The NC F&B Podcast

Linkdown: 4/20/22

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Monk: After Rodney Scott and Adrian Miller made some long overdue contributions to black barbecue books last year, we have a couple of new entries in 2022. Matt Horn of the acclaimed Horn Barbecue in Oakland released his new barbecue book (with Adrian Miller giving the foreword) on April 12. In addition to the recipes of what he calls “West Coast Barbecue,” Horn recounts his barbecue journey and how it echoes “the glorious lineage of African American barbecue in the US.”

Coincidentally, Kevin Bludso also released his barbecue book on April 12. Bludso similarly recaps his journey, which has taken him from Compton, CA to the small Texas town of Corsicana.

Rodney Scott’s cookbook last year was the first in decades from a black pitmaster, and we have two more this year from an old veteran and an up-and-coming Michelin-starred chef. Let’s keep it going.

Native News

The Kings of Q Barbecue Festival, named in honor of Latham “Bum” Dennis of Bum’s Restaurant and the late Pete Jones of Skylight Inn, returns next month to Ayden after 2 years off

Longleaf Swine is targeting an August opening for their long-awaited brick and mortar in Raleigh

The Pedalin’ Pig in Banner Elk is featured by Spectrum News

Jon G’s is back at Triple C today

Brisket and Bubbles from The NC F&B Podcast is back June 4 in Raleigh

Non-Native News

Matt Horn gets a writeup in the New York Times

You Grill Girl! is Austin’s first female focused grilling event

Brantley Creek BBQ & Co gives Odessa, TX a legit barbecue destination joint

Bryan Curtis of The Press Box recaps a visit to Goldee’s in Ft. Worth in the first 10 minutes of this episode. “Dude, it was amazing.”

Friday Find: Brandon and Elizabeth Shepard of Shepard Barbecue on The NC F&B Podcast

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Monk: From what I’m seeing on Instagram, Shepard’s Barbecue looks to serve destination-worthy barbecue on Emerald Isle. And based on this podcast with the NC F&B Podcast from last month, he seems to be a thoughtful guy about where he fits in the current barbecue landscape and how he might be able to affect some change for future barbecue entrepreneurs. And it sounds like they are finding success in Emerald Isle, with a move to a bigger space in the near future as of the recording of this conversation along with a new concept in their current, smaller space once they move out.

Description: Brandon Bnice Shepard has discovered his culinary identity and its lucky for the citizens of the Emerald Isle, NC! Despite the grind of making world class BBQ, Brandon partners with his wife Elizabeth to run the front of the house and they stay close to their little girl by bringing her to work to stoke the fire! 

Listen in to hear Brandon talk about what it means to him to connect with his cultural roots to make BBQ. Also, learn about some of Shepard’s culinary heroes like, Helen Turner, Steve Grady and more. It’s a tasty episode!

Friday Find: A “Mecca” Of Cue At Lexington BBQ

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Link to podcast | Spotify

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!
  • Where to put the dip versus the sauce?

Linkdown: 12/2/20

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Jordan Jackson, formerly of Bodacious Bar-B-Q in Longview, has resurfaced at Franklin Barbecue after a stint in rehab. Shortly after Bodacious Bar-B-Q was named the #4 barbecue restaurant in the last Texas Monthly top 50 list from 2017, Jackson disappeared and left both the restaurant and his protégé Bryan Bingham behind in reasons related to drugs and alcohol. This is a wonderfully reported story from Daniel Vaughn on the restaurant and people he left behind in Longview. Well worth your time.

Native News

Jon G’s gets a nice write up from AndrewLoves_

Charlotte Agenda has a local Charlotte gift guide, including barbecue rub from Midwood Smokehouse

A couple of barbecue-related items make WRAL Out and About’s NC foodie gift guide

Happy 4th Anniversary to the NC F&B Podcast who has interviewed lots of great NC barbecue personalities

Non-Native News

Chipotle gets in on the brisket trend

John Tanner’s Barbecue Blog gets in on the recent Georgia barbecue action

More Georgia barbecue

House Park Bar-B-Que was damaged by a fire early Tuesday morning but hopes to rebuild

Everything bagel chicken wings? Everything bagel chicken wings.

Colder temps call for chicken mull

Thanks for the shout out, Dan Williams! He cited our site in an interview on the Lang BBQ Smokers Blog.

DW: There are some millennials like me that seem to really care about these things, including some chefs opening bbq restaurants that care about continuing a regional bbq tradition, like Buxton Hall in Asheville. Organizations like the Southern Foodways Alliance are also trying to document what’s important about bbq in all of these various regions and profiling the key restaurant players in those places in the south. One of my favorite blogs, BarbecueBros.co, is run by some young guys who are just friends and like to write about regional bbq traditions and restaurants, particularly in the Carolinas which, in my view, is where we should start when talking about pork bbq.