 Inaugural Vintage
Chef Randall Baldwin’s Vintage 2298 opens to applause and esteem.
By Jan Walsh
If Vintage 2298 were a wine, 2022 would be its first vintage. It would deserve a score of 100 points from Wine Spectator. And Chef/Owner, Randall Baldwin would have just become a rock star winemaker. Yet Vintage 2298 is not a wine. It is a new restaurant, opening in an important year for Auburn’s culinary scene. 2022 is the game changing year of the avant-garde.
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 Beau Idéal
Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center is the crème de la crème. And 1856 – Culinary Residence is the cherry on top.
By Jan Walsh
The Tony & Libba Rane Culinary Science Center is located across the street from Samford Hall. And just as I step inside the center, Auburn welcomes me to town with Westminster chimes, playing clock tower carillon. Crossing the threshold of The Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center I enter another dimension. This sprawling culinary masterpiece is unparalleled, from top to bottom. Where else in this world would I find hospitality students learning in an academic setting and working in a real world commercial setting? Nowhere. And to top it all off, agriculture students grow an urban farm on the roof of the building. Many of the dishes and cocktails at 1856 – Culinary Residence, a teaching restaurant, include fruit, flowers or foliage from the rooftop.
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 Food Hall Heaven
I’m on cloud nine at Hey Day Market Food Hall and Gathering Place.
By Jan Walsh
I have been anticipating the opening of the Tony & Libba Rane Culinary Science Center for years. And today I, along with my Auburn Restaurants teammates: Ada Ruth Huntley and Richard Phillips are graciously guided on a private tour by Ithaka Hospitality Partners Founder and CEO, Hans van der Reijden. The tour includes Hey Day Market and will be followed by dinner tonight at 1856 – Culinary Residence. This is the first in a series of articles of the experience.
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 T-Town Day Trip
Private tour of Bama football facilities plus lunch at Dreamland Bar-B-Que
By Jan Walsh
Kev has been hosted, not once, but twice for Alabama fans dream day trip. And both times he and the guys finished the morning with lunch at Dreamland Bar-B-Que, which completed the full experience.
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 Where to eat lunch in Atlanta before the big game?
By Jan Walsh, Photography by Jan Walsh Given Alabama is playing Georgia on the road for the SEC Championship, which hopefully leads to the National Championship Game, I have been bombarded with Atlanta PR firms asking me to recommend “their” restaurant clients to “my” readers. And while I appreciate them reaching out to me, I have my own favorite, highly recommended restaurant in Atlanta—Bones.
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 Pair The Tower Room at The Plaza with dinner at Rotisserie Georgette.
By Jan Walsh, Photography by Jan Walsh It was my family’s mission to make my 60th Birthday memorable. Mission accomplished. The Tower Room at The Plaza is a once in a lifetime luxury. And I shall never forget my beautiful birthday dinner at Rotisserie Georgette—my newfound, favorite restaurant in New York City.
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 Discover a new dimension at Kiawah Island Resort.
By Jan Walsh If Kiawah Island Resort and The Sanctuary Hotel were across the globe, I would travel the world to arrive here. Fortunately from Birmingham, I can leave early morning and arrive here in time for a late lunch. This is our second trip to Kiawah Island, and I do not plan for it to be our last—as it is one of the most special places I have ever visited, and it is Southern.
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 Discover a private piece of Destin at Henderson Park Inn.
By Jan Walsh Henderson Park Inn is a beachfront, adults-only, all-inclusive, boutique hotel. Located on a quiet cul-de-sac on Scenic Highway 98 in Destin, Florida, the property is situated beside the 208-acre Henderson Beach State Park and its long stretch—1.3 miles—of unobstructed beach. Henderson Park Inn also has a fine dining restaurant, Beach Walk Cafe. My husband, Kevin and I enjoy a long, quiet, and delicious weekend here for Valentine’s.
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 Pair The Hermitage Hotel with Nashville Wine Auction.
By Jan Walsh
I recently enjoyed a lovely weekend in Nashville, without the country music. I paired a stay at The Hermitage Hotel with a weekend of wine at the Nashville Wine Auction’s inaugural Pairings event, held at Noah Liff Opera.
This was my first stay at The Hermitage Hotel. And I do not plan for it to be my last. I fell in love with this place as soon as I entered the Tennessee marble columned lobby with its magnificent painted glass ceiling. The Hotel Hermitage opened in 1910, as the namesake of Andrew Jackson's Hermitage estate. Five Presidents of the U.S. and countless celebrities have stayed here. I could write a book on its history. But that has already been done by Ripley Wills, II: The Hermitage Hotel at One Hundred. The hotel was purchased in 2000 by Historic Hotels of Nashville, LLC, which led to the $17 million renovation of the guest rooms and public areas, after which the hotel reopened on Valentine's Day 2003. Less than nine months later it received the prestigious American Automobile Association Five-Diamond rating, and it remains Tennessee’s only Forbes Five Star and AAA Triple Diamond Hotel.
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 Rediscover world-class wineries, a fairy tale town, and one spectacular lake.
By Jan Walsh
In the previous issue of this column, I shared the perfect Napa Valley trip. Picking up our suitcases where that trip left off, we take the top down on the convertible for a scenic drive to Healdsburg, in Sonoma County. This weekend we revisit our Sonoma County favorites.
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