November 2025
Yes, Michelin is the tire company. And yes, I did just suggest you should make a pineapple casserole.
Here’s my (try as hard as I can) monthly round-up for those of you who want to learn about or keep up a little more with me and the work that I do. Hope you enjoy.
Responding to your request for feedback
The Michelin awards came to the American South.
This has been huge news in my world since the announcement was made in April of this year. Highly regarded and lauded as a standard of excellence for the food world, Michelin was finally going to send inspectors into this region I cover and call home. The chefs were thrillingly nervous; the media abuzz, and I’ll admit I was seriously excited. I bought a new dress (see below) and organized travel to attend the ceremony in Greenville, SC.
And … a lot did and didn’t happen, so I’ve heard from many of you asking what I thought. But before we get to that, a few things to clear up first:
Allow me to clarify the term “pay to play” I see swirling around on social media. It is absolutely true that various tourism boards got together under the Travel South USA moniker to bring Michelin to their regions of the South. By bring, that means spend a lot of money together. However, the individual awards for the restaurants were decided by Michelin, so the intimation that a restaurant bought an award directly is misguided.
Unfortunately, Savannah was not included under this umbrella, so the smoking hot food scene that includes Kyle Jacovino, Mashama Bailey, the team at Late Air, and many others, was not reviewed.
Unlike the James Beard Awards where the committee is a not-so-secret army of past winners and food media, the job of Michelin inspectors is a paid full-time position, not a volunteer one. Hope that clears it up for those couple of folks who asked me if I was one of the reviewers. :) Flattered, but no.
My takeaways:
First and foremost, the massive news of the awards was that Michelin released the FULL list of American South award recipients early. So by lunchtime, all of us en route or just arriving were reading the list of winners. Overall consensus is that this was an in-house mistake, not something planned — it would be like announcing Oscar winners on the red carpet — but Michelin did not address this and neither did the ceremony. But it couldn’t be helped; the early reveal just kind of deflated things.
I absolutely loved that those who were honored were! It was thrilling to be in the room when so many past guests and friends were recognized for the work they do. Restaurants brought whole teams, there was a lot of cheering and tears, and I was so proud of so many.
I felt the amount of stars given was stingy and uneven overall. While all the stars were very well deserved (for Charleston alone, all three winners, Juan Cassalett, Dano Heinze, and Orlando Pagán have been featured on The Southern Fork), there were those who were only given other designations by the guide or omitted all together.
And finally, while the ceremony was lavish and well produced, at times I felt chefs and culinary professionals were rushed off the stage too quickly in order to get to a sponsor moment. I’m always for the chefs, and for many, this is one of the crowning achievements of their career. I wished they’d had a bit more time on stage.
Overall, though, I am extremely grateful that the Michelin team invited me to attend and experience this night. To see my Southern food community spiffed up and all gathered together to celebrate each other reminded of the high level of excellence in Southern restaurants I often take for granted. I hope this is just the beginning for Michelin, and that we will still more stars in our Southern skies soon.
Updates
Podcasts
Note: All links below are for Apple Podcasts, but you can find The Southern Fork on almost any platform that streams audio, from YouTube to Spotify and many places in between.
Kaitlin Bryant and Mark Ekstrom, co-owners of Auspicious Baking Co. in Savannah, Ga., share their journey from humble beginnings to running a successful bakery with two locations, a wholesale business, and one seriously decadent hashbrown. The conversation also delves into some challenges, but their enthusiasm for the journey will have you considering that dream that you’ve deferred a little too long.
Just over the South Carolina state border from Myrtle Beach is Calabash, North Carolina, a small commercial fishing town that’s been known for generations, especially for its shrimp. Lifelong Calabash resident Chef and Captain Bob Taylor shares insights about his life at Waterfront Seafood Shack on the banks of the Calabash River.
Articles
I shared a progressive Charleston dinner weekend of sorts for The Club, Exclusive Resorts’ newest print magazine. Although online is fun, this piece is simply stellar in print because of the layout work by the design team and the stunning photography of Mike Schalk. And honestly, when I am not actively working, you’re often likely to find me posting up at one of the spots here.
As part of my duties as Charleston expert for Conde Nast Traveler, I got to pop into some exceptional AirBnbs for my latest article. While this byline focused on the booming bachelorette visitors to the city, these wonderful locales would be fitting for any go-big-or-go-home group trip to the Lowcountry, so I hope you’ll save the list if a visit here is on the horizon.
And while I’m currently in development for something new for Simply Recipes, if you’re looking for an easy, last minute side dish for the Thanksgiving table, check out my popular Pineapple Casserole recipe published last year. Trust me, it’s a conversation starter. ;)
Other published media I like right now: My prolific writing colleague Stephanie Hunt’s new book, Enchanting Gardens: Inspired Landscape Design from Veranda is a worthy coffee table book for anyone on your holiday list that dreams in seed catalogs and wisteria arbors in full bloom. It’s a perfect escape for dreary days inside with a warm cup of something.
On my mind: always a million things, especially at 3 a.m. … this month — the power of living with the seasons instead of dreading them. My journey with eating local has really deepened into eating seasonally, and that rhythm now informs my whole life, so I look forward to the ebb and flow of seasons instead of gritting my teeth through winter as I used to do. This short piece from the Farmer’s Almanac is a solid exploration of the idea of seasonality (yet another publication whose season is coming to a close in 2026). Small changes in this direction have grounded me in large ways I could not have imagined.
Cooking soundtrack album: How Do You Do, Mayer Hawthorne
Best thing I cooked this month: I had so many events and travel time this month that my cooking was minimal, but often that means I turn to the excellent NYT Cooking app to use up some pantry items. This one-pot za’atar chicken and rice did just that, and I didn’t even have to go to the store since I substituted Anson Mills Carolina Gold rice middlins. P.S. The leftovers were just as soul satisfying.
Until next time,
Steph