How the Pizitz Food Hall lies at the center of Birmingham's culinary renaissance

In recent years, there's been no shortage of excellent press about Birmingham's rapidly developing food scene.

In 2015, Zagat ranked Birmingham number one on its list of next hot food cities in America.

The continued success of Birmingham's James Beard recognized chefs, including Frank Stitt and Chris Hastings, is proof that the Magic City is a go-to destination for Southern dining.

This past June, both the The New York Times and Sports Illustrated wrote pieces about Birmingham as a culinary hotbed.

To cap off the month, Food and Wine announced it was relocating its headquarters from New York to the Magic City.

However, not everyone is convinced that Birmingham has the chops to be the next headquarters of Food and Wine.

In a post on Medium, longtime food journalist Shaun Chavis wrote that while Birmingham is a gem, it's not the international food city essential to run an upscale culinary magazine whose sole focus isn't Southern cuisine. Chavis lived in Birmingham for eight years as an editor for Time, Inc. She says diverse cuisine is still too novel of a concept in the Magic City, remembering a time when she had to put in an overnight order from a store in New York to get bottarga for a photo shoot.

But Birmingham's culinary residents see the city's potential as ripe for the picking.

February's opening of  the Pizitz Food Hall in the city's downtown area bought 15 new restaurants to the city, and only two of them -- Alabama Biscuit Company and Waffle Works --  nodded to Southern fare.

One goal of the Pizitz is to introduce Birmingham's tastebuds to international food. While it houses standards like a burger stand and a cheese shop, the food hall also offers visitors cuisine from Nepal, Vietnam, and Ethiopia.

Deon Gordon, the director of Business Development at REV Birmingham says the Pizitz Food Hall is a step in the right direction.

"The Pizitz serves as the intersection of Birmingham's culinary renaissance," said Gordon. "What [these chefs] do is so essential to Birmingham's economy."

During the annual Eat, Drink, Read, Write series at the Birmingham Public Library, three chefs from the Pizitz gathered to to discuss how to unlock Birmingham's international food potential.

The goal of the "Food Stories" panel, moderated by Gordon, was to showcase Birmingham's up and coming culinary talent.

Abhi Sainju, mo:mo and Abhi

Chef Abhi Sainju already has a hand in the city's culinary renaissance. The sushi chef, formerly of Bamboo on 2nd, opened up the mo:mo food stall, which is his spin on banh mi and dumplings. Mo:mo is one of Sainju's two ventures. In February, he also opened Abhi at The Summit, where he is the executive chef.

Sainju has quickly risen through the ranks of Birmingham's culinary scene. The graduate of UAB came to the city 21 years ago from Nepal.

"I'm a foodie. When I came here, I'd miss all the food from when I was young. I'd eat three lunches," Sainju said, laughing.

Sainju's cuisine gained an underground following quickly. When he'd cook for friends, he says,  they'd ask for to-go boxes. One thing led to another, and Sainju decided he wanted to go into the restaurant business.

Kimberly McNair Brock, Bitty's Living Kitchen

Kimberly McNair Brock is a native daughter of Birmingham. Her food stall, Bitty's Living Kitchen, is the second tenant in the Reveal kitchen, which serves an an incubator for the city's blooming culinary businesses. Bitty's Living Kitchen focuses on fresh foods, salads, and pressed juices.

"I can always remember being in the kitchen," said McNair Brock. "I grew up where food was always important."

McNair Brock majored in architecture at Auburn University, but she had aspirations to one day go to culinary school.

After college, she moved in with her parents, who had health problems. While cooking for her family, McNair Brock started to alter how she made certain dishes, opting to use healthier ingredients and fresh produce which was different from the food her parents usually ate. Within six to nine months, she says, her parents' health problems improved.

During her tenure as caregiver for her parents, she also got a holistic health education in New York, where she learned more about healthy foods. That, she says, is how the concept for Bitty's Living Kitchen came about. Now, McNair Brock wants to take the model she used with her family and apply it to Birmingham.

"We want to help people reverse their palate and heal from food," said McNair Brock.

Eli Markshtien, Eli's Jerusalem Grill

Eli Markshtien of Eli's Jerusalem Grill has a similar story. Eli's has an emphasis on fresh, local ingredients. His location in the Pizitz is his second. The original location is on U.S. 280.

He grew up cooking with his Israeli grandmother, who grew her own food.

"My grandmother grew everything on a little farm that she had," said Markshtien.

He's replicated that concept with Eli's, which serves food that is organic and non-gmo.

"We actually have no freezer. And we have exactly what you would have in Israel," said Markshtein.

Like McNair Brock, Markshtien had a close family member with illness. He says a diet of  organic and gluten-free foods helped turn his wife's health around.

"Food for me...  it's worth living," he said. "It saved the life of my wife."

But, in this town, known for its fluffy biscuits and Southern cuisine, serving food like that was a tall order.

"Down here when you say 'gluten-free, organic' some people think cardboard," he said, smiling.

Amanshwa Takele, Ghion Cultural Hall

Amanshwa Takele is the owner of Ghion Cultural Hall, the first Ethiopian restaurant in Alabama. He also owns a location in the Buckhead area of Atlanta.

He smiles widely as he recalls the first few months Ghion opened its doors in the Pizitz. Takele says diners have welcomed Ethiopian cuisine with a warm embrace. After only three months, the dining room was full every day at lunch.

