The origins of the long and storied Alabama food scene can largely be credited to the influx of immigrants, particularly from Greece, who came here over 100 years ago and whose traditions and influence live on today. We’ll have their story. We’ll also have the story of one of those Greek-founded restaurants that has survived to become the oldest family-owned restaurant in the state. Advice on the smart way to diet in the New Year, or any time of the year. We’ll take you to the Alabama town that has more restaurants per capita than any in the state. And Next Food Network Star finalist Martie Duncan and Chef Clif Holt dish on the Food Network and some big-name TV chefs.

In this episode, we talk with Clif Holt, owner and chef of Little Savannah Restaurant in Birmingham, about his route to becoming one of the top names in local food, we visit the Pie Lab in Greensboro and find out its mission is about more than baked goods, we look into the story of Red Velvet Cake and what made it so popular and we get some expert tips on holiday wines and cocktails.

We hear from the leader of one of the nation’s great food media brands that’s based right here in Alabama. Hunter Lewis talks about his roots, the reaction when it was announced the magazine was making its home in Birmingham and about the end of Cooking Light magazine. We also get ideas on cookbooks that make great holiday gifts, visit a new brewery in Alabaster which is taking a different approach to beer and Chef Chris Hastings offers his advice for the home cook and tells us his culinary guilty pleasure.

Interview with award-winning chef Chris Hastings of Birmngham’’s Hot and Hot Fish Club, how to eat and stay healthy during the holiday season and holiday tips from Hastings and chefs Clif Holt and Denise Peterson and from the Pie Lab in Greensboro.

An interview with acclaimed Alabama chef Frank Stitt--including his advice for home cooks and his guilty food pleasure, a look at the issue of hunger in Alabama, weatherman James Spann issues a warning about which food to avoid in school cafeterias and why the debate over "shaken or stirred."