http://bhamweekly.com/birmingham/articles.sec-37-1-local-dish.html Hello my darlings! Bunny's back, and I come bearing gifts. Easy there, greedy... I don't have any diamonds or fancy clothes for you this week, but what I do have might be worth as much if you're hungry.]]> Sometimes I find myself talking to food, usually as I walk through the farmers market, or the produce aisle of a store, occasionally as I wander amongst the growing things of a farm. But I must stay that I get the best results when I listen more than I talk.]]> It was a feeling of stillness, almost of reverence. Entering the space one felt like speaking in hushed tones. Tall ceilings and light polished wood with floor to ceiling bookshelves. It was 4:30 in the afternoon and few people were to be found inhabiting its spaces. But the offerings were intriguing and it felt like a private world we’d happened upon.]]> In this restaurant review space, we try to bring to your attention places you may not know in the ordinary course of business. For example, last week we introduced Lolo’s, a new barbecue place in blue collar Avondale.]]> On a recent visit to California, I visited a rosemary bush that has been in my family for almost 50 years.]]> Here’s a toast to incredible food, great service and even more, to passionate people that help give back to the community one customer at a time. After one extraordinary year, owners David and Andrea Snyder, of this local favorite are already opening up their second location at The Summit later on this fall. ]]> As a recent transplant from Southern California to Birmingham, it is fascinating to learn what the Southeast is all about. My first visit was last fall, and although I heard it is a great city, I also heard the typical silly generalities about Alabama.]]> My friend Chryssa made the first butternut squash soup I tasted, and it was so good that I became a frequent customer of her little bistro, Rancho Pinot, in Phoenix.]]> ‘Tis the season friends, when the weather starts to turn a bit cooler and we are all drawn back outside from our perch next to the air-conditioner, under the fast-moving ceiling fan. ]]> They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder...and for me and peaches it is so true. I write this somewhat wistfully as I contemplate the end of peach season.]]> There is a communion of sorts that takes place when musicians gather together, combining their individual sounds. Notes, emanating from a variety of instruments each producing unique sounds that meld together, creating ditties, harmonies and masterpieces.]]> I would argue that I have one of the best jobs in the world. I am fortunate, in that I have the ability to write publicly about things—usually food-related—that inspire me.]]> A new ethnic restaurant concept has come to the Riverchase area, and it’s more than a little different from what we are used to in several ways. For all its quirks, the place is still charming enough to keep me returning. Genghis Grill is the name, and it is a chain franchise out of Texas specializing in Mongolian grill-style dining. ]]> Starbucks locations are as ubiquitous as Alabama mosquitoes these days. In our increasingly homogenous culinary retail landscape, anomalies must be exceptional to succeed. After all, Starbucks is doing something that a whole lot of people like: producing consistent, if predictable, coffee-based products in familiar and hospitable settings.]]> When you get to a certain level of obsession with food, it becomes easy to feel complacent in your breadth of knowledge.]]> I have a confession to make: I cheated on my husband. And my children. I snuck off with Gabrielle Hamilton all last weekend, not caring who found out. ]]> There’s an old joke that says Mexican restaurants all have the same eight ingredients and you just specify in which geometric shape you want them arranged. ]]>