Monk: The NC Food & Beverage Podcast speak with with Keith “Bub” Wright of Lexington Barbecue, who married into Monk family by way of Wayne Monk’s daughter Kelly, who he began dating in high school while working at Lexington Barbecue. Bub speaks with the NC F&B guys and schools them on Lexington-style barbecue and how they do things in Davidson County. Right off the bat, he explains why they serve their barbecue three ways: chopped, coarse chopped, and sliced.
Description: The gents go on the road to one of the “Mecca’s” of BBQ, Lexington, NC. Their first stop was at Lexington BBQ AKA Monks. Here’s what they learned:
What makes Lexington BBQ different than Eastern NC and Texas.
Why pork shoulder became the meat of choice
Who are the major players in the Lexington BBQ game.
When to take your meat off the smoker.
How many pounds of pork get cooked per day? When you learn this in relation to the amount of people there are in the city of Lexington you will be shocked!
After taking the summer off to recap Food Network’s BBQ Brawl, we’re back with our weekly rundown of barbecue news. We start by first celebrating the fantastic folks over at Bar-B-Q King in Lincolnton, who we featured on the blog earlier this week ahead of their big 50th anniversary coming up September 1.
At the risk of repeating myself, its fantastic to be celebrating a milestone in longevity as opposed to mourning the closing of yet another classic NC barbecue joint, which Kathleen Purvis so eloquently did in a story for Garden & Gun in 2019 (third link). Let’s hope it continues to be more of the former and less of the latter.
Native News
The Charlotte Observer covers Bar-B-Q King’s upcoming 50th anniversary
The restaurant has been smoking Piedmont-style barbecue and making hand-pattied burgers since 1971. https://t.co/RoCjBPDcc0
Southern Smoke BBQ is collaborating with Wilmington’s Flying Machine Brewing Company on an upcoming beer
Mac’s Speed Shop is expanding to Fort Mill
“This is a location we think is a little underserved for what we do at Mac’s. We think it will do well," says Shang Skipper, president of Mac's Hospitality Group. That barbecue joint should open in Fort Mill in 2022. https://t.co/26FOJtjNIj
Jiyeon Lee of Heirloom Market BBQ discusses their Korean-influenced sides
Chef Jiyeon Lee's pickled cucumber-radish salad and sweet and spicy crispy tofu at Heirloom Market BBQ are refreshing choices for those seeking to lighten the heft on their barbecue plate https://t.co/OhYtugRpuc
Monk: In an era where North Carolina barbecue fans are more worried about classic barbecue joints closing, it’s quite heartening to see when one is instead celebrating a landmark in it’s longevity. On September 1, Lincolnton’s Bar-B-Q King (not to be confused with the BBQ King drive-thru in Charlotte) celebrates their 50th anniversary. Fifty!
In September 1971, Steve and Becky Abernethy opened a barbecue restaurant to fill a need in the local Lincolnton food landscape, serving Lexington-style barbecue and fresh hand-pattied burgers. In the early 2000s, they brought on long-time employee Keith Smith on as partner. The operation has continued to be a family deal as Steve and Becky’s daughter Stephanie as well as Keith’s sons Jordan and Jared all work there today. Stephanie and Jordan are even engaged to be married next year. It’s all quite lovely.
In celebration of their 50th anniversary on September 1st they’re throwing back the price of their regular bbq sandwich to $1.99. Any customers who visit them on September 1st will also receive a free 50th anniversary cup and sticker.
They’ll also have sweet new 50th anniversary shirts for purchase as well. I’m digging them and hope to be able to snag one myself.
I’ve visited Bar-B-Q King a coupleof times over the past few years and am a huge fan. They are of course a family-owned business that serves the Lincolnton community and they’ve got this unique “hollerin’ orders” system where once orders are placed at the register they are literally yelled to the kitchen staff in the back. It’s quite the sight to behold, and they celebrate it on their cups and t-shirts – “50 years of hollerin’ orders.”
I also profiled Jordan Smith early last year if you want to get his perspective on the family business.
In a period where classic NC barbecue joints are more often than not closing, let’s take the opportunity to celebrate Bar-B-Q King. Congrats on 50 years, and here’s to another 50!
Bar-B-Q King is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 9pm. They celebrate their 50th anniversary on September 1st.
A version of this post appears in this week’s Smoke Sheet newsletter, which you should absolutely subscribe to if you haven’t already.
Monk: During the past nine weeks, season two of Food Network’s BBQ Brawl provided the perfect summer show for fans of barbecue and grilling looking to get their fix on television. I would go so far as to say it was even “must see,” when very few network BBQ TV shows seem that way these days.
This season of BBQ Brawl featured a new co-host with chef Eddie Jackson, who joined Bobby Flay and Michael Symon as hosts and team captains. Flay, Jackson, and Symon picked among 12 contestants to be on their respective teams, and each week, one contestant was sent home. Then it was down to just three barbecuers for the exciting finale last week.
Here are five reasons why this season of BBQ Brawl was must-see TV.
