Well Served: Chef Brody Olive on oysters and a favorite sailboat outing

Courtesy Perdido Beach Resort

Chef Spotlight: Brody Olive

The most recent winner of the Great American Seafood Cookoff, Olive creates fresh seafood masterpieces at Voyagers, the Perdido Beach Resort restaurant in Orange Beach, Alabama. A champion for sustainability, Olive shares tips about oysters, grouper, and a unique sailboat outing.

Marvelous Mollusks | “Oysters are the most sustainable seafood out there. They each filter up to 50 gallons of water a day and are very important to our ecosystem and bays. In the winter, we feature a baked oyster entree with Swiss chard and local smoked bacon that is fantastic.”

Courtesy of Perdido Beach Resort

Go Fish | “Our pan-roasted grouper with a smoked harissa polenta cake, Romanesco, rock shrimp, and green tomato chow-chow is a standout. The grouper’s sweetness, the smokiness and heat from the harissa cake, and the acidity of the chow-chow all work together to produce a depth of flavor.”

Sail Away | “Wild Hearts is a 53-foot catamaran docked across the street from the resort. When weather permits, taking it out to see the Blue Angels practice is pretty damn amazing. And Captain Zach is a rock star with a wealth of knowledge of our area. It’s a great outing.”

Now Open: Hotel Restaurants

Couvant | New Orleans, Louisiana
This factory-turned-brasserie in the Eliza Jane Hotel features an eclectic menu by Chef Ryan Pearson, who infuses local flavor into French cuisine in dishes such as Louisiana blue crab salad and brioche-crusted veal with king trumpet mushrooms.

Photo by Victoria Quirk

Evelyn’s | Nashville, Tennessee
Named for famed hotelier, philanthropist, and socialite Evelyn Sharp, this Hutton Hotel eatery serves classic dishes like steak tartare, broiled red snapper, and Nashville hot fish and chips. Order the Front Porch Swing cocktail, made with gin from Castle & Key—a woman-owned distillery—as a nod to Sharp’s trailblazing career.

Granddam | Lexington, Kentucky
With a modern take on Appalachian-inspired dishes, this Manchester Hotel restaurant features entrees such as braised wild boar and confit rabbit ravioli. Cozy up near a firepit and sip on a Big Red Bear, made with sweet bourbon, Italian vermouth, earthy roasted beets, and orange blossom.