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DARLEY (VO): From a James Beard Award-winning restaurant serving Greek-style snapper throats and frequented

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by football greats...

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: So right here, this is the Coach Bryant booth.

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It's our most sought-after table.

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DARLEY (VO): ...to the home of fried green tomatoes and the inspiration for the hit movie.

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DARLEY: You can tell that tomato is local from the farm.

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DARLEY (VO): We're diving into longtime award-winning restaurants in Birmingham, Alabama.

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Here, chefs put an emphasis on sourcing quality ingredients from local farmers and fishers...

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CHEF ADAM EVANS: Those oysters are butter oysters, and it is very buttery when you eat those.

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DARLEY: Smooth like butter.

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DARLEY (VO): ...making for a tasty exploration. We'll head to the farmers market in Birmingham with Chef Chris Hastings,

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visit a brewery for train lovers and see where Alabama football stars and their coaches

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dine post-game.

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Get ready to eat and drink with me in Birmingham on this episode of Travels with Darley:

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Southern Trails in Alabama.

[THEME MUSIC]

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DARLEY (VO): I'm traveling to Bessemer, Alabama, a sleepy suburb of Birmingham with a nationally-designated

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Historic District and a James Beard Award-winning restaurant that's been family-owned since 1907.

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Honored as an American classic restaurant by the James Beard Foundation, The Bright Star

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was founded by Tony Bonduris, who came to Bessemer from Greece in the early 1900s.

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The Bright Star's Andreas Anastassakis is introducing me to his family's legacy.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: Right here, the man in the middle, the picture here, that is Mr. Tom Bonduris, so he is

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the founder of The Bright Star.

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DARLEY (VO): I've stepped inside the diner-esque, large main entrance hall with its grey tile floors

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and green walls lined with old black-and-white photographs.

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DARLEY: How does it feel to carry on this family legacy?

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: This is a place that just, you know, had a vision in 1907 and just continued to reinvent itself.

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Bill Koikos' son, Jimmy Koikos, who is my cousin,

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his brother, Nicky Koikos, came in 1969. So 1969, they took it over together, so my grandmother

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was their mother's sister.

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And neither one of them had children, and they made me the offer to come here and be a part

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of The Bright Star, and it took me about ten seconds to decide, "Yes."

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DARLEY (VO): Andreas was living in Canada at the time and working as a chef and restaurateur, when

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his Southern family asked him to move to Birmingham to keep The Bright Star shining and

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in the family.

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The restaurant is laid out as a series of large rooms, many lined with red diner booths

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and a few with special wood-paneled dining rooms.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: So what we feature here is private dining for eight, so we close all these dividers.

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DARLEY: Wow.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: And we have our private rooms.

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DARLEY (VO): Andreas takes me towards the back to see some of the original spaces, which haven't changed

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much over the last decade.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: So right here, this is the Coach Bryant booth.

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It's our most sought-after table.

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DARLEY: So if you're a football fan, this is the booth for you.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: This is where you want to sit.

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And the reason that Coach Bryant sat in this booth, okay, he had two ways to get in here.

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If he came in here after a big win, he walked through the front door, and he took his time

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and walked down here, just like we did, and the whole restaurant cheered for him.

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If he was in a bad mood after a loss, he snuck in through the kitchen, and nobody would know

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he was here.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: And if you look over here, too. So you see this pie case?

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DARLEY: Oh my god, look at those pies.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: This pie case was put in here in the '50s.

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We spend as much money as it takes to keep this thing going.

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We try everything in our power to not have to replace that.

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It's part of the history.

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DARLEY: Share with me about these pies.

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Just name them for me because I'm already getting ready for dessert here.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: Our most famous pies are lemon icebox.

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We got a chocolate almond pie, coconut cream pie, peanut butter pie and pineapple cream cheese.

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And then we have our baklava cheesecake.

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DARLEY: What.

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Sounds amazing.

