The Avondale area of Birmingham is booming. It is one of the hot spots every weekend. Fancy’s on 5th was the place to be on the evening I visited.
They have called Avondale home for a year and a half. It is an amazing old building with brick walls and reclaimed wood everywhere. They have a beautiful reclaimed wood sign that bares their name on the wall.
I noticed there were several octopus decorations around the restaurant, including the bathrooms. I asked my bartender Megan what that was all about. It turns out that the octopus is the mascot of the restaurant named “Octavius”. There us a neon purple one above the bar and one hanging from the ceiling above a big corner table.
It was a mad house inside the evening I was there because the Travel Channel was there filming for an upcoming show. My bartender was participating in the filming. She was not 100% sure which show it was going to be on but she thought it was Food Paradise.
It was so interesting watching them do the filming. They started out filming outside with a plate of food.
Then they moved inside by the bar with another plate of food.
Finally one of the crew members attached a Go-Pro camera to a plate and walked it around the restaurant filming everyone inside.
It was a wild experience and so much fun to get to see it all up close and personal.
Now I did not just go to Fancy’s to sit and watch the filming. I was there to enjoy some great food and cocktails. While I decided what food to order I got a cocktail called the Peachy Pig. This was a bourbon based drink with white peach puree, bacon syrup, Peychaud, and orange bitters. In order to get the orange bitters in the drink the bartender lite the orange rind with a lighter until there was a pop and then dropped it in the drink. Apparently by doing this technique it is supposed to enhance the flavor. I could taste mostly the bourbon in this cocktail. The peach puree added only a slight sweetness. I thought the bacon syrup would come through but I really did not taste any of it.
To start with food, the scallops were highly recommended to me by some other guests. They were large in size and were pan seared. They sat on top of a corn maque choux.
The sear was perfect on the scallops, which were tender and sweet. The corn mixture made it even sweeter. It was like a creamed corn.
By this point it was time for another cocktail. Megan was really great at creating unique elaborate drinks so I let her chose a drink for me. She prepared for me the Boulevardier. This is a whiskey based cocktail made with sweet vermouth, Campari, and orange bitters. The orange bitters were added the exact same way to this drink as the previous. I was actually able to capture this on camera this time.
She served it in that classic looking 1960s champagne glass. This was a strong drink. It was a good thing I had some food on my stomach, otherwise I would have been in trouble.
The next food item on my list was the Mexican street corn. It was a whole corn on the cob that was on a stick.
The corn had been grilled and was covered with red peppers and cheese. The cheese made it a little salty but the corn was extremely sweet. It was amazing.
Since it was served on a stick it was pretty easy to eat and not very messy.
The final drink of the evening that Megan made me was the Sazerac. This drink originated in New Orleans. It started off with the glass being sprayed with Absinthe. Then it was a mixture of whiskey and Peychauds bitters.
This drink was even stronger than the last. It was the Absinthe that gave the drink some bite after each sip. I am glad I tried the drink but I do not think I could handle it again.
I had a blast at Fancy’s. The food and drinks were great. The staff was extremely friendly. I am looking forward to seeing them on the Travel Channel. Check them out at http://www.fancyson5th.com/
Enjoy!
T
