Can the signature Southern hospitality be taught? At Bottega, the elegant institution in Birmingham, Alabama, four to six weeks of training for the front-of-house team is a good start.
Servers, sharply dressed in waistcoats and ties, shadow across the kitchen and bar before they take to the floor alone. They’re taught how to pace out a meal for any kind of guest and to find creative solutions as tricky queries come in.
“Throughout training, we emphasize the importance of gracious, informed, and efficient hospitality — service that feels warm and effortless while being deeply knowledgeable,” says Pardis Stitt, co-owner of the Stitt Restaurant Group and the head of Bottega’s front-of-house operations.
The winner of this year’s MICHELIN Guide American South Service Award, presented by Capital One, Stitt has set the tone at Bottega since its earliest days. Nearly 40 years after it opened, the restaurant’s hospitality is the gold standard in a region that’s built its reputation on the warmth.
The experience begins with the entrance: Bottega is an architectural showpiece, housed in a 1926 stone-fronted Beaux-Arts building that once held a department store. Dramatic tall ceilings and Palladian-style windows inside set a grand air.
Two sections within the restaurant offer their own menu (Stitt’s husband, the celebrated Chef Frank Stitt, is the co-owner), design and style of service.
“In our Café, the pace reflects a more casual, lively energy, while in the Bottega Dining Room, we tailor the flow of the meal to each guest’s preference, allowing them to fully enjoy every course at a comfortable, personal rhythm,” Stitt says.
Dishes, like the Dining Room’s yellowfin tuna, served with a fregola sarda, a pearl-like Sardinian pasta, blend local ingredients with rustic Italian recipes. Italy, though without a calling card for its cheek-pinching kind of hosting, was also an inspiration for Stitt.
The Italian countryside and the American South are “two places that share more than most realize,” Stitt says.
“Both are blessed with heat, sun, fertile soil and respect for the land’s natural gifts. In our service, that connection comes through in a sense of warmth and generosity that feels both Southern and Italian — unhurried, convivial, rooted in hospitality rather than formality,” she says.
Hero image: Stitt Restaurant Group / Pardis Stitt
Written by
The MICHELIN Guide
Dining and Cooking