New branding is an invitation to pull up a chair and join company at the table.
Birmingham, Ala. — In recent years, Birmingham has become something of a culinary rock star, with an upspring of new bistros, delis, and chef-owned restaurants. The area’s dining scene is something to relish.
Because food is foremost in the minds of residents and visitors alike, the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau has launched a branding campaign designating Birmingham as “Dinner Table of the South.”
“This brand is a natural for us,” John Oros, CVB president and CEO, said. “When you talk to people in our region about our most enjoyable pastimes, dining invariably comes up as one of our best offerings.”
A 20-year Tourism Master Plan, along with polling and research of visitors and residents, also guided the branding process. But Oros says the brand means more than its literal claim. It is also a reference to the communing and hospitality that a dinner table represents.
“Birmingham is one of the friendliest, most welcoming cities in the country,” Oros said. “Sharing a meal around the dinner table exudes the same warm, inviting experience that visitors find here. We’re appealing to foodies, but we also want people to dig into the city’s characteristic charm.”
The Daily Meal named Birmingham one of the best places for food devotees, placing the city among the “Top 50 Best Foodie Towns in the U.S.” The list also included such culinary giants as New York City and San Francisco.
“These are just samples of the attention our food scene has gotten this year,” Oros said. “Our breweries and individual restaurants have also been the subjects of media shout-outs. It seems fitting, then, that we be known as ‘Dinner Table of the South.’”