Editor's Letter: Harvest 2024

If there’s one thing The South is known for, it’s hospitality. Visit almost any southern town or city, and you’ll hear over and over about the friendly people and delicious food. That’s nothing new—but just because Southern Hospitality has been around for ages doesn’t mean that the food scene is stuck in the past.

Last fall, I parked myself in Auburn, a place I thought I knew from football and a few quick visits. But this time, armed with a killer list of must-tries from Chef David Bancroft (yep, that James Beard-nominated hotshot who runs Acre and Bow & Arrow), I got to peel back the layers of this college town. Turns out, Auburn is a foodie’s dream! Bao buns that have folks lining up like it’s Black Friday, and dishes whipped up with veggies grown so close you could almost reach out and grab them from the dining table.

While it’s not surprising that so many southern towns are embracing modern hospitality, it sure is a delight. Meat and threes are (and hopefully will always be) a standard, but there’s a new generation of talent that is shaping what it means to eat—and to experience—southern food. In the modern South, you can nibble on French delicacies in the Appalachians or savor Argentine flavors in the heart of Mississippi. And in Auburn, a city already home to several James Beard nods, the 1856 – Culinary Residence is raising the bar for what hospitality means. (pXX)

But good food isn’t something you have to leave town to experience. You can make melt-in-your-mouth biscuits (pXX) or flavor-packed meatballs (pXX) right at home! And speaking of farm-to-table, some folks are turning their communities into gardens that farmers would envy (pXX). And it turns out that all that good eating can be really good for your body too (pXX). 

We hope that this season is full of good food and good conversation—and on that note, let’s dig in.