A Recap of “Break’n Bread”

Imagine a beautiful day that is filled with free wine, music, and endless food! Well I experienced all of this at “Break’n Bread”.

“Break’n Bread” was a wonderful family event for the foodies of Birmingham. This year it took place at Pepper Place in downtown Birmingham, on a warm sunny Sunday afternoon. Over 30 local restaurants participated and allowed guests to sample food, from their menus. Tickets were $35 and guests were able to get an endless amount of food and drinks. There was live music and a few local vendors, including “B-Metro Magazine” and “Birmingham Bake & Cook Company”. This event was sponsored by the Birmingham Originals, which is a group of local restaurants that promotes some of Birmingham’s best independent restaurants.

I had a wonderful time at this event and I’m going to try to recapture every exciting moment that I experienced, in this entry. Please keep in mind, that I was unable to get the names of many of the dishes that I sampled, but I will give you the obvious descriptions of them. I hope that you enjoy!

First of all, I begin this tasty experience in the VIP Tent with a massage from the students of Virginia College. After the massage I got some wine, talked to friends, and enjoyed live music from the Alabama Allstars.

Next I sampled a few food dishes that were only being served in the VIP Tent.

Eventually, I ventured outside of VIP to visit each restaurant’s tent. The first restaurant that I visited was “Nabeel’s Cafe & Market”. They served pork/beef  meatballs in a red sauce with pita chips & pita bread. This was really good!

The next stop was “Cafe de Paris”. They were serving a unique egg roll filled with beef & vegetables. Honey was drizzled on top.

“Ted’s Restaurant” was serving pork kabobs and Greek slaw. This was really tasty!

“V. Richards” served black beans, guacamole, and a grilled chicken salad. I really enjoyed the guacamole and grilled chicken salad.

“Good People Brewing Company” had refreshing brews.

“Culinard Cafe” offered a scrumptious fancy dessert.

“Century Restaurant & Bar” cooked up some delicious tuna.

“Crestline Bagel Company” gave out pimento salad, chicken salad, bagel chips, brownies, and my favorite was the blueberry bagel with a vanilla glaze on top.

“Hot and Hot Fish Club” had their famous shrimp & grits. I wasn’t too impressed.

“Ocean” served some delicious scallops. You should know that I don’t really like scallops, but I definitely enjoyed these.

“Continental Bakery” served a variety of fresh bread with three dips, including nutella; my favorite!

Even though I didn’t get a picture, I think that “26″ offered the best shrimp & grits of all the participating restaurants. A few of the other restaurants at the event were “Daniel George”, “Homewood Gourmet”, “Bright Star”, J. Clyde”, “Mafiaoza’s”, “John’s City Diner”, “Cosmo’s Pizza”, “Cantina”, “Sol y Luna”, and “The Silvertron Cafe”.

“Break’n Bread” was an awesome event and it allowed me to sample cuisine from some of Birmingham’s most famous restaurants. I had a great time and I can’t wait until next year’s event!

http://www.birminghamoriginals.org/

Thanks for the photos Nik! Check out Nik Layman Photography:
http://www.NikLayman.com

The Dinner Club Meets “Cantina”

On Friday night, the dinner club met at “Cantina” in Pepper Place, which is in downtown Birmingham. The interior of the restaurant is large and festive; it seems to have an old-world, classic Spanish influence. For example, there are burned candles, lanterns, wooden seats, wooden tables, rusted wrought iron seats, and rusted wrought iron tables spread throughout the restaurant.  Where ever you look there is a large flat screen TV, and when I went they were all showing the “World Cup” soccer game. Lastly, the menu is diverse and has a Latin American flavor.

About 17 people showed up to the monthly dinner club social, and we had a wonderful time! We made one long table out of several tables, and we were all able to sit together. It seems like everyone ordered something different from the other, and I had one of my favorite dishes from here, the “Fish Taco” with “Sweet Potato Chips”. The taco came with a soft flour tortilla, egg washed tilapia filet, slaw, avocado, cilantro mayo, and chile de arbol salsa. This dish tasted well and was lite and filling. I was so busy taking pictures of the other dinner club members food, that I didn’t get to capture my own. However, below are pictures of some of what they ordered.

We definitely enjoyed “Cantina” and gave it a rating of 9.0. The members and myself gave it rave reviews and we were pleased with every aspect!

http://www.cantinabirmingham.com/

Pepper Place Saturday Market

One warm Saturday morning, last year, my mom and I went to Pepper Place Saturday Market. Pepper Place is located in Downtown Birmingham and the outdoor market offers all types of fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, arts, crafts, music, food, and drinks. Vendors come from all over the state of Alabama to participate in this event which takes place from 7:00am until 12:00pm every Saturday from May 15 – October 9, 2010.

Each week the market has a different local chef  do a cooking presentation for the spectators. This week chef David Cross from Zea Rotisserie & Grill will be preparing two of the restaurant’s specialties-roasted corn grits, and Thai ribs. His cooking demonstration will begin at 9:00am on the chef’s stage and it will last for about an hour.

When I attended this event, I no longer felt like I was in Birmingham; I felt like I was walking at an outdoor market somewhere in California. If you attend this event, your imagination will also probably roam and take you to a place outside of Alabama, which is not a bad thing! Remember that the Pepper Place Saturday Market occurs every weekend, so if you can’t make it this week, there is always next week!

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!

http://www.pepperplacemarket.com/

http://www.zearestaurants.com/site.php