LeNell Camacho Santa Ana fell into the world of bartending by necessity, but discovered a passion instead. Her boutique liquor shop in Birmingham’s Norwood neighborhood has gained a staunch following from those looking for small-production brands of wine and spirits. But more than that, they’ve found expertise, integrity, charm, and humor in the woman behind the bar. We sat down with LeNell herself to learn more about how she got into the buzzy biz.

What is it about Alabama biscuits? The best—airy and light—are a quintessentially Southern food that is equally at home in a diner or inside a temple to haute cooking. We’re talking all-American biscuits, the bready cousin to the unleavened, hard, flat and often sweet English-style biscuit that we’re more likely to call a cookie. Leavened with baking powder and salt instead of yeast, a Southern biscuit is at home on the side of a breakfast plate, patiently waiting to be slathered in syrup or used to sop yolk released by a sunny-side up egg. When sliced, biscuits are the perfect holder for breakfast, lunch, or dinner sandwiches.

Banana pudding. Few foods are more quintessentially Southern than sweet, creamy ’nanner puddin’. Perhaps that’s why Alabama plays host to the first-ever Major League Eating World Banana Pudding Championship on Friday, August 5. Akin to televised hot-dog or chicken-wing eating contests, 10 people who gorge for a living will compete for a $3,000 total prize purse at Madison’s CrossPointe Church.

Each flavor at Big Spoon Creamery is unique, specially designed to bring out the best from the freshly harvested and gourmet ingredients that owners Geri-Martha and Ryan O’Hara use in the ice cream they sell from their parlors in Birmingham and Homewood, and through select outlets.

Birmingham Restaurant Week’s summer session is back, with participating restaurants (and a few food trucks) offering special prix-fixe menus designed to expose diners to new places and new dishes in the food-obsessed metro area.

At Ravello Ristorante in Montgomery, it’s easy to picture yourself on a cliffside perch above the sea in Italy, sipping a glass of local wine and enjoying plates of shaved aged ham and crudo dressed with lemon and fruity olive oil.

The Bailey Cove Farmers Market in Huntsville leads Alabama at the quarter-way mark in balloting for the America’s Farmers Market Celebration, a summer-long promotion that allows local-food fans to vote for their favorite direct-from-grower outlets. The competition, sponsored by the American Farmland Trust and the Farmers Market Coalition, carries a $10,000 prize package for the top five vote-getters nationally. But the overall goal is to boost awareness and customer loyalty to all places where farmers and cooks connect.

At Ironwood Kitchen + Cocktails inside the Valley Hotel in Homewood, out-of-town guests and locals alike get a taste of Alabama, prepared with creative flair. “Bangin’ Bama Collards” appear frequently on the menu at the restaurant located on the main floor of the boutique hotel, which opened in early 2021. Platters that form the base for Ironwood’s signature appetizer, The Hanger (brown sugar chipotle bacon), are shaped in the state outline.

If you’ve explored Birmingham’s dining scene over the past decade, there’s a good chance you’ve run into Jimmy Truong. The Birmingham native has worked at and with some of the Magic City’s most popular establishments from Automatic Seafood, Collins Bar, and Queens Park to former favorites Octane and Woodlawn Cycle Café. Last month, Jimmy Truong established his own place in our city’s ever-growing food and beverage scene with the grand opening of a new coffee shop, June Coffee, in downtown Birmingham. Though Truong says owning his own business was somewhat in his destiny, it wasn’t always clear that coffee would be the form it took. 

Our first must-visit place in a new series of places to explore “in our own backyard” is the capital itself, Montgomery, Alabama. Whether you’re a born and raised Alabamian or a southern transplant, Montgomery is one of our state’s most rich historical cities. If you’re looking to get away for the weekend and learn more about Alabama’s heritage while having a great time, Montgomery is a spot you need to check out. We’ve rounded up our favorite places to eat, play, and stay in the capital of dreams!

