Birmingham ranks among the most insecure cities in the nation when it comes to food — 39th, according to a study conducted last fall by the Food Research and Action Center. Food security, by definition, is the availability of food and public access to it.

When journalist Shaun Chavis came to Birmingham from Boston to work as an editor at Health magazine, she hungered for a community of people who shared her tastes in food and books. Her job at Health was a great fit, but she wanted to recreate the long, lingering meals and discussions she had grown to love with classmates in Boston, where she earned a Master’s degree in gastronomy and a culinary degree. When Chavis met Sean Kelly—a fellow foodie, food writer and well-connected Birmingham resident—she suggested a food-centric book club. Kelly “helped [her] put people to the idea.”

For more than four decades, Lovoy’s Italian restaurant was a mainstay on Greensprings Highway in Homewood. Part of its enduring charm was that it remained almost completely unchanged all those years. Its familiar menu and staff, dark wood paneling and red-and-white checked tablecloths were comforting reminders to loyal regulars that it wasn’t about to change all willy-nilly. So when Lovoy’s current president, co-owner and fourth-generation family member Zac Lovoy, decided that it was time for a change, that decision wasn’t made lightly.

This spring, Birmingham Botanical Gardens is getting down to earth with some new “green” initiatives and a plan to grow their already substantial environmental education programs. Of course, new an

Since Camp Taco opened in Five Points South last October, proprietor Richard Bishop and his 20-year-old daughter Chelsea, the store’s manager, have been working tirelessly to make their establishment

Goodbye gloom of winter; hello bloom of spring! That’s sort of the central sentiment of the Indian holiday Holi, the annual festival celebrating the arrival of spring. The observance has origins as

Probably, you’ve already made plans for next week’s feast, but just in case your parents or children push you over the edge, here are some lovely alternatives to slaving away in the kitchen. The Th

The soft opening of Dodiyós was anything but — on Thursday night, Oct. 15, George Sarris' newest restaurant was bustling, with most, if not all, of the eatery's 300 seats filled. Located on the former

I think I look forward to Birmingham’s October food festivals the way that kids look forward to Halloween candy. About this time every year, after the delectable pleasure of the Middle Eastern food fe

Maybe you missed the multiple screenings of Food, Inc. at Bottletree over Labor Day weekend. That’s a shame. The documentary is a sort of adaptation of Michael Pollan’s powerful book, The Omnivore’s D