The restaurant is doing so well, in fact, that he plans to open a second location in Tuscaloosa.

Can Birmingham cut the mustard?

But for a city with an established name in Southern cooking and a developing palate for more international cuisine, what distinguishes Birmingham from other Southern food cities like New Orleans or Charleston?

"When you look at cities like New Orleans or Charleston, food is such a part of their DNA. But we want to be the best version of Birmingham we can be," said Gordon.

So where do the chefs see Birmingham going as a culinary scene?

"Birmingham up until three or four years ago was behind other cities," says Markshtien. "They like the meat and potatoes," he chuckles.

"People here like to go to church and eat," he says, laughing again. "I can't open a church because I'm Jewish. But I can open a restaurant."

Markshtien believes Birmingham is growing and won't stop anytime soon. He's hoping to further that growth, and is looking to open up a third Eli's location.

"Birmingham was a great opportunity for me. I didn't have a place to eat here the way I grew up," Markshtien said.

In fact, both Gordon and the chefs agree: the key to fueling that culinary growth is supporting more local businesses instead of chain restaurants.

"On [highway] 280, they opened about 16 restaurants. But all of them were corporate. So they know we like eating," said Gordon.

Supporting local businesses is a promise on which the Pizitz Food Hall has made good. The Pizitz hand-picked all of the restaurants with the idea to bring more mom-and-pop restaurants to Birmingham.

So how can locals who are passionate about dining in Birmingham help support -- and keep -- more local restaurants in the the city?

Getting social in the Magic City food scene

Social media can been a huge catalyst, according to Happenin's in the 'Ham co-founder Russell Hooks. He and his wife Amber started the website in 2014, after she started sending emails to coworkers about fun and cheap activities to do in Birmingham on the weekends. Once they set up a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram account, the blog started taking off, especially when they began to tag other businesses.

"The Birmingham dining scene has always been known for its high-end restaurants, such as the Highlands or Hot and Hot Fish Club, but the city has recently seen an increase in a lot of small restaurateurs who maybe started out in the Birmingham area," Hooks said. "Or they may have come from another city, like food trucks." Hooks says he and Amber have watched the Birmingham dining scene evolve, with more of an appreciation for smaller establishments.

Hooks says these smaller establishments with sometimes lower overhead costs mean restaurant owners have more room to experiment and get creative with the local food scene. And that creativity means more cool photo opportunities for Instagram and Facebook.

"Maybe you haven't heard of a restaurant, and you see one of the dishes on social media, you have that instant 'oh man, I've got to try that,'" Hooks said. "So, instead of 'oh, it's another burger place, it's another pizza place,' it's 'oh, look, it's a cool Mexican fusion place. Oh wow, this place has small plates you can share. This place has Nashville hot chicken.' It really allows for restaurant owners to get creative. And I think Birmingham has become more accepting and a lot more open to trying new and different foods."

Joy King, host of the TV show "Dining Out with Comedienne Joy," agrees. King got her start in 2014, posting reviews of Birmingham-area restaurants to YouTube and Facebook.

"It started out me doing videos, eating at local restaurants, and talking about how good the food is. And people would tag me like, 'I went to that place, Joy. It was good,'" King said.

Fueled by her funny jokes and bold personality, the videos started to take off, and someone suggested that she start a TV show.

"Dining out with Comedienne Joy" officially went on air in 2015. King says she visited restaurants and cooked with the chefs in the kitchens "just like Guy Fieri."

"I got the show started in a period of two months and it was crazy," said King. "Crazy in that the people saw the show, loved the show, and watched and went out and ate at those restaurants."

The show, King says, was a great opportunity for locals to get their names out there.

"There are a lot of local restaurants who, in my opinion, are overlooked, and when we talk about Birmingham food, you never hear about these people," King said. "So for them, it increased their business."

"Dining Out with Comedienne Joy" isn't King's only venture into the Birmingham food scene.

This month, King launched Eat, Drink, Ride, a series of restaurant tours where her viewers will be able to join her on the road as they sample cuisine from Birmingham area restaurants such as Black Pearl Asian Cuisine, Cajun Seafood House, and JaWanda's Sweet Potato Pie.

Both Hooks and King have high hopes that Birmingham's dining scene will continue to expand and embrace different styles of cuisine.

When asked about one of their favorite new restaurants, they both mentioned Wasabi Juan's, a fusion of sushi and Mexican food.

"You think sushi burrito like 'what in the world?' But it's so good and it's super affordable. The food is super fresh," says Hooks. "It's a different take on sushi."

In fact, Hooks and his wife -- who is half Filipino -- are hoping that Birmingham continues to embrace more restaurants with Asian cuisine.

"When Amber's mom comes, we eat so much amazing Filipino food. And that's the one thing," said Hooks. "If we could have a resturants that focuses on that one specific Asian food genre."

That's welcome news for Nepalese chef Sainju, who says local food scenes define a city.

"Like I said, when I came here 21 years ago, I had to go out of town to get the food I liked to eat," said Sainju.

That inspired him to start experimenting when he came to Birmingham a little more than two decades ago, inviting people he knew to try new foods, one dish at a time.

"My first friends here didn't like rice," he laughed.

With his previous successes, Sainju says he is optimistic about the future of cuisine in the Magic City.

"I'm a foodie, so you have to study the palate of this town," said Sainju. "We're already on the map. Give it three or four years, and the food scene will continue to change."