Resident Culture

Linkdown: 10/30/24 – Thank Goodness for a Firewall edition

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Courtesy of WFAE

Featured: In case you missed it, Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in Shelby experienced a fire in their pit room late last week. It reportedly took 15 minutes to put out the fire but thankfully, the fire was contained by the firewall between the pitroom and the restaurant.

While in the immediate aftermath of the fire, the restaurant announced that it would be closed “indefinitely,” I’m happy to report that they are utilizing exterior pits and will reopen for their normal hours starting Wednesday (today!).

Eventually, Red Bridges will redo their pit room once they get through the insurance process. Thank goodness for that firewall, else we would’ve potentially lost an iconic barbecue restaurant that’s been around for nearly 80 years.

Native News

According to Edmar Simoes‘ Instagram, he has left Resident Culture and joined Flour Shop, a new American restaurant in the Montford neighborhood of Charlotte that utilizes a wood burning oven and emphasizes “a traditional style of cooking with fire while using the freshest, locally sourced ingredients.”

I reached out to Edmar and he confirmed the move and mentioned that he will be working on some sort of smoke special soon. So stay tuned.

Congrats to Longleaf Swine, who took home some awards in the recent News & Observer Raleigh’s Best List: Gold for Best Barbecue and Silver for Best Ribs & Best Chicken Wings

The Pik N Pig stall at the NC State Fair in Raleigh is always a popular stop

A recap of this past weekend’s Barbecue Festival in Lexington

In the afterglow of last weekend’s Concert for the Carolinas in Charlotte, here’s a great story on Eric Church’s early days playing at the old Woodlands Barbecue & Pickin’ Parlor in Blowing Rock from The State You’re In

Non-Native News

A couple of recent reviews from the ever-prolific friend of the blog, John Tanner, starting with smoked pastrami at ZZQ

…then he tried the Fletcher’s BBQ food truck that serves the Richmond area

…his most recent review is of Redemption BBQ in Short Pump, VA, which he proclaims may have the best pork in all of Virginia but don’t sleep on the Brunswick stew

Charlotte’s Got a Lot (of Barbecue Styles)

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“Charlotte is not really in either part of North Carolina, it’s a city of newcomers and we have other people’s barbecue.“

Monk: When I think of Charlotte barbecue, more often than not I tend to have the above quote in my head from Tom Hanchett, the former historian at Charlotte’s Levine Museum of the New South. Charlotte’s barbecue scene has grown steadily in the twelve years since Barbecue Bros started but that growth has not typically been because of restaurants that are serving strictly traditional North Carolina barbecue.

In the spirit of the official slogan of Charlotte’s Regional Visitor’s Authority (“Charlotte’s Got a Lot”), here are the styles of other people’s barbecue you can find in the Queen City.

Texas Barbecue: Jon G’s Barbecue

Jon G’s Barbecue still remains the best barbecue available in Charlotte, and Texas Monthly Barbecue Editor Daniel Vaughn thinks its even one of the top 10 Texas barbecue joints in the country (outside of Texas). I have always found Garren and Kelly Kirkman’s barbecue joint to be remarkably consistent, whether I’m at one of their weekly food truck services around the greater Charlotte area or at the restaurant in Peachland, where they’ve turned Barbecue Saturdays at their restaurant into a destination-worthy event for travelers from all across the southeast and even United States. 116 Glenn Falls St, Peachland, NC 28133 jongsbarbecue.com

Tex-Mex Barbecue: Union Barbecue

Earlier this year, Chefs Holden Sasser and Chase Young burst onto the Charlotte barbecue scene with “new school barbecue” and “Mexican flavors” in the form of their Union Barbecue food truck. Sasser is actually a Charlotte native who recently relocated back from San Francisco, where he worked in food technology and did barbecue pop-ups in his free time. Meats range from beef cheek barbacoa to pork carnitas to brisket (all served with house made tortillas) and they’ve got some seriously awesome, inventive sides. unionbarbecue.com

Midlands South Carolina Barbecue: Sweet Lew’s BBQ

In late 2023 Sweet Lew’s BBQ celebrated 5 years open, a nice milestone for the ever-changing Belmont neighborhood restaurant. One thing that’s been on the menu for a few years now is the Midlands, South Carolina specialty hash and rice (or barbecue hash or, simply, hash). There’s a lot to like about the other meats on the menu, but definitely don’t sleep on the hash. 923 Belmont Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205 sweetlewsbbq.com

