Hot and Hot Fish Club Birmingham AL

Stop the presses. The Hot and Hot Fish Clubis what great dining is all about. Chef Christopher Hastings won this year’s James Beard Award for Best Chef South and it is well deserved. Chris had worked under Frank Stitt, a winner of the same award for his Highlands Bar and Grill,and is part of the, excuse the pun, “hot” culinary scene in Birmingham, much of which is centered around Highland Park where our B&B is located.Joan and I sat at the Chef’s Counter facing the open kitchen where the crew worked most of the kitchen stations exposed to the watching eyes of their soon to be served guests. That takes a lot of daring and confidence and I can report that they pulled it off with grace and style.We were directly in front of the Pastry Chef’s work area and had a preview of what was to end our meal before we had the first course. Her name is Emily Reed and she had just turned 24. A native of New Orleans, Emily had a lot of advice for our upcoming visit there. She also used an iSi whipper to make Rosemary Creme Anglaise to top three doughnuts filled with blueberry jam and sitting in lemon curd with crystallized blueberries. She was using a pint Easy Whip, not our recommended whipper for a commercial environment, so we will see that she gets a Gourmet Whip for future use.

Joan started out with the Hot and Hot Tomato Salad that was actually a tower of three slices of heirloom tomatoes with layers including Field Peas and sweet corn. Surrounding this edifice were several fried okra in a crispy batter that could have been made in a whipper and finally, a piece of applewood smoked bacon on top. Joan said she didn’t want this course to end and we watched many more being assembled at the garde manger station while we ate. Clearly a popular dish.

My appetizer was a house made Saffron Ravioli with chicken sausage, housemade ricotta, fava beans in a corn broth. Very yummy and it led to a conversation with our server about saffron and how precious it is due to a very short growing season and hand picking required. I held my own in this conversation because I had heard Jose Andres lecture on the topic at Greystone a few years ago.

Our entrees were spectacular. I had a Hickory Grilled Prime Strip Loin cooked to perfection: seared outside and warm red inside. This was accompanied by wood oven roasted bone marrow, on the split bone, along with roasted potatoes all in a wine reduction sauce. The wood oven was at the back center of the open kitchen and made the room a bit toasty but the flaming, stacked wood, added to the drama.

Joan enjoyed an appetizer size portion of the Grilled “Head On” , St. joe Bay Hoppers (shrimp) with Mousseline formed into four small cylinders held together by gelatin. Fried Grit Cake on the side and country ham complemented each other on the plate. There was a foam, ver jus, for dipping, which invited a discussion with our servers about the use of these unripened grape juices in antiquity. I  believe that the name for this in Latin, “acuesta” is the root word from which my last name, Agresta, came into the Italian vernacular.

Before we had our first course, Chef Hastings came over to say hello, having been alerted that we were asking way too many questions about foams and whippers and that Joan was taking pictures with her flash. We told him that I had seen him win his award in New York and he posed for a picture with Joan. He welcomed us and sent over a special honeysuckle butter, home made only in season, that was sweet and led to our devouring several bread slices. We discussed what he called our common “biz” and kept an eye on us the rest of the evening from his finishing position. At the age of 40, this is a rising star who’s time has come.

We had great wines and I also had a tequila based cocktail with a watermelon foam. That brought us to a total of 5 whipped cream/foam servings that we suspect utilized iSi equipment.