i. Biography
Before the James Beard Foundation named Frank Stitt Best Chef: Southeast in 2001, his work had already taken shape through study, restaurant labor, and repetition. Classrooms came first, then kitchens, then the slower discipline of tasting, correcting, and tightening a point of view. San Francisco and Chez Panisse formed one part of that education; Alabama and its local food formed the other, giving his cooking a lasting register.
The Path
Frank Stitt trained at Tufts University and the University of California, Berkeley, then moved through a sequence of roles that built range as much as technique. He worked as a kitchen worker at Chez Panisse in California, then as an assistant to Richard Olney in France. That path reflects the kind of formation many chefs know well: formal study, restaurant discipline, and the habit of learning by close attention to ingredients and process. He later became sommelier at wine shop in Alabama, where the work would have sharpened his sense of service, balance, and how food meets the glass. From there he became chef at Hyatt House Hotel in Alabama, then teacher of private cooking classes in Alabama. The shift from line work to instruction matters: it shows a craft moving between execution and explanation, and a growing emphasis on precision and place. Today, Frank is owner and executive chef of Highlands Bar and Grill (since 1982), owner and executive chef of Bottega Restaurant (since 1988), owner and executive chef of Bottega Cafe, and owner and executive chef of Chez Fon Fon. The list reads as a built body of work, assembled room by room with consistency as the organizing principle.
The Work Today
Since 1982, Stitt has been owner and executive chef at Highlands Bar and Grill in Birmingham. Since 1988, he has held the same role at Bottega Restaurant. Those dates matter because they place his work in the long view: not as a series of resets, but as sustained kitchen leadership over decades. Across those rooms, the central language remains Southern cuisine and locally grown food. That framing is practical, not decorative. It places the cooking in direct relation to region, season, and supply, and it suggests a chef working from what is close at hand rather than chasing effect. The connection between California training and Alabama ingredients runs through without needing to be forced into contrast. Chez Panisse, Richard Olney in France, the sommelier role at wine shop in Alabama, chef at Hyatt House Hotel in Alabama, and teacher of private cooking classes in Alabama all sit behind the Birmingham restaurants that followed.
Acclaim
Frank's honors include Best Chef in the Southeast (2001), Outstanding Restaurant, Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America, Restaurant Hall of Fame, Outstanding Chef, and Craig Claiborne Lifetime Achievement Award. Taken together, they mark public recognition for a career defined by regional focus, long tenure, and disciplined work in restaurant kitchens. The awards are milestones, but they also track the endurance of Highlands Bar and Grill, Bottega Restaurant, Bottega Cafe, and Chez Fon Fon as the settings where that work has been sustained.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Frank
What is Frank Stitt's current role?
As of 2026, Frank Stitt is owner and executive chef of Highlands Bar and Grill.
Where did Frank Stitt train or study?
Frank Stitt trained at Tufts University and University of California, Berkeley.
What recognition has Frank Stitt received?
Best Chef in the Southeast (2001).
