NC

Linkdown: 2/25/15

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– The chapter on Midwood Smokehouse from Marie, Let’s Eat! was posted earlier this week (our photos from the meet up here); he also checked out Mac’s Speed Shop during his Charlotte-area travels in January

– More on Smoke Modern Barbeque’s second location in Ballantyne

– A review of Uncle J’s BBQ and Restaurant in Kings Mountain from the Gaston Gazette

– Expansion into the South is a sign of City Barbeque’s success; Speedy checked out their Cary location a few weeks back and thought it was decent

– Could Aaron Franklin actually win a James Beard Award?

– Did you know a barbecue pork sandwich chain used to dominate Texas and the rest of the south?

– Lexington makes the list on Thrillist’s list of best barbecue cities in the US

– Lockhart also makes the list at #3, and TMBBQ has a timeline of the city’s barbecue

– Is chicken mull having a moment? First a post on The Daily South, then another on Serious Eats (granted, both by Robert Moss), now Garden and Gun has a recipe

Linkdown: 2/18/15

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– Wow, Ed Mitchell’s Que in Durham has closed after less than a year at its American Tobacco Campus location

Mitchell explained that his Durham restaurant did not have any space for private dining for corporate events and only had capacity to cook one whole hog at a time, which was not enough to meet the demands of the restaurant and catering operation. “I fell in love with the space,” said Mitchell, adding that he should have had a better understanding of the space’s limitations compared to his business needs.

– In other closing news, could the River Arts District of 12 Bones Smokehouse be forced to leave its current location in favor of a new “redevelopment plan” along the river?

Now with the start of a multimillion-dollar project to redevelop areas along either side of the French Broad River, the 12 Bones site may have to make way for a new roundabout that is part of a plan to move Riverside Drive to the west, a city official said Friday. It’s a move that’s being contested by the property’s owner, former Asheville Vice Mayor Chris Peterson.

– More coverage on the upcoming Stonecrest location of Smoke Modern Barbeque, which opened its Huntersville location last week

– The Barbecue Festival received won 3 excellence awards at the 2015 North Carolina Association of Festivals and Events ShowFest conference and trade show held in Charlotte on Jan. 24 and 25

– A location of Kansas City chain Gates Bar-B-Q in Missouri burned down Monday night

– From last month, Garden and Gun’s 5 unusual barbecue spots

– Robert Moss’ list of 10 Must-Visit Carolina Barbecue Joints includes several Barbecue Bros faves

Hursey’s Bar-B-Q – Graham, NC

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Name: Hursey’s Bar-B-Q
Date: 2/14/15
Address: 1234 S Main St, Graham, NC 27253
Order: Two barbecue sandwiches (one slow, one without), large fries, two soft drinks (link to menu)
Price: $11

The newest (and I believe largest) location of Hursey’s Bar-B-Q replaced the previous Graham location, which was located in an old Hardee’s just off I-85/I-40 (if I am remembering that correctly). Many years ago (well before the blog), Mrs. Monk and I stopped there and this past Valentine’s Day we found ourselves stopping by this newer location for a quick bite on our way to Raleigh.

We didn’t get a chance to really check out much of the large barn-shaped establishment due to the fact that we had to get to Raleigh. But from what I could tell it did seem similar to the original location, with the order counter at the front and the dining room off to the side. This one does serve breakfast from 6-11am, as opposed to the other locations that open for lunch starting at 11.

Seeing as we were going to be eating in the car, we went for barbecue sandwiches – mine with slaw, hers without. Unfortunately, hush puppies would have been a 5-10 minute wait (since it was still technically breakfast time when we went) so we had to go with fries instead. The pork in the sandwich was moist and tangy and the crunchy white slaw complemented it nicely. I gobbled it up in just a couple of bites, seeing as I hadn’t eaten much of a breakfast that day. The fries were standard, but we found the large portion to be a bit small for two people to share seeing as how we asked the girl at the counter if they would be enough for two and she said that it would have.

I actually enjoyed this barbecue more than I remembered liking it at the original location. From what I understand, the barbecue is smoked at the original location daily and then shipped out to all of the other locations so there’s a chance the fried chicken and lackluster brunswick stew colored that previous visit. In any case, this was well worth the short jaunt off the highway.

–Monk

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 4 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 3.5 hogs
Hursey's Bar-B-Q on Urbanspoon

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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?