Friday Find: Trailer for “Chef’s Table: BBQ”

Monk: Featured in the latest edition of “Chef’s Table” are Tootsie Tomanetz of Snow’s BBQ, Lennox Hastie of Firedoor, Rodney Scott of Rodney Scott’s BBQ, and Rosalia Chay Chuc. Each of the 4 episodes will be 45 minutes long.

While this is of course welcome content (particularly during a pandemic), I wish they had done more episodes. Perhaps given enough hype, they are saving that for a potential follow-up season.

Description: The Emmy-nominated series shifts its focus to the art of the barbecue, featuring accomplished chefs from the US, Australia and Mexico. Chef’s Table: BBQ premieres globally on Netflix on Sept. 2.

Linkdown: 8/19/20

Can’t wait for “Chef’s Table: BBQ,” which debuts 9/2 on Netflix

Speaking of Rodney Scott, the man isn’t afraid to use MSG in his rubs

Trips to Grady’s and Skylight Inn wrap up a pretty epic eastern NC barbecue tour by John Tanner

Kevin’s BBQ Joints has rounded up his interviews with California barbecue joints into one post

A beginner’s guide to smoking from Serious Eats

Where Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ eats around Charlotte

TMBBQ has the history of Prause’s Meat Market

Kingsford is opening $5,000 tabs at barbecue restaurants across the US over the next month

Lexington Style Trimmings – Lexington, NC

Name: Lexington Style Trimmings
Order: Large chopped tray with red slaw, hush puppies, and Cheerwine (link to menu)
Pricing: $

Monk: Since last fall, it has been my pet project to finish trying every Lexington area barbecue restaurant. As of February, I was making good progress and had just one or two more to try…before COVID 19 hit and shut the country down. Like a lot of things, my quest fell by the wayside.

As North Carolina entered phase 2 in late May and restaurants were slowly allowed to reopen with reduced capacity, I knew that it didn’t have to be too long before I was able to try the next restaurant on my list: Lexington Style Trimmings (although they closed for about a month between mid-June and mid-July due to a kitchen fire). Other than the name, I didn’t know too much about LST and even after doing research afterwards detail are a bit hard to come by other than it is a “longtime” barbecue restaurant at the same exit as the Bob Timberlake Gallery exit in Lexington.

Regardless, on first glance, Lexington Style Trimmings fits the bill of a Lexington joint. It sits at the end of a small strip mall, has car hop service (even pre-pandemic), and is a diner-style restaurant that serves barbecue in addition to other southern foods in two small, no-frills dining rooms.

However, the barbecue didn’t live up to Lexington standards. The chopped pork was mushy and had a rather unappealing texture. Not to mention a disappointing lack of smoke. For one of the last joints on my Lexington barbecue quest, this was quite a letdown and only made me want to revisit the better joints on the list post haste.

The red slaw was standard and while the hush puppies were a bit overdone and perhaps a tad too crispy, they were slightly sweet and by far the best part of the meal.

There is now one more joint to try – the newly discovered Blazin’ BBQ and Kickin’ Chicken in downtown Lexington – and there are some joints I need to revisit in my Tier 1 of Lexington joints (like Speedy’s and Smiley’s, which I last visited in 2012), so I’ve still got just a little more work to do. As for Lexington Style Trimmings, now that I’ve punched this one on my card I think I’m good.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 2.5 hogs
Pork – 1.5 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 1.5 Hogs

Linkdown: 8/12/20

RIP to a Texas legend, Prause’s Market

Bobbee O’s BBQ is “the best barbecue in North Charlotte, and some of the best barbecue in the area period” according to Unpretentious Palate, which I happen to disagree with quite a bit (paywall)

Pretty cool: Buxton Hall Barbecue in Lego form

Charleston Wine + Food has been cancelled for 2021

A “Ken” was spotted at Bonfire BBQ in Asheville; the man was a Grubhub driver who refused to put on a mask when picking up food and has since been terminated from the food delivery service

Ms. Helen, as presented by Robert Jacob Lerma

This guy gets it

Don’t sleep! Now just 4 more weekends in the NC Pork Council’s #SummerofCue