Austin continues to churn out new forms of restaurants. An upcoming addition comes from East Side Show Room’s Sonya Coté and will be located on East Eleventh Street. Hillside Farmacy, as the name suggests, will have elements of a traditional drug store of the early 1900’s, offering fresh food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Like many East Side establishments, unique design features will highlight Hillside. Welder and industrial designer Mickie Spencer of Show Room and Swan Dive fame is the design lead and plans to use vintage pharmacy cabinetry and display cases. The building Spencer and her team are renovating was actually home to Hillside Drugstore about 60 years ago.

In addition to detailed design and a creative concept, expect quality food and drinks. It will somewhat resemble a deli with its selection of fresh sandwiches, but anticipate a diverse offering with oysters and charcuterie. Most of the products used, as we would hope in Austin, will come from local farms.

Regardless of what time of day you visit, they’ll have a fitting beverage option, be it locally roasted coffee, beer, wine, a soda fountain or something from the full bar. In addition to the restaurant menu, Hillside Farmacy will also offer a small selection of grocery items to take home. Keep an eye out for details on its upcoming opening by checking their website.

Jonathan Swift had it right when he said, “He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.” However, over the centuries the oyster has become quite popular; the Romans opened banquets with them, the Greeks believed them to be an aphrodisiac, peasants ate them by the bushel in the 19th century (almost leading to their extinction) and today restaurants often charge several dollars for one of the 100+ varieties available on the market.

Oysters tend to come to mind more often in the winter for many, which likely stems from the belief that they can only be eaten in a month containing the letter “r” and the fact that heat is no friend to these bivalve mollusks. Fortunately, with modern day refrigeration, the concern about those warmer non-“r” months is no longer a threat to the health of the oyster – or consumer – if they’re stored properly.

Regardless, this is a great time of year for oysters and backyard oyster roasts. (Low country jewel, Charleston, agrees and hosts their Oyster Festival this Sunday, January 29th.) In celebration and anticipation of this surprisingly nutritious seafood, we wanted to offer a few preparations for your feast.

Carolina Kettle Toppers – Use one of these fire-pit tray tops for your group oyster roast.

Edisto Oyster Knife – Recently recognized by our friends at Garden & Gun, Chris Williams is a Lowcountry native who began making knives as tools to facilitate his lifestyle of hunting, fishing and oyster shucking.

Gold Band Oysters – Whether you live far from the coast or just don’t enjoy the work to open it, Gold Band uses high pressure processing to pre-shuck the oyster and reduce bacteria, leaving you with easy to open shells that offer award-winning flavor.

Oysterpedia – Choose the free “lite” version or the more robust $1.99 version of this iPhone app for details on the size, flavor, location and photos of more than 200 oysters – segmented by East Coast and West Coast.

Oyster Buckle – As a tribute to this Southern delicacy, Sid Mashburn offers an attractive gold oyster buckle that pairs well with your favorite pair of denim for the oyster roast, or anywhere else for that matter.

Photo credit, left to right: Chris Williams, Carolina Kettles and Sid Mashburn.

When it comes to Tennessee barbeque, Memphis gets its fair share of attention, but Nashville has been stepping up its smoked game. The latest worthy addition to our city’s Que roster is Edley’s Bar-B-Que in the 12South neighborhood, combining classic barbeque with the tradition of a meat-and-three restaurant.

Edley’s is a rustic, yet comfortable, joint, with plenty of booths and tables for seating, exposed wooden rafters and TVs on the wall behind the bar. But as with any good barbeque restaurant, the setting takes a back seat to the food. After placing your order at the counter, you can rest easy knowing that the pork, chicken and/or beef you’re about to feast on was smoked that day.

After a few visits, we’ve especially liked the Turk’s Special (shown above) – a nice, smoky brisket sandwich with a generous spread of house-made pimento cheese, a poached egg and pickles to top it off. The textures found on the sandwich were only outdone by the flavor. Beyond the meat, the fried pickles are golden, crispy and flawlessly tart – certainly a nice Southern starter. And while good sauce can often mask mediocre meat, at Edley’s both are executed nicely, providing the proper balance of smoke, sweet and spice.

