Matt Lee and Ted Lee
Ted and Matt Lee, who call themselves the Lee Bros., have written two cookbooks about Southern cooking that not only garnered rave reviews, but explained how they learned “to cook Southern without a Southern grandmother.” They founded The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue and are wine columnists for Martha Stewart Living. The Lee brothers’ Web site is www.mattleeandtedlee.com.
Mario Batali’s fennel salad couldn’t be easier to make, but the flavors are stunningly complex.
Mario Batali's Shaved Fennel with Blood Oranges, Pecorino, and Pomegranates
So simple, and yet so inspired, this recipe floors us every time we make it. It just could not be any easier, but the complexity of flavors is astounding: the sweetness of the blood orange, the tart lemon juice, the salty pecorino, and the aromatic hit of fennel. The word “salad” doesn’t do it justice.
A.O.C. is an amazing wine bar that seems to scream: “You’re in California now!”
When we visit Los Angeles, A.O.C. is our first stop for a glass of wine and a few Mediterranean-inspired small plates with sparklingly fresh California-grown ingredients. There’s something about the place—the combination of the clean, indelible flavors of the food, the knowledgeable-yet-never-stuffy staff, the effortlessness of its excellence—that seems to exclaim: “You’re in California now!”
This book is the bible of traditional Southern cooking in the contemporary kitchen.
The Gift of Southern Cooking, by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock
This cookbook is a treasury of iconic recipes, the bible of traditional Southern cooking in the contemporary kitchen. And it’s one of a kind: By showing us the way two chefs from different Southern backgrounds inspire and play off one another in the kitchen, it reveals the dynamism and grace of a successful cooking collaboration.
Food Destination
Wherever you eat in Athens, Georgia, you’ll find local ingredients (and a killer soundtrack).
Athens, Georgia
Less than an hour’s drive from Atlanta, Athens is a town with serious rock cred (R.E.M., B-52’s, Pylon, to name a few). Less heralded—but no less important—is the town’s food bona fides. There’s a rich tradition of authentic Southern soul food (Wilson’s, Weaver D’s), and also restaurants of more recent vintage (Farm 225, Five and Ten, The Grit, The National) cooking with provisions from farms and pastures in close proximity. Wherever you eat in Athens, you’re likely to find a deep respect for local ingredients (and a killer soundtrack).
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