From Wilsonville to Ruth Reichl’s Kitchen

The McEwen Family, from the left, Frank Jr, Helen, and Frank Sr. (not pictured: Luke McEwen)

We were honored to learn that Ruth Reichl—former editor-in-chief of Gourmet, longtime restaurant critic, recipient of the James Beard Foundation’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, and one of America’s most respected food writers—recently featured McEwen & Sons in her newsletter, La Briffe.

Ruth’s path to our mill is a story we especially love. When James Beard Award-winning Southern chef Robert Stehling was making shrimp and grits at Ruth’s home in the Berkshires, he was disappointed by the grits available locally. Ruth began searching for the real thing.

She consulted Garden & Gun’s guide to mail-order grits, saw that Birmingham chef Frank Stitt uses McEwen & Sons, and decided to give ours a try.

We are grateful that she did.

In La Briffe, Ruth wrote:

“McEwen & Sons grits are the real deal: organic corn ground in a stone burr grist mill. The McEwens also make terrific cornmeal that will elevate whatever you bake with them.”

Screenshot from Ruth Reichl’s La Briffe, July 24, 2026. Used with permission.

For our family, this recognition is especially meaningful. McEwen & Sons began when Frank McEwen Sr. and his father, Ralph, began milling organic corn with a stone-burr grist mill in Wilsonville, Alabama. Today, three generations of our family continue that work: keeping our products simple, organic, and made the old-fashioned way.

We are thankful to Ruth Reichl for sharing our grits with her readers, to Frank and Pardis Stitt for their longstanding support, and to every customer who has helped our small Alabama mill grow.

Read Ruth Reichl’s original post in La Briffe: A Truly Great Vegetarian Meal