Note that the brisket is generally only available at lunch and the ribs are only served at dinner. Edley’s Bar-B-Que is located at 2706 12th Avenue South. 615.953.2951

Photo by Chad Davis.

Growing up in South Carolina, J.W. Clarke’s father grilled steaks for the family every Saturday night. The meat was never marinated with sauce and it was always cooked over a charcoal grill. It’s a tradition that J.W. would eventually continue with his own family, allowing for years of experimentation with different seasonings that eventually led to a locally famous blend.

“I was raised to never use a gas grill and never drown the steak, masking the natural flavor, but instead complement it with seasoning,” said J.W. (known as J-Bird to friends and family). “So over the years I just kept testing various seasonings, spices and peppers until I found the right mix. I was just making it for my wife and two kids for our Saturday steak nights and never thought anyone else would want it.”

But when guests came over to their home for dinner, they always wanted to know what made J.W.’s steak taste so good. The recipe became a common request around their community in Pawley’s Island, S.C. “Some of my buddies would ask: ‘What’s that crap J-Bird puts on his steaks?’ and the name Bird Crap just stuck.”

About 8 years ago, almost as a joke, he created a homemade label and started giving the flavorful spice mix away as Christmas gifts. It wasn’t long before he started getting requests for a labeled bottle of his notable seasoning. “My uncle loved it and wanted to give it out to his friends but didn’t think the name Bird Crap was something a Southern gentleman should give as a respectable present. So I tweaked the blend, creating a milder mix, and Pawley’s Island Pepper was born.”

The secret to his unique blends is found in his approach to seasoning meat. “It’s about bringing out the flavor of whatever you’re cooking.” The salty, peppery and slightly Cajun flavor (more of a kick in Bird Crap) complements steaks, burgers, chicken, shrimp and fish – we’ve been using it for years on our eggs.

Available today for the first time to the public, Pawley’s Island Pepper, Bird Crap and Pawley’s Island Sea Salt, are made by hand in small batches – so allow a few weeks for each order.

In recent years, the farm-to-table movement has made knowing where your food is grown a bit trendy. In reality, chefs have relied on farmers and artisans since the dawn of restaurants themselves. With such strong food traditions, fertile ground and temperate climate for growing, the South is a hotbed of farms offering their bounty.

To this end, the Fellowship of Southern Farmers, Artisans & Chefs provides a forum for these heritage producers to break bread and share knowledge, while reinforcing the sustaining bridge between field and fork. As a part of the Southern Foodways Alliance, some of the 14 entities that make up the Fellowship include Peregrine Farm in Graham, NC, Muddy Pond Sorghum in Monterey, TN, Dooky Chase Restaurant in New Orleans, LA and Old Rip Van Winkle’s Distillery in Frankfort, KY. And during the Southern Foodways Alliance annual Taste of the South fundraiser, January 12 – 15 at Blackberry Farm in Walland, TN, another member will be added to the Fellowship’s prestigious ranks.

Will Harris, fifth generation owner of Georgia’s Early County’s White Oak Pastures, tells us what an honor it is to be 2012’s only inductee. “Serving with this distinguished band of passionate professionals, to bring about change in our food system is a rare privilege,” he says. “Helping to de-centralize, de-commoditize and de-industrialize our nation’s food production is noble work. I am grateful to have been given this opportunity.” Harris’ farm maintains a position of stewardship and sustainability, while producing grass-fed beef, lamb and free-range poultry.

As only one new fellow is inducted each year, every inductee must set national standards in their respective fields by growing, nurturing or interpreting the South’s unique bounty. “It’s important to honor the work, preserve the stories and celebrate the artisans who help create our regional food identity,” says Mary Beth Lasseter, Southern Foodways Alliance’s associate director. “[Our mission is] to document, study and celebrate the diverse food cultures of the changing American South.”

So we raise a glass to these producers of fine Southern food. For more information on Southern Foodways Alliance and the Fellowship of Southern Farmers, Artisans & Chefs, visit www.southernfoodways.org.

Photo by Angie Mosier