Birmingham’s dining scene has spent the last several years shedding old assumptions about what a Southern city wants on its plate. At Current Charcoal Grill in downtown Birmingham, that shift is on full display in a dish guests now have to plan ahead for: Executive Chef-Partner Luke Joseph’s Peking duck experience.
Designed to be shared, the dish turns dinner into an occasion rather than just another course on the menu. Guests can watch the process unfold before the dish even reaches the table—ducks hang throughout Current’s open kitchen, offering a preview of what’s to come before the meal is plated with grilled roti, seasonal vegetables, and classic condiments.
For Joseph, the dish reflects his early years. “I grew up visiting Chinese barbecue houses throughout my childhood, where I remember sipping Jasmine tea and looking at the ducks hanging in the window,” he says. “It’s a memory that has stuck with me throughout my life.”
(Caleb Chancey/Contributed)
That memory has followed Joseph across a career that has taken him through kitchens in New Zealand, Japan, and beyond before he and his wife settled in Birmingham—a city he’s said reminded him of home. It also followed him into the creation of Current, the restaurant he opened with Chef Adam Evans in 2024, built around a shared love of Asian-influenced cooking layered onto a Southern foundation.
That memory has followed Joseph across a career that has taken him through kitchens in New Zealand, Japan, and beyond before he and his wife settled in Birmingham—a city he’s said reminded him of home. It also followed him into the creation of Current, the restaurant he opened with Chef Adam Evans in 2024, built around a shared love of Asian-influenced cooking layered onto a Southern foundation. That vision recently earned Current a Michelin recommendation in the inaugural American South Guide, where precision, creativity, and curiosity are held in equal measure.
“When we were opening Current and envisioned it being Asian-influenced, I knew duck needed to be on the menu as a way to bring some of my life memories to Birmingham,” Joseph says. “The Peking duck involves a meticulous 14-day process, which is why we require guests to pre-order it ahead of time. This experience really embodies what we want people to experience at Current: a special meal designed for sharing that family and friends can enjoy together.”
That 14-day process is part of what sets the dish apart—and part of why it requires 24 hours’ notice. Guests can pre-order a half or whole duck directly through Current’s website by filling out an interest form, giving the kitchen time to properly execute a technique built on patience.
This same philosophy shows up throughout Current, from the traditional Binchotan charcoal in the kitchen to the way the menu treats unfamiliar ingredients as invitations rather than barriers. Joseph has said before that he views the menu as a form of education, a way to introduce diners to new techniques and flavors without ever feeling heavy-handed about it.
In a city where dining traditions are still evolving, the Peking duck experience is a sign of how far that evolution has come—a dish once considered a special-occasion order in only the largest U.S. cities now asking Birmingham diners to slow down, gather around the table, and plan a meal around it.
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