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I've never heard of a baklava...

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: Cheesecake.

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DARLEY: ...cheesecake.

ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: Yes.

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Very unique to The Bright Star.

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DARLEY (VO): It's time for some pie,

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but first, we'll start with seafood.

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The Bright Star sources seafood locally and also has strong relationships with local producers.

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Andreas and I head into yet another wood-paneled dining room and sit down to try the snapper throats.

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DARLEY: I've never had a snapper throat before,

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or fish throat, I don't think.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: Very tender.

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Pulling the meat off the bone.

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DARLEY: Get a nice piece here.

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DARLEY (VO): The Bright Star is well known for these snapper throats.

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It's a menu item that dates back to the 1930s, when Andreas' uncle discovered that snapper

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throats were quite tender and meaty.

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Not wanting to waste any parts of the fish,

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he put them on the menu, and they've been a hit ever since.

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DARLEY: That's some of the most tender fish I may have ever had.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: Yes, very simple dish.

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I mean, the freshest seafood in the southeast, and then all we do is a little seasoned flour,

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broil it and then finish it off with our olive oil, lemon juice and oregano; it's Greek style.

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DARLEY: You're using as much of the fish as you can.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: Absolutely.

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DARLEY: Making it even more sustainable.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: That is correct.

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DARLEY: You can tell this is fresh caught.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: I know that that fish came off the boat yesterday morning, and it was here last night.

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DARLEY: Wow.

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DARLEY (VO): The food here is really good, and the atmosphere is comfortable and welcoming, which is why

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as soon as The Bright Star opens its doors for dinner, there's usually a line in the

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cavernous entranceway and sometimes outside,

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and the restaurant is home for many locals,

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some of whom eat here a few times each week.

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DARLEY: Everything has been so good.

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I can see why people will come here every week.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: We're very blessed.

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A lot of people come here and come a long to see us.

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DARLEY: I mean, you could get, I could get addicted to this.

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I have places that I go in my area where I go a couple times a week sometimes because I love it.

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It's so good.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: Yes.

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DARLEY: And you can't, I mean, I don't know if I could do this at home.

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I couldn't do this at home, but you bring your homestyle Greek flavors to this place.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: That's right.

DARLEY: And that's why people love it.

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ANDREAS ANASTASSAKIS: That's exactly right.

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This is home.

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The Bright Star is home.

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That's what makes it special.

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DARLEY (VO): My next restaurant and chef also takes pride in sourcing local ingredients and is also

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a James Beard Award winner.

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Chef Chris Hastings invites me to Birmingham's creative district at Pepper Place to Hot and Hot Fish Club.

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This restaurant is housed inside the old Martin Biscuit Building.

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As I arrive, Chef Hastings is making an elevated shrimp and grits for our lunch in his bright

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open-air kitchen.

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I stand beside him at a large blonde wooden island as he slices and dices.

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DARLEY: Chef, you were pioneering farm-to-table before we even called it farm-to-table back in the '90s.

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CHEF CHRIS HASTINGS: That's correct.

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We opened in 1995, and there was no term for it, and we lived farm-to-table every day.

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For me, it signifies our commitment to local, and I get to tell a story about all my friends

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who, you know, grow things, raise things, make things.

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And it just is a part of who we are as a restaurant and who we are, you know, just fundamentally as a member

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of a community.

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DARLEY (VO): He's plating up this dish in a grey handmade ceramic bowl with layer upon layer of grits

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and goodness.

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CHEF CHRIS HASTINGS: First, we're going to put a nice little dollop of the grits—not too much because it's rich.

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So we're going to put the crépinette on top.

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Then, we're going to take the butter sauce and put it around with the grits,

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drizzle a little bit of the Calabrian chili oil on. And then, we're going to top it off with

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a nice little piece of the ham.

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This looks nothing like your grandmother's shrimp and grits, right?

