Sample Southern hospitality with fine food and lodging. To indulge in the city's extraordinary regional cooking, visit one of Chef Frank Stitt's four restaurants; then relax at a local hotel or-soon-a brand-new resort and spa in a Renaissance-style castle
One of America's top five restaurants: "The Food at Highlands Bar and Grill is so outstanding that you may not notice the French posters by Art Deco designer A.M. Cassandre on the walls," says Mary Helen. Do notice the martini-neither shaken nor stirred, but "muddled," or churned, with a wooden spoon so it gets cold enough to form a film of ice.
If you forget reservations, take a seat at the bar and order crunchy Apalachicola oysters. Chef/owner Frank Stitt, who recently penned Southern Table, tells us his secrets. "I take some of the old, simple foods and flavors of the rural South and bring brightness to them through French inspiration," says Stitt. "The South has been a land of small farms. To use the food of the creeks and the fields is to honor that tradition."
