Monk: Author Jim Auchmutey stops by the Kevin’s BBQ Joints podcast to discuss his excellent book, “Smokelore: A Short History of Barbecue in America.” I got it for Christmas and highly recommend it. It’s a quick read with lots of beautiful archive photographs.
Description: In this episode of ’10 Minutes With’ I chat with writer and historian Jim Auchmutey about his recent book Smokelore: A Short History of Barbecue in America. It is a must have book for ANYONE interested in barbecue and how barbecue has evolved over the years to become what it is today across the United States. Along with over 50,000 words of text, the book contains 208 Illustrations and 26 recipes. I’ve read it once through and I’m now going back again.
Name: Rick’s Smokehouse Date: 1/21/20 Address: 6043 Old U.S. Hwy 52, Lexington, NC 27295 Order: Chopped barbecue tray with hush puppies, red slaw, and Cheerwine (link to menu) Pricing: $
Monk: In a continued effort to get to know Lexington Barbecue joints better, I recently made another Lexington run to try three new-to-me barbecue joints. These three are ones that you really don’t hear about, so I was a bit apprehensive as to what I might find on this trip. I’m beginning to think about the Lexington-area barbecue restaurants in terms of tiers so the looming question was: in which tier(s) would these restaurants land?
My first stop was Rick’s Smokehouse which has a Lexington address but is in the small community (or “census designated place” if we’re being technical) of Welcome which is north of Lexington proper. Welcome is home to Richard Childress Racing and North Davidson High School, who I played soccer against 20 or so years ago. And yes, it does have a sign that reads “Welcome to Welcome” as you enter on Old Highway 52.
Rick’s is located off that same Old Highway 52 and actually burned down approximately 10 years ago as a result of a fire in the smokehouse that damaged the kitchen and dining room. Thankfully, they rebuilt their brick pits and reopened a year later and have continued to smoke over wood these days. Despite being a newer barbecue restaurant relatively-speaking (it was opened in 2009), Rick’s has also continued the old Lexington tradition of curb-side service for folks who want to stay in their car and have their cue brought out to them.
I’m happy to report that Rick’s serves a tray of wonderfully smokey and fresh barbecue, which was a bit of a revelation for me. Thinking about those Lexington tiers, this one could definitely challenge for the top tier. The red slaw and hush puppies matched the quality of the pork, so it all added up to a very good meal.
Perhaps I was overly skeptical, but I hadn’t expected such a wonderful and tasty experience, particularly when the restaurant was basically empty when I arrived a little after 11am (to be fair, I was on the early side of any potential lunch rush).
I wouldn’t be so lucky with the other two restaurant visits I made on this Lexington run, but thankfully I did get a very good meal at Rick’s Smokehouse to start off the day. It truly is a hidden gem in the Lexington barbecue landscape.
Videographer/photographer Tarik Sykes spends some time with rising star Tyler Harp of Harp Barbecue at his weekly pop-up at Crane Brewing in Raytown, MO (about 20 minutes outside of Kansas City). Sean Ludwig from The Smoke Sheet and NYC BBQ even makes an appearance towards the end of the video.
Description: I shot this video over 2 Saturdays visiting with Tyler at Harp Barbecue which is every Saturday from 11-Sellout at Crane Brewing in Raytown, Mo. (Unless posted they will be closed).
Tyler talks about when they started their Pop-up at Crane Brewing and hits on how BBQ is broke up into Regions and KC being a hub of the different Regions in BBQ. Also touches them making Pork Belly Burnt Ends at the Pop-up !
In sad news, Peace N’ Hominy Q Shack in Belmont has officially closed after owner Christine Rienk’s breast cancer returned after 12 years in remission; a GoFundMe has been set up to help with the costs of chemotherapy #cancersucks
Congrats to Chef Jim Noble who was awarded by the NC Restaurant and Lodging Association the Ken Conrad Award for Service to the Community for his work with his restaurant The King’s Kitchen (which donates 100% of its profits to feed the poor) and partners with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Dream Center to provide professional opportunities to Charlotteans who have suffered from “extreme life-challenges” such as poverty, homelessness and the slow, uphill battle of recovering from substance abuse or incarceration
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
