Howard Conyers

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

Linkdown: 2/11/15

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– Our State ruminates on the barbecue sandwich, deconstructed

– In this week’s blog for The Daily South, Robert Moss profiles a NASA scientist by day, and whole hog barbecue pitmaster by night

A career in engineering took Howard Conyers a long way from Paxville: to an undergraduate degree at North Carolina A&T followed by a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and materials science from Duke, and then to Louisiana. “I finished my Ph.D. and took my first job at Stennis,” Conyers says. “I lived in Slidell for a year and then moved to New Orleans.” Somewhere along the way, he started to miss his family’s style of whole hog barbecue. “I realized I had left something back home that is unique and special,” he says.

– Tyson Ho writes about the importance of mentors – barbecue and otherwise – in his latest blog for Serious Eats; he also spills the beans on the origins of the name Arrogant Swine

(If you’re wondering, the name came about when we were trying to find a pig-based url for my website. A whole hog joint needs a pig name, and url squatters had most of them. I tried every color pig.com, every variant spelling of hog, all to no luck. Then one day I walked past a poster for a beer called the “Arrogant Bastard Ale.” I wondered if Arrogant Swine was available, and it was, so that became my name.)

– Smoke Modern Barbeque is a new barbecue restaurant in Huntersville from Charlotte restaurateur Dennis Thompson, who is involved in Firebirds Wood Fire Grill and Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar; it opened on Monday

– …aaaand they already have a second location planned, slated to open in July in Ballantyne

– In more expansion news, Queen City Q is opening a second location in Matthews

– Sad news out of DC, as barbecue legend Mr. P (originally from NC) was taken off of life support earlier this week

– TMBBQ goes deep on best naner pudding in Texas, though I disagree with their assertion on NC naner pudding – its been served cold everywhere I’ve ever been

First, though, let’s talk about what unifies banana pudding in Texas. That’s temperature. If you venture over to North Carolina, it’ll come piping hot and covered in meringue, but in Texas it’s served straight from the fridge.

– JC Reid from the Houston Chronicle talks about the importance of wood and smoke (via TMBBQ)

– In other Texas barbecue news, The Dallas Observer is looking for a barbecue writer

– Smoky Oak Taproom, a Charleston barbecue restaurant with an impressive tap list, to open a location in Florence, SC

– Want to win a $100 gift card to The Pit Durham?