Linkdown: 4/30/14

– Two Tar Heels issue the true ‘cue challenge in the News and Observer:

So we are issuing a challenge. We will give a handsome “No Faux ’Cue” apron to the first person to email us at truecue@gmail.com with either (1) a citation to any federal, state, county or municipal statute or regulation that makes it impossible for even one North Carolina barbecue restaurant to cook with wood or charcoal or (2) the name and job title of any federal, state, county, or municipal official who has required an existing North Carolina barbecue restaurant to stop cooking with wood or charcoal, or forbidden a new one to start.

– Thrillist’s 7 ways to spot a fake bbq joint

– The Houston Chronicle has hired a full-time barbecue writer (via)

– Big Wayner had a few photos from this past weekend’s BBQ Capital Cook-off in Lexington

– The Capital Cook-off also helped feed more than 1,200 people through food banks

– The final two barbecue stops on the NC road trip for Marie, Let’s Eat! is Sauceman’s in Charlotte and R.O.’s Bar-B-Q in Gastonia; looking forward to Grant’s next NC roadtrip to the eastern part of the state in November

– Speaking of barbecue roadtrips, the guy behind Barbecue Ranking is looking for suggestions:

– Congrats to Midwood Smokehouse, Charlotte Magazine’s Best of the Best Voters’ Choice Winner for Barbecue

– And finally, regarding NC vs Texas barbecue, could Texas Rangers pitcher Matt Harrison have settled the debate?

Linkdown: 4/23/14

– Giving a whole other meaning to barbecue hash, the owner/operator of Smokey’s BBQ in Dallas, NC charged for selling marijuana in and around his restaurant

The NCAA recently allowed unlimited snacks for “student-athletes” and this article runs down the best advantages gained by schools due to local cuisine (many of which are not coincidentally barbecue)

NC State: The Wolfpack will attempt to turn the ACC’s best prospects away from Tallahassee by offering unlimited whole hog barbecue and vinegar-based sauce from The Pit in Raleigh. The toughest recruiting battles on Tobacco Road will be between NC State and North Carolina, which will attempt to lure recruits with fried chicken-and-cheddar biscuits from Chapel Hill’s Time-Out (available 24 hours a day, of course).

– A Barbecue Bros hometown joint gets a shout out from The Great NC BBQ Map

– Is Durham becoming a barbecue mecca? BBQ Jew thinks so.

– The Barbecue Bros tend to stay out of political debates and focus on barbecue, but this final paragraph in a story about last night’s debate of GOP candidates for Senate in NC caught our eye

In a lightning round at the end of the debate, the candidates were asked to pick their favorite style of North Carolina barbecue. Three picked Lexington, which is built around a vinegar-based red sauce.

“I love it all,” said Tillis, smiling coyly.

– The latest stops on Marie, Let’s Eat!’s epic NC barbecue road trip finds him in Hill’s Lexington Barbecue in Winston-Salem, Deano’s in Mocksville, and Carolina Bar-B-Q in Statesville; gotta say I’ve definitely enjoyed reading about Grant’s NC travels (barbecue-related and not) the past few weeks

Fire Smoke & Flavor BBQ Tour with Michael & Bryan Voltaggio: North Carolina

The Voltaggio bros stop by Wilber’s in Goldsboro as part of a barbecue tour sponsored by Williams-Sonoma. Speaking of which…

Hey, Restoration Hardware/Crate and Barrel/Target/whoever, how about you fund the Barbecue Bros official barbecue road trip? It’ll be super awesome, we promise.

-Monk