 Contagious Dish
A good food photo goes viral, triggering recipe requests.
By Jan Walsh
I recently purchased 10 vintage crab ramekins from the 1940s to make deviled crab. I crave it at but don’t find it often in restaurants. After scouring the internet for five-star recipes, I took a little bit of this and a little bit of that to create my own.
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 Pack a picnic with Village Tavern’s deviled eggs.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson Summertime, and Village Tavern’s Corporate Chef, Mary Grace Viado makes the cooking easy. She shares her recipe for pimento cheese deviled eggs. They are prefect for a summertime picnic or family gathering and pair well with Village Tavern’s Cubano Sliders.
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 Spring Salad
Chef Tom Saab shares Bistro 218’s West Indies Salad.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson
Can’t cook? No sweat. Prepare Bistro 218’s West Indies Salad without a stove. “This salad originates in Mobile Alabama and is our homage to Alabama cuisine,” Chef and Owner, Tom Saab describes. Bistro 218’s version of West Indies Salad adds the tasty additions of aioli and tomato to the traditional recipe. Yet crab remains the star of this dish with its delicate flavor shining through. “When cooking with crabmeat at Bistro 218 we strive to not mask the flavor with seasonings or fat.” And he achieves excellence in this delightful dish.
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 Chef George Reis prepares Alabama oysters at 5 Point Public House Oyster Bar.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson Chef George Reis has shucked many an oyster at Ocean Restaurant. But today we are shucking and frying Alabama oysters next door at his new restaurant, 5 Point Public House Oyster bar. Here Reis serves his succulent oysters with two special touches, his own house made hot sauce and house made crackers.
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 Lobster Lover
Shula's Flash Fried Lobster in 10 Simple Steps
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson
I have an ongoing, and well publicized, love affair with Shula's Flash Fried Lobster. After covering it in Birmingham magazine's "One Dish" column and in "The Birmingham 100" for 2008, I am back for more. Today I want to learn the secrets of how executive chef of both Shula's Steak House and The Wynfrey Hotel, Rick Daidone prepares this wonderful dish.
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Lovely Lobster
George Reis shares his secret seasoning and grilling technique for lobster tails.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson
The hickory wood fired, grilled baby lobster tails at Ocean and 26 are divine. They are consistently moist, succulent, and sweet. Executive chef and co-owner of Ocean and 26, George Reis shares his secrets. One secret is the art of building a hickory wood fire in a wood burning grill-and knowing how to cook on it. Another secret is "The Love," which is a seasoning that goes on every piece of grilled fish at Ocean.
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GianMarco's Crusted Alabama Goat Cheese Salad 
Award winning Belle Chevre artisanal cheeses make Birmingham menus.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson
Real Food is a new column that debuted last month. It supports Birmingham's convivium of the international Slow Food movement. In a pecan shell, Slow Food is the opposite of fast food. It is grown or produced locally and arrives fresh, full of flavor.
“We chefs want to use more local products that will support the growers and producers but also the Southern food traditions of Alabama,” member of the movement Giani Respinto explains. Respinto, his brother Marco, and father Giovanni, own and operate GianMarco—a popular, upscale Italian restaurant in Homewood. “Alabama goat cheese Belle Chevre is available year round. And it is used in our Almond and Pistachio Crusted Goat Cheese over Baby Arugula and Watermelon Carpaccio.”
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