Southern Cooking . . . . .

Good to see that Southern cooking is getting its due recognition, and not just in William Eggleston's photography (see above).

This month's Bon Appetit magazine declares Charleston's HUSK as the #1 Best New Restaurant in America for 2011.

The same issue features recipes from Raleigh's own Ashley Christensen and her restaurant Poole's Diner for a Down-Home Sunday Supper of roasted chicken, creamy grits, and fig and thyme jam.

To round out this issue's interest in Southern cooking is Bon Appetit's listing of Bill Neal's Southern Cooking as one of the classic cookbooks of all time.

Bill Neal got us into this. He started a restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC, called Crooks Corner that featured traditional Southern food taken to a new level of refinement and distinction.

After Crooks Corner came Charleston's Hominy Grill and Atlanta's Watershed, and now there is a lengthy and ever-growing list of fine dining establishments across the South that are grounded in the Southern culinary tradition.

The current national interest in local food well-prepared fits our dining traditions perfectly.

What's this got to do with photography? Well, if an interest in Southern cooking is good enough for William Eggleston, its good enough for me.

After all, cooking is an art, like photography. A shooter's got to eat, and might as well eat well.