NC

Linkdown: 12/10/13

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– Our State Magazine has been profiling a NC barbecue restaurant a month and this month they turn their attention to Midwood Smokehouse, currently #1 on the Barbecue Bros Charlotte big board

Frank Scibelli just comes right out and says it: If you want good barbecue in Charlotte, you don’t have a lot of options.

But Charlotte is growing, you say. There are more cooks cooking more food, and more varieties of it, than ever before.

“Still not good barbecue,” he says.

Maybe it’s got to do with the smoker. You have to have a smoker, he says. Not many barbecue places in Charlotte have one. He does. He mentions it over and over again. He asks if I’ve seen inside it, where at least one piece of hickory is burning 24 hours a day. He makes sure I know the only thing that powers his smoker is wood.

– The final report on the unfortunate Sandy Plains Baptist Church salmonella outbreak in Shelby in September confirms it was salmonella

– A look inside last weekend’s Garden and Gun Jubilee Made in the South Weekend, in which Rodney Scott had a pig roast on Sunday that had to have been amazing

– Old Carolina Barbecue set to open in Cleveland and appears to be trying to do it the right way

Before entering the business, Schafer toured the Carolinas and visited dozens of eateries to ensure his menu would be as genuine as possible.

“We didn’t invent barbecue, we just wanted to do it right,” he said. “There’s authenticity behind the recipes.”

Key to the barbecued items are large on-site smokers.

– For the uninitiated, a great primer on NC Barbecue (mostly eastern) from a man who clearly knows what he is talking about, Bob Garner (via, tambien en espanol)

– Finally, yet another plug to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

Reader Submission

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We received the following submission from someone calling himself “McLovin”:

Me and my wife decided to go have lunch on a Saturday at Smiley’s. First of all the claim that it is good food is a whole lie….I’ve had better. My wife ordered their chicken salad sandwich. It was HORRIBLE nothing special just in a regular burnt sandwich bread and their chicken salad didn’t taste good. we took one bite and told the lady at the cash registered that we did not eat the chicken salad sandwich and was told we had to pay for it anyway. You and I know well that when something does not taste good customer does not pay for it. We felt they were rude and greedy. Since then we have told our experience  to our family and friends to avoid a bad experience. Bottom line is DONT EAT THERE!!!

After spending way too much time trying to figure out why an eight year old is married (age guess based on grammar skills), I decided to reply to our loyal reader McLovin’ to explain our positive review of Smiley’s. It appears that we had a much better experience than the dear reader. I think the main reason behind it is that we aren’t dumb. Seriously – who goes to any restaurant in Lexington and orders a chicken salad sandwich? I can’t stress enough how bad of a decision that was. It really calls into question every other decision your wife ever made (marriage vows included). So yea – if you want chicken salad, don’t go to Smiley’s. If you want great barbecue, then go on over and have yourself a great meal.

As for your assertion that you shouldn’t have to pay for food that doesn’t taste good, there’s a billion dollar health food industry that has something to say about that. So sorry the “greedy” folks at Smiley’s kept the outrageous $4.25 they charged you for your chicken salad sandwich, but next time, man up, order a real meal, and you’ll have a better experience.

Thanks for reading!

-Speedy

Linkdown: 12/4/13

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Kind of a light week in barbecue news…

– Sign the True ‘Cue Pledge today

– The pit shed at Scott’s Bar-B-Que was damaged early last week but should be rebuilt soon, according to Rodney Scott (via)

– Here’s a recipe for brunswick stew from Poplar Tent Presbyterian Church in Concord, NC that includes rice as opposed to potatoes

– 3 suspects sought in a Currituck County barbecue restaurant robbery

– NYC’s new barbecue pits includes Mighty Quinn’s; also, meet the pitmasters from those barbecue joints

To placate his wife’s North Carolina family, he [Hugh Mangum] fused that style with Texas to arrive at “Texalina” — but what has emerged is uniquely NYC.

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Monk: Barbecue lovers flocked to Midwood Smokehouse in Charlotte on November 20 for a four course “Southern ‘Cue Supper” where special guest Sam Jones of the Skylight Inn in Ayden, NC was serving up eastern North Carolina, whole hog barbecue. Having been raised in the Piedmont, Speedy and I were not familiar with the actual barbecue from the world famous Skylight Inn, but we knew the name and understood it’s importance. Sam Jones’s family has been cooking barbecue in eastern North Carolina for 175 years, so clearly he is going to know a thing or two about cooking a whole hog.

Speedy: Walking in, Monk and I were impressed with Sam’s custom built pit, which he made in order to smoke a whole hog exactly like he does at Skylight Inn. The hog was already off the pit by the time we arrived, but we could smell the coals, so we knew we were in for a treat. We arrived a little late (sorry, Monk) and were shown to our seats at a full family style table. It was a nice touch to eat family style with some new friends. The other nice touch was the beer pairing from NoDa Brewing with each course. It was definitely enjoyable, though that would have been a better treat on a non-school night.

Monk: Not to mention the full pint glasses of NoDa beer seemed to come out one right after the other. I finished my beers but most folks didn’t keep up (don’t want to call anyone out but one of them has a name that rhymes with “beady”).

Speedy: I’ll admit it. I was there for the ‘cue, not the brew. Besides, I was driving. YOUR LIFE WAS IN MY HANDS, MONK!

When we sat, the appetizers were already served, but honestly the most disappointing piece to me was that only the hog was cooked by Sam and his crew, so we were not privy to his famous cornbread or Skylight Inn slaw.

Monk: The Midwood sides are fine but it would have been nice to get the full Skylight Inn experience that our table neighbor Dennis who grew up eating there was telling us about.

Speedy: The highlight of the meal was most definitely the hog. Chopped fine, eastern-style, the meat was smoky and tender. Unlike a lot of joints, the hog skin was chopped into the meat, which gave a bit of a crisp bite. I ended up adding a little bit of the vinegar based sauce, which added a bit more tang. All in all, the chopped pork was top notch.

Monk: That pork was a revelatory experience. The taste and smoke was pretty much perfect and as Speedy mentioned, there were crispy pieces of pork skin mixed into the barbecue. This was a first for me, and I loved every bite of it. Afterwards, on our way to Speedy’s car we asked if we could take a photo of the smoking rig hoping to also get a photo with Sam in the process. While Sam initially stepped inside, we ended up chatting for a good 15-20 minutes his childhood buddy named Clay who had known him since 7th grade and came along to help. Eventually, Sam came back out and we got our picture with both Clay and Sam. Fine, fine people those guys.

Speedy: Yeah it was definitely cool to get the “inside scoop” from a member of the pit team. He was definitely a good ole boy and just like smokin’ hogs with his buddies. These guys live, breathe, and most certainly eat barbecue. And they definitely know how to cook it.

Overall, this was a great event on a Wednesday night. I think the $35 price tag may have been a bit steep, but overall, it was an enjoyable experience. I’d definitely go back for a similar event so hopefully there’s more to come!