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DARLEY: A lot of these ingredients are very local, and I haven't had them, and that's going to make

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it a really cool experience.

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CHEF CHRIS HASTINGS: Yeah, really understand what my voice is as a chef, and what my voice is, is what I source from

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really committed people.

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This is our voice of our place in our season of now.

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DARLEY: Cheers

CHEF CHRIS HASTINGS: Cha-ching.

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DARLEY (VO): We go in to take a bite.

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DARLEY: Mm. Wow.

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CHEF CHRIS HASTINGS: I'm good with that.

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How about you?

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DARLEY: Fantastic.

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The grits have such a wonderful flavor.

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CHEF CHRIS HASTINGS: That's the real trick to good cooking, is that you're building flavor, right?

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The grits have to be built. So then there's the process of making the crépinette, and

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there's the sauce, and then the ham and the Calabrian chili oil.

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All of it together makes kind of one even palette of deliciousness, right?

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DARLEY (VO): Just steps away from Hot and Hot Fish Club,

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local farmers sell to restaurants and locals at The Market at Pepper Place, an outdoor

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farmers market surrounded by shops and restaurants and brimming with local salsas, tomatoes, duck eggs

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and pastries.

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Chef Hastings scopes out new sources for unique products, and I tag along to help and taste.

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CHEF CHRIS HASTINGS: I'd like to buy local duck eggs instead of buying them from somewhere else.

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Thank you very much.

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I'm Chris.

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SPEAKER #1: Trevor.

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CHEF CHRIS HASTINGS: Trevor. Pleasure. Sorry to interrupt.

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DARLEY: We're wheeling and dealing out here at the market today.

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Finding new products.

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I'm glad I can help Chris.

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CHEF CHRIS HASTINGS: So that's a real win for me.

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That I can find duck eggs just out of the blue like that on a beautiful, you know, spring morning and

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walking the market. That's a huge win.

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DARLEY (VO): Another restaurant serving up local products is Automatic Seafood and Oysters.

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Chef Adam Evans won a James Beard Award for Best Chef South.

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At his innovative Automatic Seafood and Oysters, housed in an old sprinkler manufacturing

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plant, he's introducing me to oysters from the southern and eastern United States coastlines.

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We sit outside in bright blue Adirondack-style chairs to have a bottle of bubbly and some

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fresh oysters.

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CHEF ADAM EVANS: The oysters that come out of Alabama, all the nutrients from the Mississippi River are

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feeding into the Gulf, and so it's those nutrients that actually flavor the oysters.

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So these are Murder Point oysters from Alabama.

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Which I think really makes the southern oysters unique because you taste a lot more than just

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salt up front.

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DARLEY: That's not really salty at all.

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It's really buttery, balanced.

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CHEF ADAM EVANS: Those oysters are butter oysters, and it is very buttery when you eat those.

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DARLEY: Smooth like butter.

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CHEF ADAM EVANS: Alright, Little Honeys?

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DARLEY: Little Honeys, yeah.

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These are so cute.

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These are the cute oysters.

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CHEF ADAM EVANS: Yeah, the Little Honeys out of Florida.

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A great name, too.

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What I like about the Little Honeys is they have a really nice minerality.

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They're so small, so they're so approachable, and it's also a really balanced taste.

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DARLEY: Those are fantastic.

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All these oysters are so good. And I love that they're all sustainably farmed.

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CHEF ADAM EVANS: It's a great thing for me to support. It's so easy when they make such a good product.

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I would put these oysters that grow in the Gulf up to any oyster that's grown in the world.

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I think they're fantastic.

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And, you know, that was a big part of me opening an oyster bar in the South, is to kind of

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highlight the southern oysters.

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DARLEY (VO): Seafood is big in Alabama but so are fried green tomatoes,

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and fans of the actual food item, or the novel or movie, might want to make a stop in Irondale,

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just outside of Birmingham.

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Author Fannie Flagg made the Irondale Cafe famous.

