The 50 Best Southern Foods: Sides and such

Click here to return to the 50 Best Southern Foods main page.

Seasonal Vegetable Plate

Restaurant Eugene

Atlanta, GA
Chef Linton Hopkins goes whole hog on his seasonal veggie plate, which often features twenty or more examples of the best of local provender. A sturdy metal casserole holds an assortment of hot veggies, which may include a golden beet puree with sweet-and-tangy balsamic sorghum walnuts, creamed kohlrabi, baby carrots, braised Vidalia onion stems, and fresh cranberry beans. Crisp salad greens with shaved fennel and other goodies come alongside. It’s the best dish on the menu at this luxe Atlanta standard-bearer. restauranteugene.com

Baked Egg in Celery Cream

Miller Union
Atlanta, GA
Rare is the table at Miller Union that doesn’t start a meal with this dish, which has become chef Steven Satterfield’s signature. He cracks a fresh farm egg with a marigold-orange yolk into the center of a soup plate and ladles a rich cream infused with celery and seasonings around it. It emerges from the oven with a golden glaze on the surface and the still-soft yolk peeking through, ready to puncture with a toasted rusk. millerunion.com

Baked Grits

Highlands Bar 
and Grill

Birmingham, AL
Chef Frank Stitt’s menus at Highlands Bar and Grill shift seasonally, but you can count on this spectacular appetizer year-round. A Southern sister to the soufflé, the dish includes creamy Parmesan cheese, eggs, and grits baked in a mold and topped with slivers of country ham, mushrooms, a sherry reduction, and fresh thyme. “It’s the one thing that stays the same,” says Stitt. “And it’s been a hit for twenty-eight years.” highlandsbarandgrill.com

Boiled Peanut Hummus

Empire State South

Atlanta, GA
Talk about a cross-cultural mashup. You smear some of this deeply chilled tan puree over toasted bread, take a bite, and let the supple texture fool your palate into expecting the usual sesame-chickpea flavors of hummus. Instead, your mouth fills with that familiar damp funk of boiled “p-nuts” from a roadside vendor, tempered with a splash of olive oil. empirestatesouth.com