If you have ever eaten out in Birmingham, Alabama, you probably have visited one of Chef Frank Stitt’s restaurants. Frank Stitt is a James Beard Award-winning chef from Cullman, Alabama, where he developed an early connection to food, to the land, and to farming.
Owner and chef of three distinct restaurants in Birmingham, Chef Stitt has left an undeniable hallmark on our state. He opened his flagship restaurant, Highlands Bar and Grill, in Five Points South in 1980. He later opened Bottega in 1988, with Chez FonFon following in 2000. After his early experiences growing up in the south, Frank Stitt honed his culinary skills in San Francisco. He later moved to Southern France where he fell in love with French cuisine. His Alabama roots and French connection inspired him to create a distinct, rich, and fresh approach to food he shares in his restaurants.
I had the privilege of recently interviewing Frank Stitt. We sat down and discussed how growing up in Alabama shaped his outlook on food. Stitt shared that living in the South deeply influenced his cooking style and atmosphere for his restaurants. He discussed growing up in Cullman, where his mother would prepare beautiful summer lunches with freshly grown vegetables. Stitt recalled fondly how his mother would host people from all over town for a home-made country-style lunch and how it fostered a sense of community and southern hospitality that he still carries with him today. All were welcome, leading them to always have an extra place-setting at the table.
Southern Living magazine dubbed Stitt the “undisputed patriarch of Birmingham’s restaurant scene.” Yet, it was not always that way. Stitt spent years developing his skills in the kitchen and as a restaurateur. When opening Highlands Bar and Grill forty-four years ago, he knew he was taking a huge risk. Birmingham was still reeling from the loss of the steel and manufacturing industry and did not have much of a restaurant scene to speak of. In our interview, Stitt discussed how he wanted to bring his international culinary experiences of France and Italy and marry them to the classic southern hospitality of his youth. Though the accolades were slow in coming, his risk would eventually pay off.
In 2001, he received the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southeast. In 2008, he was nominated for Outstanding Chef. Stitt also received the Craig Claiborne Lifetime Achievement Award from Southern Foodways Alliance in 2006. Stitt was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in 2009, the most distinguished award given to an Alabamian. Two years later, Esquire magazine inducted him into their Restaurant Hall of Fame. Stitt was also named to the James Beard Foundation’s “Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America.” Today his magazine articles, awards, honors and accolades seem never ending. Stitt’s incredible influence on Birmingham’s restaurant scene and his place in Alabama’s culinary history is indisputable.
Top Photo Caption: Bottega, an Italian restaurant located in Birmingham, is one of Stitt’s restaurants. [Google Photos]
Additional Information
- McCay, T. M. (2023, November 15). The 30 best restaurants in Birmingham, Alabama. Southern Living. https://www.southernliving.com/30-best-restaurants-in-birmingham-alabama-8400414
- NPR. (2010, April 30). Alabama chef up for “Oscar” of the Food World. NPR. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126422133
About the author
Walker Isbell is a lifelong resident of Alabama who is studying secondary education with a concentration in social sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is passionate about food and wine, and a frequent guest at many of Chef Stitt’s restaurants. Some of his earliest memories of restaurants were his mother’s birthday celebrations at Chez FonFon. His love of food and history is what led him to choose Chef Stitt for this article.