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It was the Whistle Stop Cafe in her book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.

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Many people travel here today because of her book, which was later made into a major

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movie starring Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy and Mary Louise Parker.

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Today, patrons at Irondale Cafe can choose what they want from a large chalkboard menu and

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dine indoors or outside.

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I wait in the cafeteria-style line and get my plate of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese,

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collard greens and fried green tomatoes.

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I sit outside at a wrought-iron table along 1st Avenue.

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Just across the street, a small train depot and train tracks provide regular train sightings.

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DARLEY: If you love trains and train-watching, this is your cafe because they're coming by every

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few minutes, so if you want to catch a train... 

[LOUD TRAIN HORN]

DARLEY: ...you can see them and hear them inside or outside

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at Irondale Cafe.

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DARLEY (VO): It's time to taste the famous fried green tomatoes.

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DARLEY: That's a good fried green tomato.

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And you can tell that tomato is local from the farm.

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And I talked to the owner, Jim, and he said it is.

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And it's just fried up really nicely.

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Crisp on the outside, juicy tomato on the inside. And of course, you have all the lore behind

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this place, which makes eating a fried green tomato here so special.

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DARLEY (VO): Another spot where history is at the forefront is also popular with those who love trains.

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Back Forty Beer Company is an Alabama craft brewery, located beside a national historic landmark, Sloss Furnaces.

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It once operated as a pig-iron-producing blast furnace at a time when Birmingham's major industries

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were iron and steel production, and rails and railroad cars were manufactured here.

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Today at Back Forty Beer Company, you can sit in rocking chairs or tables on a giant outdoor porch

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or in the grass and peer over at the rusty red towers of the blast furnaces, which operated

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from 1882 to 1971.

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If you do sit outside, you most definitely will also spot trains.

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Back Forty is located alongside train tracks, which get quite a bit of action.

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Back Forty owner Doug Brown sits down with me for a beer just as a train rolls by.

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DOUG BROWN: Welcome to Back Forty.

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There are 37 trains a day that go by here, so. Birmingham is a train town, if you didn't know that.

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People love it.

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And when I first—I actually counted the trains when we were considering leasing this, and people love coming here, especially

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with the kids, watching the trains go by.

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DARLEY: It's the world moving around you. Let's just tell it like it is.

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DOUG BROWN: Oh, absolutely.

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DARLEY: We have commerce happening.

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We have people enjoying themselves, and we have this beer that you have chosen called

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"Bridge to Hope."

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DARLEY (VO): The beers at Back Forty are unique, with some aged in bourbon barrels and IPAs made with orange

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juice and a special enzyme to eat away at residual sugars,

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leaving a champagne-like consistency.

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DARLEY: This does not taste like any beer I've had before, and I've tried a lot of beer.

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What's going on?

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DOUG BROWN: Well, it's an imperial brown ale but it has the extra-special conditioning that we put it

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in a barrel for about 14 months, and it was a Four Roses barrel out of Kentucky, so you're

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tasting a lot of that bourbon that's coming out of that barrel.

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DARLEY: So you have champagne beer and bourbon beer here.

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Well, I've been thrown for a loop on this beer-tasting experience,

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I can tell you that right now, but I like it.

DOUG BROWN: Great!

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DARLEY: I guess that's Birmingham for you.

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DOUG BROWN: Absolutely. Absolutely.

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It's all local.

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DARLEY: That local flavor.

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DARLEY (VO): With places that take you to drink and dine with great train spotting and reminders of

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literature and movies, to award-winning chefs sourcing what's farm fresh in Alabama,

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Birmingham's food scene is strong and tasty.

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Thanks for joining me in Alabama for this food tour adventure.

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Tune into my other podcast from Alabama covering great places to eat in Mobile and

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Montgomery, and continue the journey to other locations with food, history and culture

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with locals as your guides on

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Travels With Darley, the podcast.

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