Stitt and his staff always exceed expectations there.

If you can’t make it to Birmingham to experience Highlands firsthand, you can cook up some of Stitt’s Southern magic in your own kitchen.

Grits. Right away. Page 20.
Definitely try the pizza, though the whole book really is great.

Another good friend gave me Southern Table for my birthday (I have great friends) and I’ve cooked recipes from both from books. While you might have to plan ahead to have all the ingredients, the recipes are easy to follow for anyone who knows their way around a kitchen. The photos are great, too.

I obviously recommend making the oven-baked grits, and the pizza recipe makes a great Italian crust. Order Southern Table here and Bottega Favorita here.