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
– Will Bigham and Christopher Soto of The Improper Pig in Charlotte are doing great work feeding 400 homeless while The Salvation Army’s kitchen undergoes renovations
– Congrats to Luella’s Bar-B-Que in Asheville for 10 years of being open
Luella’s has teamed with Asheville’s Hi-Wire Brewing Co. to create Pig on a Wire Anniversary Ale, an amber honey-wheat ale that goes well with barbecue.
– Elliott Moss is one of Zagat’s 9 southern chefs to watch this year
– Speaking of Buxton Hall, they make the list of Garden & Gun’s fried chicken bucket list for NC
– TMBBQ on Barbecue (the film)
Barbecue traditions in TX & 11 other countries are highlighted in this new film from @Urtext that debuted at #SXSW https://t.co/JvDkyYC4K7 pic.twitter.com/5xD3J7ifQN
— TMBBQ (@tmbbq) March 20, 2017
– John Lewis joined CBS This Morning and brought some recipes for his upcoming Tex-Mex restaurant in Charleston, Juan Luis
– Great sign at Chubby’s Bar-B-Q in Chattanooga. The barbecue? According to Marie, Let’s Eat!: ehhhhh
New blog post: I have a meal in the company of very happy regulars at Chubby’s #BBQ in Chattanooga. #CHAeats https://t.co/bldxdXHq9I pic.twitter.com/WV8f7PZQcj
— Grant Goggans (@MarieLetsEat) March 20, 2017
– A short video on Wilber’s Barbecue in Goldsboro from The Southern Weekend
– If you don’t know, now you know:
Chef @alexstupak of Empellon swears by this mayo — and it’s not Hellmann’s https://t.co/2gTflafBXe
— Grub Street (@grubstreet) March 20, 2017
Not that we’re anywhere close to being qualified enough to evaluate books but more so as a public service announcement we will periodically discuss barbecue and barbecue-related books.
“Buxton Hall BBQ Book of Smoke” is a book of recipes from Chef Elliott Moss, the head chef and pitmaster of, you guessed it, Buxton Hall Barbecue. It also functions as a coffee table book of sorts with its beautiful color photography. Finally, it also contains narrative from Moss; among other things, he explains the history of how Buxton Hall came to be, his own family history of barbecue, inspiration for the restaurant, and his philosophy when it comes to barbecue and food.
In terms of the recipes, Moss divides the book between pit smoking techniques and meats, favorite foods found at Buxton Hall, sides, and desserts. While this section of the book is heavy on the recipes themselves, Moss still gives a couple paragraphs introduction on each dish so his voice continues throughout the book past those initial pages.
This was a quick read but I enjoyed reading Elliott Moss’s writing on barbecue (his passion is quite evident) and particularly the food porn-y full color photography (something I wish more barbecue books would have). “Buxton Hall BBQ Book of Smoke” will sit on my shelf as a beautifully laid out reference book that I will go back to try some of the recipes and techniques in the future (hello, cinder block pit and burn barrel).
–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.