After Dinner: Break 'n Bread at Pepper Place

In this tough economy, one thing we all can do to help is to support local businesses. But sometimes it can be tough to tell which businesses are locally owned. The Birmingham Originals, an organization made up of locally owned restaurants, helps make that a little easier, and the group offers great deals on fine dining… more on one of Birmingham’s best kept secrets later.

This past weekend, the group held an awesome event at Pepper Place downtown called “Break ‘n Bread.” Dozens of chefs filled the tents to offer up samples of their hot and tasty creations, and hundreds of people lined up to fill their hungry tummies with the delicious food. Everything was good but there were a few standouts: Ocean offered up an Asian-style scallop with a tasty cabbage slaw and baby greens. The line was long, but everyone who tried it said the wait was well worth it. Chez Lulu and Continental Bakery teamed up for a cheese and bread platter including one of my favorite cheeses, Boucheron. It’s a creamy, almost butter-like goat cheese with a bit of age and complexity, easy to find and delicious. The best of the breads was obviously homemade with a nice open, airy inside and a dark, thick, rich crust. The Irondale Café brought its Banana Pudding, always a crowd pleaser with its creamy-sweet, Southern goodness. And the wine! It was everywhere. Tickets for the event cost $25 per person, a bargain if you consider what you would have paid for all the offerings at the actual restaurants. Even if you missed this wonderful event, you can always visit one of the Birmingham Originals to get the same or similar offerings anytime you want, and you can do it at a value.

The value I speak of is one of Birmingham’s best kept secrets, but I promise it won’t be for long. A quick visit to the Birmingham Originals website and you’ll find the group’s gift certificate program. You may have heard about programs that offer restaurant gift certificates online at reduced rates, but I always found that the restaurants I really wanted to go to were never listed. Well, not anymore. The Birmingham Originals offers $25 dollar gift certificates for $12-$15 dollars each and $50 gift certificates for $33 each. Quite a discount! Restaurants on the rotating list include Café Dupont, Fish Market, Fox Valley, Homewood Gourmet, John’s City Diner, La Dolce Vita, Little Savannah, Ocean, Satterfield’s and Standard Bistro just to name a few. You can buy the gift certificates online, they’re sent to your email and then you pay with them just like any other gift certificate. There are a few important rules, though, so before you buy be sure to read the Terms and Conditions on the website.

Also on the website are links to the member restaurant websites, delicious recipes and an online job board for those in the restaurant industry. So if you want great, local food on the cheap, take a look. Then send me an email after dinner telling me about the experience. If it’s a good story, I’ll post it.

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