The full episode of Anthony Bourdain visiting Austin durnig SXSW from season 8 of his show “No Reservations” a few years back. The visit to Franklin Barbecue with Daniel Vaughn of TMBBQ (aka BBQ Snob) – whose book “The Prophets of Smoked Meat” is on Bourdain’s book imprint – begins at 7:13.
-Monk
I recently finished the excellent “The One True Barbecue” by Rien Fertel, where he travels the Carolinas and Tennessee and profiles the men, families, and towns behind whole hog barbecue. Part of the chapter “Will Success Spoil Rodney Scott?” covers Ed Mitchell and his previous two restaurants in Wilson and in Durham, though not in a very flattering light. Some of the controversy comes from the fact that Fertel didn’t actually interview Mitchell for the book and instead relied on his 2012 interview of the man plus additional research. Per the News & Observer:
He presents a rocky picture, and Mitchell comes across as an image-crafting marketing pro and a barbecue rogue who cooks his hogs hot and fast. Fertel compares the way Mitchell presents himself, with his bushy white beard and well-worn overalls, as the sort of hyper-Southern gimmick one would find in a Cracker Barrel dining room.
Here’s some footage taken by the excellent Gene Galin (who also does some great work for the Chatham Journal photographing NC State, UNC Chapel Hill, and Duke football) at a book reading at Flyleaf Book Store in Chapel Hill last year where he defends his portrayal of Mitchell and hopes he can speak with him at the then-upcoming Big Apple Barbecue last summer. No word if anything ever came of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vawjRLl-Go
Before “No Reservations” and “Parts Unknown”, Anthony Bourdan’s first food travelogue show was “A Cook’s Tour” on the Food Network. In the second season, he visited Texas, Kansas City, and NC – which he refers to as “the barbecue triangle” – and explored barbecue culture for what may have been his first time (at least on recorded camera).
The NC section (starts at 18:35) visits with Ed Mitchell at his old joint in Wilson to explore eastern NC barbecue and then with Bill Eason (vice president of the NC BBQ Society) and Jim Tabb (founder of the Blue Ridge BBQ Festival) in Marshville to learn about Lexington-style barbecue. Of all the barbecue he tastes that episode, he seems to come away most impressed by Mitchell’s eastern NC whole hog.
This episode first aired in 2003 on the Food Network. Bourdain has subsequently learned a lot more through his other shows, but it’s interesting to see where he started from. In any case, it’s all a bit quaint.
Barbecue, a documentary about the art and craft of barbecue, is premiering at this year’s SXSW in Austin (which makes a lot of sense). Earlier this week, IndieWire premiered the teaser trailer as well as the move poster art on its site.
The new documentary explores barbecue as far more than a tasty way to cook up some grub, but as a ritual that binds together whole communities and often serves as a common touchstone between cultures. Salleh’s film was captured in cinematic 4k, shot across twelve countries and comes complete with a rich orchestral score. That mouth-watering desire to chow down? That’s just a lovely side effect of a full meal of a doc.
Check out the poster art below:
