What's cooking in the South!

Photo credit: Travis Nelson 

Last night, the James Beard Foundation held its annual awards ceremony in New York City. This morning, I woke up to a wonderful piece about one of the winners, Jones Bar-B-Q Diner, on the CBS This Morning. I also logged onto Facebook to find many of my southern friends (mainly the Alabamians) bragging on the winners from their region.

It got me wondering: Is the south still a place where home-cooking matters? Is it dying off more and more as the newer generations want and demand the quickness of "convenience?" Does food still hold the same reverent focal point in family and other gatherings as it once did? Who's making sure to carry on the tradition? Do people still share (or guard) their recipes? I have the question floating out in the email ether to one dear friend from Bessemer, Ala., but I welcome feedback from everyone. What do you think?

In the meantime, here's a list of the southerners who took home awards last night:

BOOK:

ANew Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen

by Hugh Acheson

(Clarkson Potter)

WRITING:

MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award

John T. Edge

Saveur

“BBQNation”

And the biggies:

BEST CHEF: SOUTH (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS)

Chris Hastings

Hot and Hot Fish Club

Birmingham, AL

BEST CHEF: SOUTHEAST (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)

Hugh Acheson

Five and Ten

Athens, GA

Linton Hopkins

Restaurant Eugene

Atlanta

AMERICA’S CLASSICS (Presented by The Coca-Cola Company)

Jones Bar-B-Q Diner

219 West Louisiana St., Marianna, AR

Owners: James and Betty Jones

SCENE/SOUNDS/EAT: Art Of Field Recording II - Live in Athens GA 1/31

The Melting Point in Athens will host a release concert for Art of Field Recording Volume II, a box set compilation on Dust-to-Digital of Art Rosenbaum’s field recordings of American traditional music over 50 years. Volume I, released in 2007, has garnered two Grammy nominations, was called “blindingly beautiful” by the New York Times, and was the subject of a New Yorker article by Burkhard Bilger. For more info visit Dust To Digital.

While in Athens, be sure to grab something at Garden & Gun fave 5&10 restaurant. The mag raves: Embracing a dress code “from Speedo to tuxedo,” the 5 & 10 injects down-home modern into Southern classics. Named for a five-and-dime that once stood on the same lot, the 5 & 10’s menu shifts daily, with a few stalwarts, such as Frogmore stew—a tasty spawn of a Lowcountry boil and bouillabaisse—always available. “When we opened, we wanted to be a community restaurant that cared about good bread and good wine and good food,” says chef/owner Hugh Acheson. “I come from a fine-dining background. I was running away from that as fast as I could.”

Luckily, Acheson didn’t get too far. Try the roasted asparagus covered with a poached local egg and warm bacon vinaigrette, followed by the “bronzed” redfish fillet in lemon emulsion. Such dishes earned Acheson Food & Wine’s 2002 Best New Chef award and, more recently, a 2008 James Beard nomination for Best Chef Southeast. There’s a fine, rangy wine list, too. (706-546-7300)