By Laura McAlister
Journal Editor
If Alex Hitz needed to quickly put together a plan for one of his legendary dinner parties, the menu might look something like this: a creamy butternut squash soup to start things off followed by a main dish of pheasant with a spinach stuffing, then maybe an apple-pear crumble with maple syrup ice cream for dessert.
“It really just depends,” Alex said of his menu options. “That’s what it would be for a small, seated dinner for, say, about 12 people. It’s fall, so that would be a good fall menu, and it’s an easy dinner to do for 12.”
If the dinner party happened to be in the middle of summer, Alex said the menu would be totally different — but likely just as mouthwatering.
Alex is the founder of The Beverly Hills Kitchen food line sold on the Home Shopping Network and author of the new book, “My Beverly Hills Kitchen.” A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, he knows a thing or two about food and entertaining, and he’s going to share some of his expertise at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens’ upcoming Antiques at The Gardens.
Alex is the lecturer for the Red Diamond Lecture Series Oct. 5. The speaking engagement will kick off Alex’s national book tour for “My Beverly Hills Kitchen,” which will be released Oct. 2.
To Alex, food is about making memories, and he has some pretty fond ones from growing up in his family’s Atlanta home. His book focuses on some of his favorite dishes and the colorful memories surrounding them. Alex said he’ll share some of those memories with those attending his lecture at Antiques at The Gardens.
“I would hope to give people a laugh or two,” he said of the upcoming lecture. “I want to make them think of happy food memories of their own and would hope they will start thinking about entertaining at home again.”
Entertaining is one of Alex’s passions, and he gets it honestly. His mother loved to open their home to friends and family. Dinner guests at his childhood home included Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copeland, Coretta Scott King and Jimmy Carter.
“My parents entertained quite a bit,” he said, laughing. “I’m not joking, like two or three times a week.”
Alex’s mother was quite a cook as well and taught their family cook, Dorothy, everything she needed to know about cooking up anything from Southern cuisine to fine French fare.
“Growing up in Atlanta, the food in my house was always just fantastic,” Alex said. “My mother was a magnificent cook, and she taught Dorothy how to do everything. She made some amazing, delicious food.”
One of his favorite dishes when he was a child was soubise, and it still is today. The recipe for the French rice and onion dish can be found in his book.
“That really was my favorite dish growing up,” Alex said. “Whenever I smell it cooking, I’m 3 years old again. It’s kind of like risotto’s first cousin. The onions and rice are cooked down until you can’t tell which is which. It’s the best.”
With a love a food ingrained in him, Alex went on to attend Le Cordon Bleu, the famous culinary school in Paris. There he perfected French cooking techniques, which he would later merge with his Southern roots.
“What I do basically is take Southern themes and ingredients and apply them to French traditions and techniques,” he said.
He points to a recent summer party at his Los Angeles home as an example. He served barbecue chicken, poached salmon, an heirloom tomato pie and broccoli slaw. For dessert, he went with lemon squares and pecan bars.
Alex returned to Atlanta after graduating from Le Cordon Bleu. He and a friend purchased a restaurant, The Patio by the River, but he didn’t like the restaurateur lifestyle. He sold the restaurant and headed to New York to be a Broadway producer.
Though not in the food industry, he frequently entertained, something he continued when he moved to Los Angeles. That’s when he decided to start a food line that was high-end yet hassle-free.
In 2009, Alex founded The Beverly Hills Kitchen, a gourmet frozen food line sold through the Home Shopping Network.
“My vision for the company is so clear,” he said. “What it’s really about is delicious, well-prepared food. This is an accessible gourmet lifestyle brand just as L’Oreal is to makeup.”
One of the most popular dishes in the line is the pecan crusted salmon, which was actually adapted from a recipe served at Alex’s restaurant.
When it comes to his book, “My Beverly Hills Kitchen,” Alex said people will get some of the recipes from his renowned dinner parties as well as some fun and interesting stories that have come from these occasions.
Like his food line, he hopes the book will show that entertaining is something everyone could and should do, and it doesn’t have to be a lot of trouble.
“The recipes in this book are doable and bulletproof,” he said. “If you can read, you can do them.”
Alex’s lecture at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens will be the first stop in a 25-city book tour. In addition to sharing his love for cooking and entertaining at Antiques at The Gardens, Alex said he’s also looking forward to meeting one of his idols.
“I’m really excited to come to Birmingham and meet Frank Stitt,” he said of the owner and chef of Highlands Bar and Grill, Bottega Restaurant and Chez Fon Fon. “I hope I get to meet him. He’s such a superstar, and I love his books and his philosophy.”