When Birmingham hosts The World Games 2022 from July 7-17, athletes from more than 100 countries will compete in more than 40 events, from acrobatic gymnastics to wheelchair rugby. Their friends, family, and fans will visit, too. And when they’re hungry, they’ll find there’s lots more to local restaurants than just Southern “vittles” and American standards like burgers and hot dogs (although they can enjoy many great examples of those here, too). We’ve compiled a list suggesting great places to try food from 24 participating countries. Whether you’re a visitor, or an Alabamian caught up in the fervor of an international contest you just watched, here are Birmingham restaurants to go to when The World Games inspire your hunger.

Barbecue may be the perfect Fourth of July food. Whether it’s a slab of ribs at the lake, or pulled pork on a picnic blanket before the fireworks start, some folks can’t fathom the Fourth without barbecue. Sure, you can cook it yourself. But buying from your favorite local barbecue restaurant ensures you get the best-tasting meat without having to suffer in the heat. Instead of pork, maybe you’d prefer Alabama’s classic chicken with white sauce, or the Texas-style smoked beef brisket that’s gaining popularity all over the state. We’ve got you covered with this list.

Bob Baumhower had a stellar football career, losing only four games as a defensive tackle for the Alabama Crimson Tide in the mid-1970s and going on to become a five-time All-Pro while playing for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League. But his second career as a restaurateur arguably had an even greater impact for sports fans across the Yellowhammer State. He introduced Buffalo-style chicken wings to Alabama when he opened his first eatery, Wings and Whiskers, in 1981 on the UA campus in Tuscaloosa.

Twenty-one-year-old Ameera Hassan has always dreamt of owning a bakery. In 2019, she decided to start putting plans into action to reach her goal. She got hired as a baker at the French-inspired Continental Bakery in Mountain Brook. After a few months gaining experience there, she decided it was time to break out on her own. The Birmingham native wanted to continue making sweets but give them a twist to reflect her Palestinian roots. 

The return of Brewton’s Alabama Blueberry Festival will be as sweet as the indigo fruit it celebrates.  Set for Saturday, June 18, from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. at Jennings Park, the tribute to Brewton-area blueberry farmers features arts and crafts, a car show, children’s play area, fair food—and of course the festival’s signature blueberry ice cream, cobbler, and crunch.

When my dad was alive, we’d generally celebrate Father’s Day with beer. At the time I was a home brewer and wrote about beer, so I’d pick something special for a man I considered to be extra-special. When celebrating dear ol’ dad, you want to do something as special as he is. Maybe it’s treating him to a big slab of beef he’d never order on his own, or sharing a worldly approach to meat-free cooking. Should it be extravagant and haute or simple and down-home?

On a hot Alabama day, nothing hits the spot quite like a pint of craft beer. It’s cold, refreshing, and provides the right amount of buzz to make you forget that temperatures are approaching triple digits while humidity is at an all-time high. Thanks to organizations like Free the Hops that worked for years to change our state’s outdated, overly restrictive alcohol legislation, Alabama is now home to a thriving craft beer scene. 

If you wind up at Automatic Seafood and Oysters on Monday, June 13, don’t be surprised if folks start gathering around the television in an anteroom at the Birmingham restaurant, or stare at Twitter on their smartphones. They’ll be watching the feed from the James Beard Awards in Chicago to see if Automatic’s co-owner, Adam Evans, will be named Best Chef in the South during a ceremony conferring the nation’s top culinary awards.

Tim Hontzas has experience contending for a James Beard Award, which many chefs and restaurateurs equate to soccer’s World Cup or college football’s National Championship. But this year’s contest is extra-special for the chef/owner of Johnny’s Restaurant in Homewood, who is a finalist for Best Chef in the South after four consecutive years making the semifinals.

Some say summer launches on Memorial Day. Technically, it starts on the solstice, June 21. But for me, the season commences when classic Alabama-grown summer produce like yellow squash, blueberries, and a rainbow of heirloom tomatoes starts appearing on my dinner plate.

Walk around any pop-up farmer stand or permanent site like the Montgomery Curb Market, and you’ll see the full bounty of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and other plants that Alabama farmers grow. But look closer, and you’ll also find state farmers who raise meat—generally beef, pork, and chicken but also lamb, turkey, and other livestock. Where there’s poultry pecking in pasture, you’ll also find farm eggs.