After specializing in restaurants for almost a decade, we’ve got some big news. We’ve expanded our discount offerings beyond just restaurants! In May 2009 we launched a new website called www.bigbham.com. At Big Bham, every few days we’ll offer a BIG discount (think 50% off or more) to a great local business. Unlike our discount restaurant program, where certificates are available in limited quantities, www.bigbham.com will not place limits on how many people can get the deal. We’ll feature a business for a few days, and anyone that comes to the site can take advantage of our special.

We’re going to have a wide variety of incredible deals. We’ll have restaurants, spas, entertainment, retail, and much much more. Before each deal runs, we’ll send out an email to our list to alert our friends of the special. If you want to make sure that you aren’t left out, you can add your name to our mailing list at www.bigbham.com. You can also follow us on Twitter.

We need your help! Please tell your friends about www.bigbham.com. The more people we can get taking advantage of our deals, the more amazing deals we can secure. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at support@instagift.com.

Dear customers and friends of Homewood Gourmet,

I am sad and glad to announce there are new changes coming to Homewood Gourmet, which will be effective the end of May. After a period of consideration, I have decided to sell Homewood Gourmet to a wonderful young couple, Chris and Laura Zapalowski. The style, service and staff of Homewood Gourmet will remain the same with the addition of new energy and new ideas, always a good thing to happen. Be on the lookout for more of the same great food and some wonderful additions to the menu.

I would be terribly remiss if I neglected to give deep-felt thanks to the current and prior staff of Homewood Gourmet. They have helped me through some great and hard times, all with caring support. They are all planning to stay on with Chris and Laura to provide the critical continuity of this transition. So Mitchell, Tina, Cindy and Lyn (she’s new) will be answering your phone calls and filling your catering orders, and Rene, Gerardo and Belizario will be cooking up the same food as well as learing some new things. No chef or owner has been better served by a staff than I have been by them.

I have known Laura (then Martin) for about 10 years, since she worked for me while a student at Samford University, in fact the other day she told my staff that she remembers me teaching her to chop an onion. I don’t know if that made her go to culinary school after Samford, but she did, up in NYC and then ended up at the “new” Food Network. She met Emeril Lagasse there and he eventually got her to go to New Orleans to work on his TV and book projects. Chris was also working for Emeril and I guess so was Cupid. They relocated to Birmingham after Hurricane Katrina and have both been working for Chris Hastings at Hot and Hot Fish Club. Chris has been working as Chef de Cuisine and Laura doing editing and recipe testing on Chris’ cookbook. Laura also spent some time at Southern Progress doing writing, editing, food styling, etc.

The next question I’m sure you are all wanting to ask, is what will Franklin do next? For a while, I will be helping Chris and Laura with some transitional consulting. As well I will be working on special projects for the Pepper Place Saturday Market, which is near and dear to my heart. After that, well who knows what will come my way, if I leave my head and heart open.

As you may or may not be aware, I have been been undergoing treatment for throat cancer since January of this year. So I have had several surgeries, one even robotic assisted, and an emergency tracheotomy. Now I am in the beginnings of radiation and chemotherapy, which will last until the 25 of June (final day will be the Friday June 25 when I go hear Sam Bush wail on the mandolin at the Alys Stephens center). One of the side effects of the treatment is the loss of taste, which should be temporary. The length of the effect is unknown. Other effects are fatigue, so far they are correct and they have promised me the sore throat of all sore throats, and the beginnings of it are here. It may cause me to stop eating normally and have to rely on a feeding tube. There is no guide to side effects, as each patient is different, but I am trying to be as good as I can and do as well as I can. The prediction of the taste sense return has been from a month to a year, and it will be gradual. I will take it one day at a time…It is the only way, and recovery is on the way of the journey.

So my friends, please celebrate the changes. Chris and Laura promise to make good food, and hope that you all continue to be as wonderful to them as you have been to me. We have appreciated your years of patronage and friendship and hope for many many more.

