An Alabama Chef and Her Beloved Desserts Hit the Big Time.

[elleng]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Dolester Miles bought a pair of black slacks and a sequined blouse to wear to the James Beard Foundation awards ceremony in Chicago this month. She wanted to look nice, even though she didn’t think she was going to be chosen pastry chef of the year.

She was up against some heavy hitters. There was Margarita Manzke, whose desserts at the bistro République were declared “terrific” by Jonathan Gold in The Los Angeles Times, and Meg Galus of Boka in Chicago, whose recipes made use of toasted milk and the funk of fermented black lime.

Why in the world would the 600 or so Beard Foundation voters pick a self-taught, 61-year-old cook from a small steel-making town who has spent the past 30 years making Southern-influenced desserts for the same Alabama restaurant?

Ms. Miles, who prefers you just call her Dol, had been nominated twice before, so she was used to losing. So was Frank Stitt, who had hired her 36 years ago to make salads at the Highlands Bar & Grill. For the 10th time, his place was up for restaurant of the year.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/dining/dolester-miles-alabama-pastry-chef.html?

Recipes:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019329-lemon-meringue-tart

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019330-coconut-pecan-cake

[trof]

1. Well, Birmingham is no longer a 'small steel making town'.

It's a pretty good sized city, a financial center that no longer makes very much steel.
There's a lot of irony here.
Dol is African American in a city that set police dogs and fire hoses on her people just a generation ago.
A city that wouldn't let her people into most restaurants back then.

Good on ya', Dol.