Gazpacho, My Dear Watson: Innovation in Cooking

 “For years, a down-home sensibility with an obsession for quality and seasonality was the backbone of Hastings’ concept. But amid the hoopla, Hot and Hot has in some ways become Haute and Haute.”

–Eric Velasco, “Success Has Not Spoiled Hot and Hot Fish Club”12784523_10206977711696015_1913390934_n

Chris Hastings is, by all accounts, one of the most prolific chefs on the Birmingham food scene.  He’s won awards, been featured on television, and bested Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America (my personal favorite of the overly dramatic Food Network cooking competitions). Although he owns two other restaurants in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, the Hot and Hot Fish Club is his longest-running—it opened in 1995—and most popular establishment. Eric Velasco, when reviewing the restaurant, was pleased to find that Hastings’s growing fame “has brought new maturity to the menu while the food continues to be inspirational.” Continue reading