Photo by Kelli S. Hewett
Chef Kyle Biddy brings heart, heritage and high-end flavor to Little Betty in Mountain Brook, blending Southern roots with refined creativity in a “playful Italian steakhouse.”
You can thank Chef Kyle Biddy’s daddy, Tim, for bringing Kyle’s culinary talents from Aspen to Little Betty Steak Bar in Mountain Brook.
Kyle was living a pretty fabulous chef’s life in Aspen, Colorado, snowboarding before work and cooking at the celebrated Catch Steak, when he got a call from his carpenter father, Tim. The elder Biddy overheard one of his Atlanta carpentry clients lamenting a stalled search for the perfect chef to open a new, upscale restaurant.
Tim pitched his son like only a devoted father could. Long story short, Little Betty opened in January 2024 with Chef Kyle at the helm.
“My dad came out of left field with this, just out of nowhere,” said Kyle, 39, who hails from Marietta, Ga. “It changed everything for me.”
The Southern-raised chef with a largely un-Southern approach to cuisine delivers an elegant yet unpretentious take on what’s dubbed a “playful Italian steakhouse.” Grounded in years of experience at acclaimed restaurants across the country, the Johnson & Wales culinary school alum sharpened his skills at the Omni Hotel in Charlotte and the Michelin-recommended Guard and Grace in Denver before planting roots here.
"I want people to be stuck in a moment when they have a bite of food,” Chef Kyle said. "It can silence the world around you and make time stop while you're enjoying this food."
One of his customers’ favorite time-stopping moments is the restaurant’s most popular pasta dish, the hand-cut pappardelle with truffle. Other must-trys include any of the Texas HeartBrand Akaushi Wagyu beef steaks, the signature Pugliese burrata with pistachio pesto and truffle honey, the new crab and artichoke pinwheel lasagne and the bananas foster cheesecake.
Chef Kyle, who developed the menu himself along with his team, is particularly proud of those dishes, emphasizing the creativity, technique and emotional experience they provide to diners. Exploring that creativity is a highlight of the job for him.
"Creativity is a muscle, just like anything else,” he said.
Along the way, he added a few carefully curated Southern elements to the Little Betty menu, from caviar and cornbread to a spin on his late grandmother Ruth’s carrot cake. It’s now reinterpreted as a nod to a hummingbird cake, with pineapple and coconut. It was such a hit, when the dessert cycled off the seasonal menu, customers lobbied to bring it back.
The servers tell each table that the creation is inspired by the chef’s very own grandmother. And despite banning most everyone from her kitchen, Chef Kyle says Ruth taught everyone in his family how to put heart and soul into each meal.
“They say Ruth’s name at the table — that's how we honor her,” Chef Kyle said. “I absolutely love that. A younger me never would have thought of doing something like that. It's so nice to be able to honor her memory in that way, because she really taught us all how to love food and how to love one another.”
Chef Kyle traces his early influences to one of TV’s first celebrity chefs of the 1990s, Emeril Lagasse of New Orleans.
"I'm sitting in this chair because of Emeril Lagasse,” Chef Kyle said. “I don't think he has enough credit for what he did with food TV. It’s his undeniable energy. You gravitate towards him. He's so cool to talk to. He's kind, he's exciting. He keeps you engaged with food."
A young Kyle Biddy had one of his first upscale, fine-dining experiences at Emeril’s Atlanta restaurant — an 18th birthday gift from a former girlfriend. “It just blew my mind," he said.
Those who know Chef Kyle see a familiar kindness and energy in his approach to sharing his passion for food and for creating unforgettable dining experiences for people. Dine at Little Betty’s and you can get to know the chef through his artistic creations.
Little Betty’s chef de cuisine, Britton Crotta, is Chef Kyle’s long-time partner — both in and out of the kitchen. He recruited her from Aspen to help launch the Mountain Brook steak bar.
“I think Kyle is a natural nurturer; it’s just in the fabric of his being,” Crotta said. “It’s crazy how much of his heart and soul is this restaurant. He pushes the boundaries but in comfortable, familiar ways everyone likes. This place is warm and inviting. It’s kind of like a hug.”
During their limited time off, where do chefs go for a memorable meal? Kyle and Britton currently frequent two downtown Birmingham area restaurants: The Essential, a trendy American cafe, and Wooden City, specializing in American comfort food. “There are a lot of great restaurants, but those are the favorites right now,” he said.
Chef Kyle believes great food has incredible powers on the human psyche.
"Food should be therapeutic,” Chef Kyle said. “If you can come and sit down and have a meal, and if that food in front of you can make you forget about a bad day you're having, that’s a job well done."
