We dined at Fero, an Italian restaurant located inside of Pizitz Food Hall for the first time over the weekend. Operated by Executive Chef Akhtar Nawab, an Indian-American chef–who grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, trained in Europe and NYC, the restaurant has become very popular amongst Birminghamians. It is also worth noting that Nawab was voted one of the “Sexiest Male Chefs in America” by People Magazine in 2017. Read more on that here.

We started with cocktails. The Lavender Gimlet was quite refreshing; a blend of gin, grapefruit and lavender bitters. Beautiful presentation.

For our appetizer we ordered the stuffed peppadews. The peppers came out in a searing hot cast-iron dish and continued to cook for a few minutes once they arrived at the table and were stuffed with sausage and topped with whole-grain mustard; they were quite tasty.

We had really looked forward to trying the pasta at Fero, after hearing so many positive comments about the house-made pasta that blows away all other Italian restaurants in Birmingham. We were disappointed that several of the menu items we’d read about ahead of time were no longer offered (crab toast, ravioli), so for our entrees we ordered the Carbonara and the Baked Ziti.

The Carbonara was quite good, although salty (but what do you expect from pancetta). It arrived with a poached egg on top that I quickly mixed into the dish, creating a silky sauce that complemented the dish well. There was a generous amount of pancetta in the dish; I ended up feeding most of it to my husband. The dish was certainly good, but nothing about the pasta stood out to me as being significantly better than other pasta.

On to the Baked Ziti; a combination of penne pasta, bechamel sauce, Italian sausage and roasted cauliflower. This dish was also served in a searing-hot cast iron dish. This was a solid meal, but the meat portion isn’t huge. The roasted cauliflower was a nice touch.

Read more about Fero here.

Fero is currently closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, during their summer hours.

Wednesday 5:00–9:00PM

Thursday 5:00–9:00PM

Friday 5:00–10:00PM

Saturday 11:00 – 2:00PM & 5:00–10:00PM

Sunday 11:00 – 2:00PM & 5:00–9:00PM