Griffin Named 2011 Outstanding Alumna

Carole Griffin ’78 of Birmingham — owner, baker and chef of the nationally acclaimed Continental Bakery and Chez Lulu in Mountain Brook, Ala. — has been named Indian Springs School’s 2011 Outstanding Alumna.

Griffin will be honored during the Alumni Town Hall meeting on April 16, part of the school’s annual Alumni Weekend activities. The meeting will be held at 10:30 a.m. in the Concert Hall on the Indian Springs campus.

One of the best-known and most well-respected people in the Birmingham culinary scene, Griffin is one of Springs’ first female alumni and among its first female student government leaders. After graduating from Rice University in 1982, she traveled the world and studied bread-making under the tutelage of some of the finest bakers in France.

In 1985, she opened Continental Bakery and then Chez Lulu, two of the most famous culinary institutions in Alabama. Her bakery caters to many other well-known gourmet landmarks such as Bottega Restaurant and Café and Highlands Bar and Grill, and she has been featured in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Southern Living and other well-respected publications.

Her businesses are consistent sponsors of charitable campaigns in Birmingham and are pivotal to the city’s farmer’s market, and since 2009, she has organized a community festival, “Spring a Ling a Ding Dong,” that has already become a popular annual event. She is a regular guest on local morning television shows, a popular speaker at events throughout the Birmingham area, and an active participant in the Slow Food Movement, a grassroots movement of people around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.

“Carole Griffin has played a significant role in raising the bar of Birmingham’s culinary scene,” says Greg Hodges ’66, chair of the Outstanding Alum of the Year Committee. “Almost single-handedly, she redefined what great local baking is all about with a tip of her beret to the great French traditions and a careful eye on the emerging Slow Food tradition in America. And many of Birmingham’s best chefs, of which a heartening number are now recognized nationally, have embraced her delicious, hand-crafted creations. With a dash of panache and her own musical talent, Carole has confirmed that she is truly a Renaissance woman.”

“Carole Griffin has been a trailblazer in the culinary community, opening up her own business when it was a rarity among women and making it one of the great dining destinations,” adds OAY Committee member Fergus Tuohy ’96. “That is not surprising, given her experience as one of Indian Springs’ first female students, and she is a wonderful role model for the young women who have followed her at Springs. We are pleased to honor her with his award.”

According to Griffin, the honor is quite reciprocal. “How wonderful to be honored by Indian Springs! I cannot imagine an honor that would bring me more pleasure — not only because of the caliber of the institution, but because of the character of the graduates who honor me, and who even today continue to influence and shape my life. I'm thrilled to find myself in such excellent company!”