Suzanne Vizethann - Welcome to Buttermilk Kitchen

Welcome to

Buttermilk

Kitchen

Suzanne
Vizethann

photographs by Angie Mosier

Dedication

For my dad, Ray, who taught me the most important things you need to have in life:happiness, a good dog, and great food. This book is for you!

Digital Edition 1.0

Text 2020 Suzanne Vizethann

Photographs 2020 Angie Mosier

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any meanswhatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portionsquoted for purpose of review.

Published by

Gibbs Smith

P.O. Box 667

Layton, Utah 84041

1.800.835.4993 orders

www.gibbs-smith.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Vizethann, Suzanne, author. | Mosier, Angie, photographer.

Title: Welcome to Buttermilk Kitchen / Suzanne Vizethann ; photographs byAngie Mosier.

Description: First edition. | Layton, Utah : Gibbs Smith, [2020]

Identifiers: LCCN 2019037891| ISBN 9781423653479 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Cooking, AmericanSouthern style. | Buttermilk Kitchen(Restaurant) | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX715.2.S68 V58 2020 | DDC 641.5975dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019037891

Endorsements

Buttermilk Kitchen has a special feel to it; you know it when youwalk through the door. Its a charming and cozy space filled with the aroma of warmbiscuits, buttery grits, and crispy fried chicken. Outside of these perfectlyexecuted comfort-food standards, however, theres much more to discover on the pagesof this cookbook. Think beet-cured lox, homemade jams, creative salads, and veryopinionated egg recipes. Suzanne Vizethann has a knack for making the kind of foodwe all crave, and its now been captured within the binding of her first book. Asyou sift through the recipes, your mouth will water and your cast iron skillet willrattle to be freed from the cupboard.

Steven Satterfield, James Beard award-winning chef andrestaurateur

You dont see too many quintessential breakfast concepts, butwhat Suzanne has created with her restaurant Buttermilk Kitchen is the exception.Shes a force in the kitchen, she cooks from the heart, and has the ability totransform something simple into something exceptional. Her passionately sustainablekitchen methods are inspiring to the industry and will continue to declare her assomeone the community can count on. I cannot wait to try Suzannes biscuits at home!

Chef Anne Quatrano, James Beard award-winning chef andrestaurateur

I knew from the first few moments working with Suzanne that shewas destined for success. Welcome to Buttermilk Kitchen provides great insight andaccess to her vision, and the recipes will finally give her fans the ability to cooksome of her favorite recipes for themselves. A must-have cookbook for the collectorand beginner alike.

Chef Richard Blais, chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, andtelevision personality

What can I possibly say about Suzanne and Buttermilk Kitchen thathas not already been said by countless fans of hers, who line up bright and earlyevery morning vying for a warm cup of coffee and one of her famous biscuits? I cantell you that in the number of times I have dined with her, I have always tried anew dish and not been disappointed. I can tell you that every time we have cookedtogether, she has wowed diners with her inspired interpretations of Southernclassics. I can also tell you that her story is one of true grit (pardon the pun)and determination, and that I am thrilled to finally learn how to make some of hermost memorable dishes. Maybe now I can sleep in a little later and make her PimentoCheese Omelet with Bacon and Red Pepper Jelly on my own at home; or maybe I justprefer to have her to continue to make them.

Chef Kevin Gillespie, chef, restaurateur, and cookbookauthor

Contents

Foreword

As you make your way down Roswell Road, just outside of Buckhead,Atlanta, you might not even notice the quaint little house thats set just enoughoff the road to possibly escape your attention. Despite its signature brilliant bluepaint job and its charming flower boxes, the exterior of Buttermilk Kitchen doesntexactly give you the impression that you are about to eat at one of Atlantas finestrestaurants. You wont be greeted by some hipster valet, the restaurant itselfwasnt put together by some cutting-edge design firm, and each menu item isntserved on its own unique piece of china. In fact, upon making your way into thespace, youre more likely to feel as if youre about to eat at a friends house,because Buttermilk Kitchen feels like homehome to well over 2,000 folks per week.

No reservations or call-aheads are taken. On most days, you willlikely be greeted by a ridiculously long wait. The line often spreads throughout theparking lot. The folks you see equipped with umbrellas on rainy days and sipping bigcups of Starbucks coffee have been here before. From 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesdaythrough Sunday, Buttermilk Kitchen is simply a machine. If youre a first timer, doyourself a favor: dine by yourself so that you can sit at the counter. But if yourebringing someone to dine with, make sure that person isnt very tall, because ifthey are, theres a good chance theyll feel like theyre dining in a doll house,sitting at tables that came out of their kids kindergarten classroom. ButtermilkKitchen isnt exactly spacious, and if you think the dining room is a tight squeeze,you should have seen the first incarnation of its kitchenyou would have thought theKeebler Elves were cooking your breakfast. But nonetheless, some folks probablywouldnt even mind sitting on milk crates out back, mauling those ridiculouslydelicious biscuits while enjoying the view of the dumpsters.

Alright, you waited about an hour for a tablenot bad. Next time, trycoming out on a Wednesday morning, and if you get here just after 10 a.m., youllslide right into the sweet spot and youll be devouring a pimento cheese omelet or amarket scramble within fifteen minutes of arriving. It could have been worsetrustme. Imagine waiting for a table for well over an hour without the help of alcohol; italmost sounds inhumane. Thats how it was for the first five years. Now the booze isflowing at BK, and everyone is welcome to catch a buzz while they wait for a table.

So youre finally at a table and youre checking out the menu, as wellas the plates of the guests on either side of you, and you take notice of a girl wholooks like she just walked off the set of an Ivory Soap commercial. Shes making herway through the dining room, greeting folks with her piercing smile and her youthfullooks. No, thats not your server, and shes not wearing her brothers oversizekitchen shirt. No, thats not the owners daughterthats the owner, and shes thechef, too. Folks, allow me to introduce you to the girl next door, SuzanneVizethann.

This humble house that is a restaurant, the girl who looks like shejust graduated from college or just returned from backpacking through Europe, andall of the other ancillary and insane charm that encompasses an average trip toButtermilk Kitchen makes you almost feel taken advantage of or emotionallymanipulated. Its all a setup made to make you order more biscuits or a bottle ofred pepper jelly to go. You couldnt have scripted anything better. You cant makethis up.