Legit Barbecue Talent
While the first season had heavyweights such as eventual winner Lee Ann Whippen as well as the likes of Kevin Bludso, Carey Bringle, and Tuffy Stone competing, the second season didn’t quite have the same star power. But there’s no denying the barbecue bonafides of many of the contestants.
The first contestant to go home, Christina Fitzgerald, is involved with Sugarfire Smoke House, which started in St. Louis, Missouri, and is now up to 15 locations across the southern and midwestern US after a recent expansion to Dallas, Texas and Jacksonville, Florida.
Speaking of St. Louis, David Sandusky (one of the three finalists) is also from The Gateway to the West. He is the owner and pitmaster of BEAST Craft BBQ Company, which regularly shows up on “Best of” lists for that famed barbecue city. Notably, Sandusky has opened two additional BEAST Craft restaurants in the St. Louis area, and all three have received accolades.
Fellow finalist Ara Malekian is the owner and pitmaster behind Harlem Road Texas BBQ in Richmond, Texas, which is a small town about 30 minutes southwest of Houston. Shortly after the restaurant opened in 2018, Texas Monthly BBQ Editor Daniel Vaughn called Harlem Road Texas BBQ “worth the journey” from Houston, particularly for the beef rib which Malekian modeled after Louie Mueller.
Oh, and let’s not forget famed pitmaster Rodney Scott as one of the judges. Not too much more needs to be said about the budding barbecue empire-builder that hasn’t already been said in countless podcasts, interviews, profiles, as well as his episode on Netflix’s Chef’s Table: BBQ episode. Scott brought BBQ star power to the judges’ table.
Real Challenges
Other competition shows like Chopped: Grill Masters feature pitmasters cooking in a kitchen with pre-smoked or pre-grilled ingredients. BBQ Brawl, on the other hand, was all live fire with the fun and drama that comes with cooking in the elements at the Star Hill Ranch outside of Austin.
For instance, Christopher Prieto had a chili mishap when the rocks of his campfire shifted from beneath the chili pot, spilling most but not all of his pot but unfortunately imparting a bitter smoke flavor to the chill. He managed to avoid going home that week, lucky for him.
Other contestants often encountered issues when they were assigned to cook some sort of dessert because of the unevenness of the heat when cooking over fire and coals. That is, other than the more classically-trained chefs in Taylor Carroll or Ara Malekian, who seemed to have little issue.
Then there’s David Sandusky, who seemingly majored in time mismanagement even while making it to the finale. The number of times he had to pivot his dish due to the live-fire not cooperating with his cooks could not be counted on one hand. Of course, this made for great TV as we never knew whether he was going to finish his food before the clock expired.
Representation of Women
This season, exactly half of the twelve contestants were women as well as two out of the final four. Contestants such as Lu Holter of Hudson, Wisconsin, Taylor Shulman Carroll of Southern Belle BBQ in Atlanta, and Brittani Bo Baker of Bubba’s Q Food Trucks in Tampa may not have won but they did well while making deep runs into the competition.
Brittani was arguably the hottest contestant for much of the second half of the season, earning her the honor of being the first contestant stolen when Team Eddie got down to one contestant and stole her from Team Michael. When her time was up just before the finale, judge Brooke Wiliamson thanked her for representing women as well as she did.
Oh and did I mention that the winner and “Master of Cue” was also a woman? Erica Blaire Roby of Dayton, Ohio absolutely caught fire at the right time and got Bobby Flay his second win in as many seasons of the show. Blaire is a former lawyer and sommelier and now will have a significantly higher profile in the food world. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next in her reign as “Master of Cue” and the Food Network Digital deal that comes along with it.
Overall Presentation
If I’m being honest, Food Network shows aren’t always known for their production quality. Thankfully, BBQ Brawl as a TV show took a step up in production in season two, notably in set design, cooking montages, and music.
In terms of judges, season one of BBQ Brawl featured an all-star barbecue panel in Amy Mills, Chris Lilly, and Moe Cason while season two mixed it up to great effect. The aforementioned Rodney Scott filled out the barbecue role on the panel while Top Chef: Charleston winner Brooke Williamson could intelligently critique the more technical details of the food.
And love him or hate him, Carson Kressley of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy fame added levity to the seriousness of competitions with his bubbly demeanor and sometimes-groan-inducing-but-nevertheless-clever puns.
You Can Actually Try the Contestants’ Food
Watching food competitions is one thing, but being able to taste the food from the show is even better.
In episode four “Gameday BBQ,” Prieto created what he called his “Triple Threat Wings” that are smoked, fried, and then finished on the grill. These wings actually won the advantage challenge for Team Eddie and now they are a Wednesday special at Prieto’s Prime Barbecue in Knightdale, North Carolina.
All in all, BBQ Brawl certainly fit the description of “must see TV” this summer for barbecue fans. In an era when very little TV is truly “must see” due to splintered audiences across network, cable, and the ever-growing number of streaming platforms, this was one show I consistently tuned in live week to week. I have yet to see whether Food Network has renewed it for a season 3, but I certainly hope we have some more BBQ Brawl to look forward to next summer.
What was your favorite part of BBQ Brawl Season 2? Are you hoping for a season 3?
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