Kansas City Barbecue: Midwood Smokehouse

While Midwood Smokehouse is more of what barbecue author John Shelton Reed calls an “international house of barbecue” with multiple styles on their menu, they were one of the first restaurants in Charlotte to offer burnt ends smoked out of their Oyler smoker when they opened in 2011. Multiple locations midwoodsmokehouse.com

Lexington Barbecue: Resident Culture Brewing

Another recent entrant to the Charlotte barbecue scene is Resident Culture Brewing, who last year brought on Chef Edmar Simoes (previously of Noble Smoke and Saucemans) to start their barbecue program out of the South End location of the brewery in late 2023. Simoes is actually Brazilian-born but has taken to American barbecue (as evidenced by his Instagram handle “american_bbq”) and learned the ways of Lexington-style barbecue from his time at Noble Smoke. Throw some barbecue slaw and some vinegar sauce onto a bit of barbecue, and you might as well be 60 minutes north on I-85. 332 W Bland St. Suite C Charlotte, NC 28203 residentculturebrewing.com

Resident Culture’s Barbecue Expands the Top Tier of Charlotte Barbecue

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Name: Resident Culture Brewing
Date: 8/14/24
Address: x
Order: Butcher’s Block Sampler with pork and brisket, red slaw, and hush puppies (link to menu)
Pricing: $$

Monk: Resident Culture Brewing made waves last year when they announced they would be hiring pitmaster Edmar Simoes (formerly of Noble Smoke and Sauceman’s) to start their barbecue program out of their South End location. They rolled it out in late 2023 but it wasn’t until summer 2024 that I personally was able to check it out.

And for me, it definitely did not disappoint. While I did initially say it may be in the conversation for best barbecue in town (and possibly in the top 3) more on that in a bit and why that’s not quite the case.

The pork seemingly owed a lot to Edmar’s time at Noble Smoke, and was perfectly smoky with a nice salt and pepper bark chopped in. Of the two meats, I made sure to finish it at that sitting and would be my must-order next time I visit.

The slices of brisket had a fantastic peppery bark you’d want to see on a Texas-style brisket. No choice of fatty or lean was offered, so the three slices were all from the lean side of the brisket. On a side note, the brisket reheated nicely several days later for a leftover sandwich made of the the slices plus some of the pickles and onions offered on the side,

In terms of sides, I appreciated the choice of red or white slaw and the red slaw paired really nicely with the chopped pork and doused in some Eastern Carolina vinegar sauce from the table. The generous helping of hush puppies were also a nice surprise in terms of taste and texture.

Upon further reflection and after getting a little more information in terms of the smoking setup, I would still put Resident Culture Brewing in the top tier of Charlotte barbecue but not quite in the top 3 or even the top 5. Edmar confirmed to me that they use an Ole Hickory gasser that can add wood to get smokiness but in any case I was still impressed by how good the barbecue was. For game days or lunch stops during a South End Brewery crawl, this is certainly some very good barbecue.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Brisket – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 3.5 hogs

Linkdown: 6/19/24 – The Whole Hog Jubilee Edition

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Native News

A couple of updates for this Saturday’s sold out Jon G’s Jubilee: first, Elliott Moss will be cooking whole hog!

…Comedian Tim Shrop will also be at the Jubilee

Elliott Moss has teased plans for his next venture in Florence, SC on Instragram

Meet pit crew member Jamie from Sam Jones BBQ’s Winterville location

After launching their barbecue program last year, Resident Culture is now offering a barbecue class with pitmaster Edmar Simoes. Classes will start on July 14 and run every second Sunday of the month from 6 a.m.-4 p.m. at Resident Culture’s South End location.

Ronald Simmons may be coming to a city near you in July

I’d saw Lewis Donald had a great week last week; first Sweet Lew’s BBQ was serving barbecue at last week’s US Open in Pinehurst

…and then he got engaged! Congrats to the happy couple!

Non-Native News

Lewis Barbecue‘s Charleston location has been closed since last week due to termite damage but will reopen tomorrow but temporarily shifting to outdoor dining with the full menu available from the trailer

Chef Angel Jimenez’s La Piraña Lechonera will continue this year in the South Bronx