Two of Frank Stitt’s restaurants now offer late night specials.
By Jan Walsh Both Bottega Café and Chez Fonfon now have late night specials from 9:00 until 10:00 p.m. on Tuesdays through Saturdays. And we recently caught both of them on two separate weekends.
Late Night Bottega CafeAt Bottega Café, the comforting pairing is any small pizza plus a pint of Good People draft for $10 per person. We select Conecuh Sausage Pizza and Fresh Tomato Pizza. Both arrive hot from the wood fired brick oven. The sausage pizza is a colorful array topped with golden kernels of corn, whole green pods of fresh okra, and melted creamy white provolone cheese—above a bed of red sauce. Yes, you can eat the whole pod of okra including the top and tip, which we eagerly do. This pizza has it all—meat, veggies, and cheese.
And the Tomato pie is also outstanding. Simplicity of topnotch ingredients shines through in this pizza of fresh Alabama tomatoes, house made jersey milk ricotta, and arugula. This pizza is a vegetarian’s delight with fresh tomatoes, house made cheese and leafy greens.
Late Night Chez Fonfon At Chez Fonfon, our late night treats include Steak Tartare and Tartine, both paired with glasses of Rose, for $15 per person. The tender beef tenderloin is a melt in your mouth delicacy—further enhanced by its capers, shallots, and Dijon aioli, which we layered atop toast points. It is accompanied by cornichons that add a bite of acidity and crunch to this lovely dish.
The Farm Egg and Duroc Ham Tartine makes a comforting late night bite. Typically the eggs are from Stitt’s own Paradise Farms, but today are from McEwen and Sons—as sometimes real farm hens don’t cooperate. A gorgeous sunny side up farm egg and scrumptious slices of Duroc Ham rise above a thick, light and puffy slice of brioche toasted with a slice of flavorful comte cheese. The yolk runs through the tartine on first cut. And each bite of this beautiful dish makes me wish I could come back here tomorrow and have it all over again for breakfast.
The late night specials will evolve with the seasons. And we look forward to each.
