About halfway through Phish, it was time for chicken. Yes, deep into jam-band superstars Phish’s first set of their recent two-night stand at Huntsville’s Orion Amphitheater, I was starved.
Not starved for cosmic musical explorations. Phish guitarist Trey Anatasio had already served a heaping helping of those. But for actual food. Luckily, one of Alabama’s best restaurants was already on the case.
Whenever at an Orion show and hungry like the wolf, there are solid options. A handful of local food trucks are typically on the venue’s campus during events there.
But my go-to Orion food is inside the amphitheater: Odette – the standout downtown Florence restaurant, about a 70-minute drive from Huntsville -- has a concessions stand inside the amphitheater’s first-floor concourse. It’s near the south entrance.
In an era where concessions prices at major event are often big without flavors and value to match, Odette at Orion is a rare rock star.
Especially their legit Nashville hot chicken tenders with a side of excellent rough-hewn potato wedges.
Priced at $17, it’s a steal these days. Particularly compared to $22 nachos at Crimson Tide home football games in Tuscaloosa and $15 sweat teas sold at Rock The South country music festival in Decatur.
Obviously at this point there are too many Nashville hot chicken copies. (Kind of like all the cover versions of “Jolene” since Dolly Parton’s passing. Come on, y’all, dig just a little deeper. Dolly had many other classic tunes besides that one.)
That said, Odette’s hot chick is way better than you’ll get at many places outside of authentic Nashville originals like at Prince’s: Three sizable tenders of all-natural fresh chicken, with seasoning that packs claws but not warheads.
Via email Josh Quick, executive chef at Odette’s restaurant, gives the lowdown on their Orion tenders. “We do a buttermilk brine, and then a house Nashville seasoning as soon as they come out of the fryer. We are doing just a dry seasoning instead of the traditional oil-based dip.”
Tenders are served with a sauce cup of tomato-jam mayo, a union that works better than some might think. Made from tomatoes grown at Orion’s onsite garden, too.
Like other entrees on Odette’s Orion menu, tenders come with a side of “gas-station inspired” potato wedges. They’re cut from Russet spuds.
Quick says for the wedges, “The seasoning was put together with the idea of the taste and texture you would find at a quick service hot bar at a gas station. The seasonings have an ingredient to help them crisp up in the oven instead of deep frying them.”
Wedges are accompanied by some of the red pepper thyme ketchup Odette serves at their Florence flagship.
Generally, monkeying with traditional ketchup flavor is a bad idea – like doodling on a Marc Chagall. But Odette’s remix works. I’ll allow it.
Odette opened their Florence restaurant in 2013. That was a great year for the Muscle Shoals area, that Florence is part of, which significantly benefited from 2013 documentary film “Muscle Shoals” highlighting the region’s rich music recording legacy.
Odette’s contemporary American food with global influences and Southern grace-notes gave Florence -- also home to clothing designer Billy Reid’s headquarters and flagship store -- a next-level culinary option it had been lacking. Odette became a local gem. And an essential stop for local creatives, visiting tourists and musicians to round-out a stay there.
Quick has been Odette’s executive chef since they first opened. A 1996 Jeff Davis High School graduate, he started his career bussing tables at now-shuttered Montgomery restaurant Kat & Harri’s.
He learned to cook from his dad, who’d owned a golf course sandwich restaurant. Chicken masala was the first meal Quick mastered. It was his father’s recipe.
Odette got its appellation from the forename of one of the owners’ female relatives. Signature dishes at the Florence restaurant include their steak frites, cheeseburger, and blackened catfish.
Orion Amphitheater opened in spring 2022, and quickly put Huntsville on the national music map by bringing in legends -- like Stevie Nicks, Lana Del Rey, Neil Young and Jack White -- for their first-ever Huntsville concerts.
In addition to Phish, Orion’s ‘26 season has featured the likes of Rod Stewart, Creed, T.I. and ZZ Top. Bluegrass/jam-band guitar hero Billy Strings is set for two sold-out shows this weekend. Radio rockers Three Days Grace close things out Oct. 30.
Odette’s concessions at Orion launched in 2024. But as the amphitheater’s marketing manager, Dakota Alphonso-Louque, says via email, “Odette has been a part of the Orion team since day one.
“In addition to hosting pop-up dinners and pairing events in partnership with the venue, Chef Josh’s crew has provided catering services for performing artists since the amphitheater opened.”
Odette’s team of employees at Orion consists of two crews: The artists’ dining crew has around six team members, while the concessions crew numbers about a dozen.
Concessions best-sellers include: cheeseburger sliders, pork tacos, and a fried shrimp entrée. Specials, that highlight an ingredient or season of the year, also filter through the Orion menu three or for times a concert season.
Odette’s Orion fare is also made to be easy to eat with enjoying live music and suited for the amph’s March through October concert schedule. Tasty fresh stuff you can eat with your hands, but nothing too messy.
“That approach,” Alphonso-Louque says, “lets us keep guest favorites on the menu while making room for fresh, seasonal inspiration.”
