Charlotte

Linkdown: 12/16/15

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– Now at Stamey’s:

– Grilling with Rich reviews Sam Jones BBQ in Winterville

– They also have an interview with Cary-based BBQ pitmaster and author, Christopher Prieto

– Here’s a recipe for a Georgia-style brunswick stew from Virginia Brock; speaking of Georgia and Virginia

Virginia staked her claim boldly in 1988, with a statewide proclamation as this stew’s place of origin, and it has hosted an annual Brunswick stew festival and contest for more than twenty-five years. In a gesture of goodwill, they invite rival stew-masters to bring their crews up from Georgia for some spirited stew celebrations. Georgia staked her own claim by building a monument featuring a massive cast-iron stewpot, which they proudly declare to be the very one in which noble Georgia residents stirred up the very first batch of Brunswick stew back in 1898.

– City Smoke (one of our least favorite Charlotte barbecue restaurants) is shifting their concept from barbecue restaurant to rotisserie, smokehouse, and speak easy

The re-brand comes at a time when the restaurant’s owners wanted to take the eatery to a new level – more than that of a barbecue joint. Of course, that barbecue was the cause for much celebration after City Smoke was named the winner of the Carolina Cook Off edition of “BBQ Blitz” on Food Network thanks to Chef Adam Pugh’s rendition of smoked pork chops with cheddar grits.

– Meathead Goldwyn’s list of best books for the BBQ lover (via)

– Big beer news from Charlotte’s Queen City Q, official barbecue of the Charlotte Hornets, Charlotte Knights baseball team, Charlotte Checkers hockey team, and Charlotte Hounds lacrosse team:

Linkdown: 11/18/15

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– Congrats to Sam Jones on the opening of his new barbecue joint in Greenville, NC last week and continuing the tradition of wood-cooked barbecue

A decade back, those of us who make a living writing about and documenting barbecue were worried. Honest, wood-cooked barbecue was imperiled, we said. Pitmasters who dedicated their lives to firing pits and flipping hogs were atavistic, we worried, wheezing their way toward foregone retirement.

I’m pleased to report that we seers of ‘cue were wrong. We lacked vision. We lacked heart. Evidence of our errors of belief is seemingly everywhere. Traditional barbecue is now in renaissance.

– More on Sam Jones and his role as fire chief in Ayden from the Southern Foodways Alliance and Chicago Tribune writer Kevin Pang

– Food Republic has a guide on where to eat in Columbia, SC that includes a couple of barbecue joints including Hite’s BBQ, True BBQ, and Big Boy’s Original Smokehouse

– Pork ribs in Mississippi changed Adam Perry Lang’s life

– Charlotte Agenda thinks Midwood Smokehouse has one of the best non-traditional tacos in the city

– On so-called “nouveau ‘cue” and the supersizing of barbecue

– Thanksgiving is coming, so here’s a homemade mac and cheese recipe from Midwood Smokehouse

Linkdown: 11/4/15

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– Kathleen Purvis thinks up humorous potential food history landmarks for Charlotte:

13 S. Church St.: Charlotte’s first documented barbecue restaurant. According to a clip in an April 1899 Charlotte Daily Observer, Katie Nunn opened a grocery and barbecue stand, with meat cooked by her husband, Levi, in a pit behind the store. The address no longer exists, but it would have been on the east side of South Church Street just north of Fourth Street.

Marker needed: The last barbecue joint to charge less than $12 for a chopped plate.

– In Monroe County, Kentucky, pork shoulder means something completely different

– Marie, Let’s Eat! checks out Briar Patch Bar-B-Que in Hiram, GA again 4 years after his first visit

– Photos from last Sunday’s TMBBQ Festival

– A couple of sites react to Calvin Trillin’s New Yorker piece on NC barbecue: Triangle Business Journal, TWC News

– Last week, Howard Conyers (originally from Manning, SC) brought whole hog to New Orleans

– Speaking of whole hog, the Whole Hog Championship will be Nov 20-21 in Raleigh

Linkdown: 10/28/15

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– Calvin Trillin of The New Yorker heads down to NC with John Shelton Reed and Dan Levine in search of true ‘cue

For some years, I’m now prepared to admit, I somehow labored under the impression that Rocky Mount is the line of demarcation that separates the two principal schools of North Carolina barbecue. Wrong. The line of demarcation is, roughly, Raleigh, sixty miles west. The Research Triangle—the area encompassing Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill—is a sort of demilitarized zone, where someone who’s been concentrating on the barbecue scene, as I was on my most recent visit, half expects to see the distinctive blue helmets of United Nations peacekeepers.

– Frank Scibelli of Midwood Smokehouse is going fast casual with Midwood Smokeshack in a TBD location

– Charlotte Business Journal has a few more details on the new venture:

Scibelli says Midwood Smoke Shack would offer 70% of Midwood’s menu that features hand-pulled pork and chicken as well as brisket, ribs, sandwiches and burgers, plus side items such as mac-and-cheese and BBQ baked beans, and for dessert, peach cobbler and banana pudding.

– A couple more barbecue reviews from Marie, Let’s Eat!: Dave Poe’s in Marietta and the Dunwoody outpost of the Memphis Barbecue Company chain

– Harold Conyers is bringing SC whole hog barbecue to Nola

– Some photos from the 86th annual Mallard Creek Barbecue; we’ll have a few of our own in a post on Friday

– Does Lexington want to brand Lexington-style barbecue to prevent other restaurants outside of the city from diluting the brand?

– Queen City Q keeps on rolling, announcing a fourth location in the old Elwood’s BBQ & Burgers spot

– Chef Rick Bayless doesn’t like tv barbecue