Chef and cookbook author Alex Hitz is a Southern gentleman as refined as they come, who has spent a lifetime globe-trotting and rubbing elbows with the who’s who of society on both coasts. Below he talks about the power of cheese biscuits, stories about Richard Simmons, growing up in segregated Atlanta and quotes Olivia de Havilland.
Hitz also has a new entertaining cookbook “Occasions to Celebrate,” (Rizzoli), which came out in October 2022. I have been a fan of Hitz’s for years. I already own his first two cookbooks, “My Beverly Hills Kitchen” and “The Art of the Host.” They’re filled with down home recipes for cheese straws, fried green tomatoes with pimiento cheese, silver queen corn pudding, and my fave—Perfect Homemade Mayonnaise. But also high brow dishes such as whole trout Menuiere and eggs Sardou.
I knew I adored him when I saw in “The Art of the Host,” a page called “The Things I Always and Absolutely Love.” The list includes monogrammed linens, silver, butter, onions, cheese, doing everything ahead of time, tall candles and well… you’ll have to read the book to see what else made the list.
Hitz has speaking engagements around this latest tome booked out through 2024. I caught him while he was on the way to Oxford, MS, and we had a lovely little chat about his life, how this cookbook came to be and what he thinks about the South.
Editor’s note: Read everything Hitz says below in a rich lilting Southern accent. Even the swear words.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Atlanta. Went to school there until I was 13. We had a house in southwest France, and if we had more than a few days off from school my mom hauled me to Europe. I grew up in Europe as much as I did in the South. The two places couldn’t be more different.
We had a place in a little tiny village in the Dordogne Valley. It was very secluded and very remote. I loved Paris and we’d spend a week in Paris on either side of the trip to the country. We were always there about three to four months every summer. I eventually went to boarding school in Connecticut, college in Virginia, then Peter Kump’s cooking school in New York City and eventually Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.
Where do you live now?
I live in New York City, and Palm Beach is now my principal residence. Now, I still have a place in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. And I bought an apartment in Atlanta during COVID-19. I’m there about 60 days a year. Each place is so opposite.
Why did you write “Occasions to Celebrate” during the pandemic?
Hospitality needs to come back with a vengeance. We’re not having a good moment with hospitality. We can fix it. One cheese biscuit at a time. As I was looking through and considering how to structure this book, I was thinking about celebrating and the special occasions of life. Then we had COVID, and special occasions just stopped. Celebrate and don’t wait for special occasions. If this time has not taught us that, I don’t know if anything will!
The fact is L.A. had hospitality in a big way when I first moved there and New York City in a big way. Amazing hosts and hostesses gave amazing parties and dinners at home. Now we have people that borrow their clothes and take selfies and go to store openings. That’s not a social life. That’s not a gracious life of hospitality. Borrowing clothes, taking selfies and going to store openings?
I moved into that world in New York City and they introduced me to their counterparts in Beverly Hills. They were the Last of the Mohicans. In NYC it was Nan Kempner, Bill Blass, Bobby Short, Brooke Hayward. In L.A. it was Betsy Bloomingdale, Connie Wald (she had the best salon of all of them), Wendy Stark and Nancy Reagan.
I have the recipe to Connie’s Chocolate Sauce in the book. But it’s not about the recipe. A recipe is just a specimen under a microscope. How boring! It’s what happened at that table. Food is the ultimate lifestyle brand. People make this mistake. The TV people make this mistake. Food is not a specimen, it’s about sharing the food. That’s why I go to a restaurant and I can’t deal with people who want to dissect it. Order it and take a bite. Take a f&$*!* bite.
[Laughing hysterically at this point.] So how did you become a chef and entertainer?
It started with my parents. My stepfather was Robert Shaw, the conductor of the Atlanta Symphony and they entertained constantly. They would have the guest artists to the Symphony who were black and Jewish and they couldn’t go to dinner at the country club. So instead they had those fascinating legendary artists at our home for lunch and dinner. That’s how it started. Beverly Sills, Leontyne Price, Leonard Bernstein, Bobby Short. Atlanta was sleepier at that time, but this was a rarefied world back then that we lived in, even more so for the time and place. I can’t relate to the Dr. Pepper and pork rinds kind of South. That’s not me. Call Paula Deen for that.
What is something your mom or stepdad would cook that just strikes you as Southern?
Although she was a Southern girl, my mom came from a family where women didn’t cook and never wanted to. She went to school in France and became a foodie, before there were foodies. And she loved to cook. She would serve Country Captain Chicken, which is a Southern dish, but it was Frenched up.
A lot of Southern food in those days was cream of mushroom casserole. That never hit our house. I didn’t grow up on Southern food per se. I grew up on Frenched up Continental cuisine. She would throw things together like she would serve oysters on the half shell but with Sally Lunn bread. She was creative in what she served, but everything had a reference. There was one year she went too far and made cassoulet for Thanksgiving dinner. I said that’s it! I’m going to help you. Oh! When she served the fucking cassoulet for dinner… [heavy sigh].
Oh moms! When you were younger then, what did you want to be?
