A Southern Sunday Supper

Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: July 2023

The culinary team at Old Edwards has long been known for elevating what otherwise might be a mundane happening into the classy and rarefied. In this case, it is a Sunday Supper. More specifically, it’s the Second Annual Sunday Supper, which takes place at The Farm at Old Edwards on Sunday, August 27.

Alternatively, one could think of the festivities as an “Alabama Takeover” as it’s being cooked up by two maverick chefs from that state: David Bancroft of Acre Restaurant in Auburn, and Rob McDaniel of Helen Restaurant in Birmingham. It’s a megawatt collaboration that promises an extraordinary fete. Has anyone ever been as happy as when sitting down to a perfect Sunday supper on a perfect summer night?

Renaissance Chef (as Garden & Gun titled him), David Bancroft has made a name for himself in the culinary world as a four-time semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef: South” award, and winner of Food Network’s “Iron Chef Showdown” competition in 2017. He is also a forager, fisherman, hunter, gardener, and farmer. Born in Alabama and raised in Texas, Bancroft was heavily influenced by his grandparents’ cooking and farming practices. Inspired by his grandfather who farmed cattle, catfish, cotton, and peanuts and taught him how to smoke brisket and barbecue, he parlayed his love of food and farming into a passion for cooking. He opened his fine-dining focused restaurant, Acre in 2013 and Bow & Arrow in 2018 – which he describes as, “Texas smokehouse meets Alabama potluck,” and fittingly likes to think of as a “big, constant Sunday Supper.”

Five-time James Beard Foundation Best Chef South semifinalist, Rob McDaniel, can close his eyes and recall vividly his grandmother cooking on the indoor grill that was built into the wall in their home in Oneonta, Alabama. It was the food memory that gave rise to the neo steakhouse, Helen, that he and his wife opened in Birmingham in 2021 – and was immediately named to Esquire Magazine’s 2021 “Best New Restaurants in America” list. Grandma Helen’s skill with the grill lives on in McDaniel’s menu – in dishes like a dry aged Kansas City Strip with beef and herb-infused duck fat, and marvelously marbled short ribs. Gulf fare – dishes of pompano and red snapper – are featured alongside seasonally driven sides and vegetables giving credence to Southern Living’s description of the food as a, “love letter to the South.”

This year, Old Edwards is bringing in a live band and uncorking some terrific wine to accompany the menu. In all, it’s most certain to be a fun old-fashioned mountain party, or Sunday Supper.

Sunday Supper is sold out.