Hugh Acheson - A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen

Copyright 2011 by Fried Pie, LLC
Photographs copyright 2011 by Rinne Allen

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

www.crownpublishing.com

www.clarksonpotter.com

CLARKSON POTTER is a trademark and POTTER with colophon is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request from the Library of Congress

Hardcover ISBN: 9780307719553
eBook ISBN: 9780307885890

Hardcover design by Laura Palese with Rinne Allen

Illustrations by Hugh Acheson, Rinne Allen,
Susan Hable, Carolyn Holmes, and Jordan Noel

v3.1

Three decades ago, when I was considering moving to Athens to attend the University of Georgia Law School, I was talking through the pros and cons of the town with a young Atlanta lawyer who had just finished school there. For no apparent reason, he told me, Bertis, one thing you do need to know about Athensits a gastronomic wasteland. He went on to say that as a college town, Athens had its fair share of acceptable burger, pizza, and burrito joints, but if one was looking for a good meal, it was not to be found in Athens.

How times change. Due in large part to Hugh Acheson and his distinctive and eclectic take on modern regional cooking, Athens has become a mecca for food lovers. Even ten years ago, when Hugh had the notion to open Five and Ten, there were no organic farms or sustainable agriculture concerns in our little town, and maybe one restaurant that could have survived in a city like Atlanta. And we still dont have a Whole Foods; were only 150,000 people, and lots of those are college kids without much interest beyond the basics of the aforementioned college town cuisine. But Hugh, much to our delight, has led a culinary and cultural shift in Athenscentered at his flagship Five and Ten, and extended to The National, Gosford Wine, and Empire State South.

I remember my first meal at Five and Ten, on opening night in March 2000. Michael Stipe and I were both in town, happy to get the invitation to this spot we had been hearing about, and so we went expecting your basic finger food/cocktail party sort of function. But man were we wrong full-on dinner, amazing tastes, and the dishes just kept coming. The restaurant was packed and we giddily looked around the room, repeatedly exclaiming, Can you believe were in Athens? By 2002, Hugh was on the cover of Food & Wine as one of their Best New Chefs in America. Those of us in Athens were proud as hell of Hugh and his business; we already knew it was good from the start, but to see such acclaim from afar felt exceptional for the whole town. There he was in Food & Wine chefs from New York, Seattle, Boston and Athens, Georgia! The James Beard nominations started coming in a few years later and then Restaurant of the Year for Atlanta (Athens is not in Atlanta) by the Atlanta Journal Constitution. In 2007, Hughs second restaurant, the National, opened and it was different in taste but similar in character: a warm, cozy, and stylish neighborhood restaurant where one can always find a great meal and a nice glass of wine. At both Five and Ten and the National, you always feel a real sense of community with those who are dining and those who are working. This sense of community is further heightened by the fact that many can walk home from both places, which is good.

Hughs menus, like his restaurants and this cookbook, are a lot like Hugh: ever-changing yet consistent, with nuances and surprising flourishes, intense yet laid back, simple yet serious, never stuffy or pretentious or fussy. All of Hughs creativity, from the bricks and mortar, textures, and lighting of the physical spaces themselves; to the words and images on his blog, on his menus, and in this book; to the main thing, the food itself, reflect his unique personality. If I had to point to one quality that sets Hugh apart and makes Hugh who he is, it is this: Hugh cares. He cares about his businesses, sure, the quality of the food and service and all of that. But he also cares about so much morereally cares. About politics, about his employees and their lives outside of work, about Athens and its many types of people, many of whom will never eat at any of his restaurants. He cares about the quality of our communitys schools, not just because his own children attend them, but because all kids, regardless of where they come from, deserve a quality education and a chance for a decent future. Hugh not only cares deeply about these things, he acts and lives and demonstrates that caring through his commitment every day.

Hugh, although much younger than I am, has taught me and many others so much about the ever-growing sense of community in Athens. Not just the culinary community, the organic community, or any particular part of Athens. No, Hugh represents the concept that the whole community is important, and no one is a better example of giving back to our town than are Hugh and his restaurants. They steadfastly champion most everything good and caring and giving in Athens, from our public schools to sustainability and environmental concerns to critical social services agencies. Five and Ten for sure, but the National and Gosford too, and now Empire State South in Atlanta, but especially Hugh as a person; all of them embody and embrace the vital strands of this essential fabric of our town. And that is very good. We are no longer a culinary backwater, and we all have much to thank Hugh Acheson for: his food, his restaurants, and his presence.

Not long ago, I was somewhere in a small city in Italy, having a wonderful meal in a special and memorable restaurant, being served by waiters who had been with the chef-owner for several decades. And it hit me: Hugh is still so young. His best work is still ahead of him. Only ten years in, with who knows what is to come, Hugh Acheson is already doing great work that will only get better from here. Sitting there in Italy, I could picture myself, years from now, back home at Five and Ten, with lots of the same crew from the earliest days enjoying another tremendous meal. It was a pleasant and reassuring little epiphany. May it only come to pass. And whether you are one of the regulars like me, lucky enough to eat at Hughs places, just down the street, all the time, or if you have yet to make it to Athens, you are in for a treat as you experience this volume celebrating Hughs first decade. But be sure to leave time for a walk after dinner.