It was a long way back to the beginning. I did absolutely everything else. I was a Broadway producer, movie producer, developed real estate, did men’s clothing. Then all of a sudden, I built a house in California and I had a kitchen. In New York City, I never had a kitchen. This one and that one would come for dinner in California and they’d say, ‘you should sell this!’ I wondered, how would I do that? I went straight to QVC. I debuted a product at QVC in the middle of a prime time show. Home shopping is a weird parallel universe.
I was the first product up and it was beef Bourguignon and the “Julie & Julia” movie had just come out and beef Bourguignon was on everyone’s mind. Richard Simmons was coming on the stage as I came off. I was dressed up in my perfect prep school outfit with a blue blazer and a tie. Richard Simmons said to me, “F*%! the beef, you look good enough to eat.” That was the ice breaker!
After that, I got a call with this agent who had clients like Emeril. It was great for a while and my first cookbook came out. From the first book, I got a call from “House Beautiful,” they wanted me to take over Ina Garten’s column. This is my third cookbook. But the first one sold after six to eight agents turned it down, nobody wanted it. This agent sent it out with no changes to 28 publishers and it sold in three hours and for a record price. Don’t let anyone tell you no.
Wow. That’s incredible. Are there any other Southern chefs or cooks that you admire, conspire with, adore?
The one that I started with who is still my dear wonderful friend is Mary Boyle Hataway. She’s amazing. She’s a self-taught chef who became the founder of The American Institute of Wine & Food. She was a stockbroker and they wouldn’t let her sell the stocks. Therefore, she came back to Atlanta where she was raised. She started a restaurant instead. The Patio and then it became Patio by the River. She started it with a business partner, and I bought the partner out and it eventually became Canoe. This is all ancient history.
Where do you go back to eat in Atlanta when you’re home?
I go to those great restaurants again and again basically every time. I’m not the person to call about the new and the next. I’m the person to call about the classic experiences that are still great. I want to go to La Grotta and Hal’s and Pricci and Chops and… Chic-fil-A! That’s five days a week right there. That’s enough.
Favorite high-end Southern dish you love: Scrambled eggs with truffles at Pricci, snapper Franchaise at Hal’s, lamb chops and wild mushroom risotto with truffles at La Grotta, at Chops it’s grilled salmon and Bearnaise with baked potato and creamed spinach. They know my order by heart.
Favorite down-home Southern dish: The Chic-fil-A chicken sandwich. Now that we’re of an age we have to be conscious of what we eat. Much as we’d like to down five.
Favorite high-end, hoity toity dessert: At home, chocolate mousse. It’s a classic Cordon Bleu recipe with Grand Marnier. It’s a crowd pleaser and everyone goes “Oh my God this is so delicious!” It’s in my first book. And Chess pie. I developed a Chess pie for this third book. And it is so insanely easy and beyond delicious. It’s not low brow though. That’s Southern proper company food.
Favorite low-brow dessert: Banana pudding and it’s certainly delicious. The kind that’s on the back of the box of Nilla wafers.
Favorite high-end fashion store: I have most things made. Ready to wear I either get UNIQLO or Lora Piana. Everything else is made custom. L&S Custom Tailors in New York City. Sal Cristiano has been my tailor since 1987. One of the longest relationships of my life. He’s just a God.
It’s coming up… Southern dish you always serve at Easter? Easter for me is about lamb. There’s a recipe I did in “House Beautiful” first and it’s easy, perfect-every-time leg of lamb. There’s nothing so impressive to cook. Make sure you slice it parallel to the bone nice and thin. The side dish is in this last book. That’s Honey Bear’s Dutch Baby. Serve that with lamb and mashed peas.
Favorite sports teams: Years ago, I was on a very posh trip to Russia with very posh people including Yves Saint Laurent, Kathleen Deneuve and Princess Ira von Fürstenberg to name a few. The flight was during the World Series. A few among the group were excited about the Cardinals. And the Cardinals had won some, they had lost some. And one of those posh people from New York City turned to me and said, “Alex, what are the Cardinals?” Exactly.
Favorite drink at a tailgate: I quote Olivia de Havilland, “Even with the pills, Champagne!” For the Grammys, the Oscars or the big game—Champagne.
Are you a theater or a concert person? I grew up going to so many concerts, so perhaps I never have to go again in my life. I was a theater producer before. But I don’t go so much now that so much is not so good and so much is a revival. So if it’s good, I’ll go.
What are your fave shows to see? The new Stoppard play is supposed to be amazing. “The Lehman Trilogy” is one of the best things I’ve seen. “Funny Girl” I’m excited about. We’ve got to see those two.
Most eccentric Southern person you know dead or alive?
I cannot remember who she was, but I remember the story. She was very funny. This friend told the story of her aunt who lived some place in Mississippi. She had the lying down disease, which may have escalated to a point of manic or not. This woman would hear these exotic terms on the radio. She would get her caretaker to say them to her so she could imagine being anywhere else but where she was. The caretaker would say “Tijuana, Guadalajara, Panama…” again and again to the woman who just wanted to be any other place. “Tijuana, Guadalajara, Panama. Tijuana, Guadalajara, Panama,” in this Mississippi Southern accent. That story just cracks me up.
What are some misconceptions you’ve encountered about people from the South?
I go back to the line my grandfather said, that is “no one is ever as rich or as poor as you think they are.” No one is ever as unsophisticated or smart as you think they are either. They surprise you both ways.
