BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — I am wandering inside the Pizitz Food Hall, past grand pillars, under a soaring ceiling, trying to decide what to have for lunch. I settle on Nepalese dumplings, which have won out over Israeli falafel, Ethiopian injera, Vietnamese banh mi and something a tad more traditional around here: Southern biscuits. This dining experience, a collection of globally inspired food vendors in a repurposed 1923 department store, is not what I expected to find in downtown Birmingham. I lived in this Southern city more than a decade ago, and back then, about the only dumplings in town were bready and came atop chicken stew. Downtown was sleepy, and the food scene leaned toward barbecue and meat-and-threes, cafeterias where patrons decide which trio of sides they'd like with their protein.

Source: Ethiopian News February 18, 2019 16:37 UTC