Harvest is a restaurant that has been beautifully integrated into the restoration of the historic Redmont Hotel. Located in the heart of Downtown Birmingham, Harvest and the Redmont exemplify the ever-changing cityscape of Birmingham, while still being grounded in tradition. The food and drink is an extension of this revitalized building, offering a contemporary dining experience that is also readily familiar. The restaurant offers a lovely ambience – with an artsy vibe.

Libations

Blackberry Gin Smash-tanqueray, fresh muddled blackberry, mint and lemon. This cocktail was perfect for summertime and filled with blackberries.

Starter

Southern 101: A combination of mini cheese biscuits, candied bacon, house pickles, pepper jelly and deviled eggs. This platter offers a delicious sampling of traditional Southern fare. Each can be consumed on its own, or you can create a candied bacon biscuit topped with pimento cheese, pepper jelly and pickles.

Entrees

Gulf Caught Fish: Cucumber gazpacho, new potatoes , watermelon radish, shaved carrots and cilantro lime oil. The sauteed fish combined with light vegetables made for a perfectly delicate summertime meal; not too heavy, but filling.

Pesto Fettuccine: House made semolina pasta, spinach pesto, and pancetta lardons topped with a poached egg. The poached egg on top was cooked perfectly and blended well into the dish, creating a delicious creamy sauce for the house-made pasta.

Dessert

Having just returned from a vacation to Key West, Key Lime Pie was fresh on our minds and our palates, so it was an obvious choice for dessert. Every restaurant in the Florida Keys, and especially in the city of Key West, serves this delightful pie.  There seems to be a key lime pie for every palate, with numerous versions made throughout the region. The Key Lime Pie at Harvest certainly held its own, with a graham cracker crust and generous heaping of freshly-made whipped cream.

We also sprung for a second dessert and tried the Strawberry Shortcake. This old fashioned strawberry shortcake has tender, homemade shortcake layered with sweet strawberries and fresh whipped cream. Shortcake raises an issue over whether a shortcake should be cake-like or biscuit-like. Some culinary researchers claim that’s a regional preference, with Northern cooks historically making sweet biscuits and Southern ones making something more like cake. The shortcake at Harvest held closely to the Southern tradition of a more cake-like consistency.