What to Eat in Birmingham

If someone had to spill the beans about our most heavily guarded Pizitz secret, I’m glad it was Eater.

First, some background: Eater is a food blog that writes about food in big cities (e.g., Eater NY), and important food things happening all over the US. It has 11 million daily readers-it’s kind of a big deal. We are HUGE Eater fans. For a food blogger, interacting with Eater in any way is like getting to share breathing space with a celebrity. When I met one of the Eater writers at last year’s Food Media South conference, it was like meeting Julia Roberts, or whoever is your Julia Roberts.

OK so now, knowing that, check out the front page of today’s Eater:
http://www.eater.com/
(It’s right there in the middle….towards the bottom…. “Nine New Food Halls to Get Excited about in 2016”)

Here’s the link:
http://www.eater.com/2016/3/10/11182436/food-halls-new-2016

As you may recall, Mr. Foodie and I are working with Bayer Properties to seek out the best concepts and chefs for the Pizitz space. As an obsessive foodie, like many of you are, I cannot begin to tell you how incredible this has been. We basically made a wish list, and were given the liberty to go after everything on it. This has involved a high level of creativity on our part. We have pounded the pavement, in Birmingham and other cities, to do our research, solidify existing relationships, and forge new ones. These efforts have been, we are happy to say, very fruitful.
The only, ONLY bad part about this has been, we want to shout all of our Pizitz secrets from the rooftops but of course, this is highly classified intel.

So, Eater was kind enough to spill the beans about a few things that we no longer have to keep secret. We can’t tell you all the gory details…those will reveal themselves in the months ahead, all in due time. But we can tell you just enough to make you scream with joy and fill you with anticipation and suspense. Basically, just enough to torture you.

Here goes:
1. Birmingham does not have any Ethiopian food. As a foodie, this is not news to you. I told Mr. Foodie that if Pizitz could bring Ethiopian food to Bham, the foodies of Bham would be so happy they would have a parade. So that was pretty high up there on our wish list. A few months ago, we took a road trip to another unnamed Southeastern city to search out the best Ethiopian food on the planet. And we found it. And it’s going to be in the Pizitz building and you are going to want to eat there every night. And you will want to bring your vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free friends. That’s all I can say.

Here’s a photo, just to torture you even more. Note: this photo has been blurred slightly to maintain anonymity.
  
2. Dumplings. When the word got out that we were going to be consulting on the Pizitz building, I cannot tell you how many requests I got for a dumpling stall. Done. And they will be the best darn dumplings you have ever had.  

3. Bim bim bap. We searched all over Bham for the best food entrepeneurs, some of whom you know, and some of whom you don’t. They have day jobs doing something else, and at night, they are creating menus and recipes and logos and business plans. One of them is going to give you delicious, healthy Korean rice bowls with homemade kimchi and the best BBQ meats (veggie if you like), and Korean street food. We can’t wait for you to meet her.

4. Have you noticed that downtown Birmingham DOES NOT HAVE ANY ICE CREAM OR DESSERT SHOP?? Have you noticed that all the ice cream shops in town seem to get their ice cream from some kind of big national brand? Now that you’ve realized that, do you have a hankering for homemade ice cream? I thought so. Lichita’s: problem solved. And if you don’t know about Lichita’s, click here.

5. Domestique. Best coffee in Bham, hands down. Done.

That is all. Any questions?