Franklin Biggs
Homewood Gourmet

On February 8th, The James Beard Foundation announced the five honorees for the 2010 James Beard Foundation Awards America’s Classics category; The Bright Star is one of the five honorees named. “The America’s Classics award is given to restaurants with timeless appeal, beloved for quality food that reflects the character of their community – from small, regional restaurants, watering holes and shacks, to lunch counters and down-home eateries that have carved out a special place on the American culinary landscape.” Congratulations Bright Star, for receiving this outstanding achievement from one of the culinary world’s most prestigious organizations. We knew it all along and now one of Birmingham’s best kept secrets is out.

Click here to read the entire press release announcement.

Follow us @birminghammenus and check out the weekly winners! You can also see our available gift certificates by visiting www.instagift.com/birminghammenus.

Follow @birminghammenus on Twitter and win!

What makes Break ‘n Bread so great? First of all, the participating restaurants are among the very best in Birmingham. Each restaurant prepares a special dish (thousands of them, to be exact), and whether it’s scallops from Ocean, The Bright Star’s famous gumbo, or Guillermo serving Mojo Pork from Sol Y Luna, the variety and assortment of dishes is incredible (Click here for a list of menu items).  The wine selection from Birmingham’s top wine purveyors is the perfect pairing for these amazing dishes. Live music and children’s activities make this open-air event full of energy. There is no better way to spend a beautiful October Sunday afternoon in Birmingham.

We hope that you’ll come out on Sunday the 11th to Break ‘n Bread and support local restaurants in Birmingham. We think that you won’t find a better priced or more fun event anywhere in town. And, you can eat and drink as much as you like!

Click here to purchase tickets online and save $5

www.birminghammenus.com/gc

This next sale will feature certificates to many new restaurants in town including MAFIAoZa’s, Dyron’s Low Country, Rogue Tavern, Cooper’s Corner at the I-459 Tom Williams Dealership and Cafe des Paris. Additionally, we have worked with many of your favorite restaurants to allow us to offer more certificates. Our Friday sale will be the largest in the seven year history of BirminghamMenus discount gift certificates! Plan on getting to the site early, because we’ll plan on launching sometime between 6 and 7am.

Additionally, the sale will take place on the next generation of our software, managed by our sister company InstaGift, LLC. We developed InstaGift to manage these types of sales for groups around the United States. We think that you’ll find that the new software is much faster, easier to use, and it will allow you to login anytime in the future to manage your gift certificate purchases. Please note, your credit card will be charged by InstaGift.com, not BirminghamMenus.

We’re very excited about the recent growth of BirminghamMenus, and the spin-off of InstaGift. While our company continues to expand, our core value is helping locally-owned restaurants. We thank you for your continued support of local restaurants in Birmingham and beyond!

The ability to help our restaurant clients get their inventory online is the latest service offered by BirminghamMenus. Stay tuned, we’ll be putting more stores online in the near future!

Welcome to the latest generation of BirminghamMenus. Your best source for information on locally owned restaurants is now even better.

We launched BirminghamMenus in the summer of 2001 – and seven and a half years is a long time in the Internet world. So we recently hit the refresh button to bring you the most up to date version of our popular restaurant index.

You can now easily search our site by restaurant name, location or cuisine style. Menus, photos and news of special events are now also regular features.  Our online magazine will highlight the latest happenings and headlines about area chefs and restauranteurs.  Plus we’ll do our very best to provide you with periodic musings about the locally owned dining community.  And of course, you can still purchase discount gift certificates for all our participating establishments.

Please let us know what you think about the new features and browsing capabilities.  Use our easy onsite commenting system to leave your feedback, or e-mail us at feedback@birminghammenus.com. We would really appreciate your feedback.

Thanks for supporting BirminghamMenus and the independently owned restaurant community. We look forward to continuing to serve you the most well-seasoned  information about the local dining scene.

Happy Dining!