Photo: Alabama Tourism Department
	The menu at Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Ala., includes this mouth-watering tomato-and-bacon salad.

Year of Alabama Food dishing up local flavors

Alabama,
© 2012 Group Tour Media
February 10, 2012

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Alabama Tourism Department’s 2012 promotional campaign is serving up heapings of local fare with The Year of Alabama Food.

The definitively food-themed campaign is focusing on award-winning chefs, farm-to-table goodies, fresh gulf seafood and popular foods grown or made in Alabama. That fare includes Belle Chevre goat cheese from Elkmont, Conecuh sausage, Slocomb tomatoes and Dothan peanuts, just for starters.

"Food is popular with everyone, and it has been one of our most successful campaigns,” tourism director Lee Sentell said in a statement. “It was time to bring it back, but this time we want to highlight local food and our great chefs.”

The 2012 campaign is being unveiled at FoodBlogSouth, a conference for food writers, photographers and bloggers. Alabama focused on food for its state tourism campaign also in 2005.

The state is also promoting about 400 food festivals, is creating a new Alabama BBQ Trail with the Alabama Barbecue Association and is updating its "100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die" brochure, according to Edith Parten, public relations and media relations director for the Alabama Tourism Department.

Food festivals 

Discover Alabama’s local flavors at food festivals across the state.

Moon pies and mayhem set the stage for Mobile's Mardi Gras celebration in February. Moulton celebrates the state's agricultural heritage during the Alabama Chicken & Egg Festival in April. A smorgasbord of Southern goodness awaits at Slocomb Tomato Festival in June and Russellville Watermelon Festival in August.  

In September, Pinson hosts the Alabama Butterbean Festival and Tuskegee pays homage to scientist George Washington Carver during the Carver Sweet Potato Festival in October.

The Break 'N Bread/ Birmingham Food & Wine Festival is at Birmingham's Pepper Place Railroad Park in October. The National Shrimp Festival is in October on the white sand Gulf of Mexico beaches of Gulf Shores. A barbecue competition highlights the Christmas on the River celebration in Demopolis in December.

Dishing it out

Discover fine dining and country cooking at Chef Frank Stitt's Highlands Bar and Grill and Chris and Idie Hastings' Hot and Hot Fish Club, both in Birmingham; Martin's Restaurant, in Montgomery; Arricia Italian Trattoria & Bar, Auburn; True, a Mobile restaurant owned and operated by Chef Wesley True. 

	Photo: Alabama Tourism Department
	The Rickard's Mill Syrup Festival, held at Rikard's Mill Historical Park in Beatice, Ala., fetes old-fashioned methods for making cane syrup.

Lucy Buffett, owner of Lulu's in Homeport, and other restaurateurs across the state are putting local farms’ goods on their menus to enhance the dining experience.

As part of this year’s effort, a state Restaurant Week is slated Aug. 17-26, with locally-owned and –operated restaurants showcasing their dishes by offering discounts.

Also, the "100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die" brochure is being updated to include fresh menu selections and great local culinary destinations not previously featured. Lesser-known restaurants are to be spotlighted while also showcasing places such Bessemer’s The Bright Star, named an American Classic by the James Beard Foundation.

Other routes

The state’s new BBQ Trail brochure is highlighting restaurants, joints and local chains. The sites include Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q in Decatur, Saw's BBQ in Homewood, Birmingham-based Full Moon Bar-B-Que, Vestavia Hills-based Jim 'N Nick's and icons like Dreamland in Tuscaloosa and Golden Rule Bar-B-Q and Grill in Birmingham.

Of course, there’s more than BBQ, fine dining and country cooking in Alabama, with farms, roadside stands, wineries and 135 farmers’ markets adding to the bounty. Sample goat cheese crafted by Belle Chevre in Elkmont. Enjoy jellies and jams produced in Alabama's Black Belt and sold at places like Black Belt Treasures in Camden.   

The Alabama Wine Trail features more than a dozen farm wineries. There are also culinary destinations like Butlers Mill Restaurant in Graham and Rikard's Mill Historical Park in Beatrice, where cane syrup is made the old-fashioned way.

Getting more details

For more information about the Year of Alabama Food, visit www.yearofalabamafood.com. 

To learn more about Alabama’s group travel information; culinary offerings; for a complete list of food festivals and other events; or to request free copies of the “100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die” brochure or the Alabama Vacation Guide, visit www.alabama.travel or call (800) 252-2262 or (332) 242-4169.

The brochure, vacation guide and events listings are also available at the state’s eight welcome centers and at other sites across Alabama. 

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