A crew of Atlanta chefs is crossing state lines this September for Southbound Food Festival, Birmingham's award-winning 10-day celebration of Southern food culture — and leading the pack is one of our own: Anne Quatrano.
The Bacchanalia and Star Provisions chef, a 2003 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: Southeast, will receive Southbound's 2026 Frank Stitt Award for Industry Excellence and headline the opening-night Heritage Dinner: Chicken & the Egg on Friday, Sept. 18.
Now in its fourth year, Southbound draws more than 100 chefs, farmers, and makers from across the country to celebrate Southern foodways — and this year, Atlanta chefs are showing up in force.
Joining Quatrano:
- Erika Council (Bomb Biscuit Co.) — 2024 James Beard semifinalist, Food & Wine Best New Chef
- Arnaldo Castillo (Tio Lucho's) — 2024 James Beard semifinalist
- Todd Richards (Waldorf Astoria Buckhead, Que-Riosity) — four-time James Beard semifinalist
- Virginia Willis — James Beard Award-winning cookbook author (Lighten Up, Y'all)
- Kyle Bryner (Blue Hound Barbecue) — 2025 BBQ Brawl winner, Team Bobby Flay
- Robert Butts (Auburn Angel) — two-time Taste of Atlanta winner, American Restaurant Battle champion
- Shaun Doty (Jules at Barnsley Resort) — James Beard semifinalist, Best New Restaurant
Rounding out the group: Drew Belline (No. 246), Carla Tomasko (Bacchanalia), and Erica Barrett (SOCU).
Plan Your Weekend
Southbound runs Sept. 18–27, opening with Friday's Heritage Dinner and ROOTED: Women in Food on Sept. 19, followed by a week of HOSTED pop-up dinners around town.
Build your trip around weekend two: Southern Living's Food & Fire, Saturday, Sept. 26 at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark — a full day of open-fire cooking under the old furnace stacks. Regional and national pitmasters create impressive small bites alongside cooking demos at the Southern Living Tailgate Stage, live music from Marc Broussard, Jon Cleary, and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, and a craft beer and wine garden at the Avadian Credit Union Tailgate Lounge. One ticket covers all tastings; kids under 12 are free with a ticketed adult; rain or shine.
The festival closes Sunday, Sept. 27 with Funk Brunch: Juke Jam, a blues-and-soul brunch at the Sloss Furnaces.
For lodging, The Kelly Birmingham is Southbound's official hotel. For something quieter, the Valley Hotel in Homewood and the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Mountain Brook are minutes from downtown, tucked into walkable shopping villages.
southboundfoodfest.com