Atlanta-based chef Anne Quatrano is no stranger to Birmingham. A longtime member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, she frequently stopped in the Magic City for a meal at Niki’s West on her way to SFA media symposiums in Oxford, Mississippi. Niki’s was “close to the highway,” she says, and she appreciated its distinctive menu of Greek and Southern cuisine.
In the last two decades, Quatrano has gotten to know the Birmingham food scene as a whole – “I’ve seen it grow like crazy,” she says – as well as major players Frank and Pardis Stitt. So it’s rather fitting that at this year’s Southbound Food Festival, she’ll be presented with the 2026 Frank Stitt Award for Industry Excellence, as well as leading the festival’s signature kickoff, the Heritage Dinner: Chicken & the Egg.
“I’ve always been a fan, admirer, and friend of Pardis and Frank,” Quatrano says. “I got to know them through SFA – and I got to know Birmingham as a city through them.”
A graduate of the University of Vermont and the California Culinary Academy of San Francisco, Quatrano worked in restaurants nationwide, from the Bay Area to New York City, before arriving in Atlanta. In addition to the Frank Stitt Award, her intentional use of local ingredients has earned her additional accolades, including the James Beard Outstanding Chef Award and recognition from the MICHELIN Guide.
And Quatrano doesn’t just cook with local produce; she grows it. At her 60-acre family farm, Summerland in Cartersville, Georgia, she grows a variety of produce, ranging from fruits and vegetables to specialty crops such as fennel and rainbow carrots. She also raises animals, including hens for fresh eggs.
“My mom’s family is from Georgia, and they had this property in Cartersville and lived on it and farmed it since 1840,” she says. “My mom had someone who farmed it while I was growing up in Connecticut, but we came to visit each summer. Then, in 1992, my husband and I moved down to Georgia and took over the farm.”
The Heritage Dinner is the kick-off event to Southbound’s 10-day celebration of Birmingham’s magnetic food culture featuring ROOTED: Women in Food, a celebration of female culinary leaders and storytellers; HOSTED, a series of collaborative dining experiences at restaurants across Birmingham; Food & Fire, the festival’s flagship open-fire tasting event with acclaimed chefs, pitmasters, live music, and chef demos at Sloss Furnaces; as well as Funk Brunch: Juke Jam, a soulful finale blending Southern flavors and live entertainment.
Every year, the Heritage Dinner spotlights a regional ingredient – and how it shapes Southern foodways – to kick off the Southbound Festival. Bringing together local and regional chefs, the Heritage Dinner is a multi-course feast of creative dishes featuring the year’s spotlight: in this case, the chicken and the egg. And, of course, the evening includes honoring the recipient of the Frank Stitt Award for Industry Excellence.
At the 2026 Heritage Dinner: Chicken & the Egg, Birmingham residents will have the opportunity to taste what put Quatrano on the food map as founder of Atlanta-based restaurants such as Bacchanalia, Star Provisions, and, coming soon, Summerland, a breakfast spot named after her farm and her 2013 debut cookbook.
The evening promises to be a celebration of Southern food, with dishes prepared by Quatrano in collaboration with a few regional chefs she respects. These include Chef Joël Antunes, Chef-in-Residence at Auburn’s 1856 Culinary Residence; Chef Shaun Doty, Executive Chef at the Jules Restaurant at Barnsley Resort; Chef Drew Belline, who worked in Ford Fry’s Rocket Farm restaurants in Atlanta; Carla Tomasko, Pastry Chef at Anne’s Bacchanalia; Candace Foster, Pastry Chef at Birmingham’s Helen; and Rita Bernhardt, Chef and owner of Homewood’s Salice.
“I’ve had so much admiration for Frank and Pardis and how they treat staff and run their restaurants – they’re exemplary in our industry,” Quatrano says. “And for me, the most important accolades come from peers you respect. So yes, I’m thrilled.”
southboundfoodfest.com/heritage-dinner