NC DOT, careless of the thousands of victims of The Great Wilber’s Debacle, now turns its guns on Lexington. NC Dot has determined that the Smiley’s-Speedy’s section of Winston Road apparently gets a fair amount of traffic. Of course it does. It contains two barbecue places.
Robert Moss reflects on Charleston’s dining scene so far, including the barbecue scene which went from “minor outpost to [an] acclaimed destination”
I’ve got a few quibbles with Charlotte Agenda’s 5 best barbecue spots in Charlotte; specifically 6 of the 10 barbecue spots mentioned between the top 5 and the honorable mentions
His barbecue spot on Freedom Drive just opened, but Chef Jim Noble is just getting started on his plot there. Coming up next: Suffolk Punch Blendery and his latest restaurant concept, Bossy Beulah’s Chicken Shack. We now have details on these projects: https://t.co/jrJWQADf0i
A summer NC barbecue bracket pitting western/Lexington-style versus eastern; you can place your votes over at the Carolina Hurricanes blog Canes Country
We kick off the first round of the CC Barbecue Wars today, and ketchup is the order of the day in the opening round of our attempt to identify North Carolina’s best barbecue. Vote for your favorite western barbecue now! https://t.co/yn7CvNPKqG
This isn’t barbecue related (despite the photo below), but is highly recommended 8 minute read, particularly if you have lived in Charlotte in the past 20 years
I wrote about The Penguin and what Charlotte was and what it is now. https://t.co/ckdeAUfNar
Monk: My Memorial Day weekend in the Charleston area began and ended with two great whole hog barbecue sandwiches. At the end of a weekend of drinking and eating junk food at the beach, both myself and Mrs. Monk were no in no mood to share a huge platter of meat. For a review of nearly the full menu at the Martin’s in downtown Nashville, check out our extremely positive review from last summer.
On the Monk family’s drive from the Mount Pleasant Pier to James Island, I texted Speedy to get recommendations on what to get from Nashville (something I didn’t do for Central BBQ in downtown Memphis), and he said I really couldn’t go wrong with anything. Again, seeing as how I wasn’t going to order several meats, I went with the whole hog sandwich with a hoecake as my side and a glass bottle of Cheerwine (no beer for me after the long weekend).
This was a pretty dang good sandwich that came topped with white slaw. I added a splash of vinegar sauce and Texas Pete and while this wasn’t quite on the level of the sandwich from Sweatman’s, it was still very good. Not too bad for a joint open for just a few weeks, even if it is from the well-oiled barbecue machine that is Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joints. Based on this sandwich, I can only assume that the rest of the menu would be of similar quality and thus on par with what Speedy regularly gets in Nashville.
I ordered the hoecake as my side and looking back, a cornbread pancake probably wasn’t the smartest side to order if I was trying to eat lighter. And it turns out that I had forgotten that I had actually tried one in Nashville as part of our Big Poppa Sampler platter. In our review, I did note that I would definitely get them again so thankfully, I did not regret my decision.
This Charleston location had only opened a few weeks prior to our visit but has already become a local favorite. And for good reason, as all indications point to it already being on par with other Martin’s locations due to its great food as well as its fun-looking beer garden outdoor bar area. Charlestonians should count themselves very lucky to have yet another option for whole hog barbecue (in addition to Rodney Scott and Swig & Swine in Summerville) in Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint.
More content from Charleston Wine and Food Festival from the Tales from the Pits guys. A lot of familiar ground on Rodney Scott, with a little more focus on his recent expansion to Birmingham and any potential future expansion plans he has. Lots more podcasts to come from Tales from the Pits from the festival.
Rodney Scott grew up cooking whole hogs at his family’s general store in the small town of Hemingway, South Carolina. The tradition of hogs cooked under the direct heat of coals burned down from wood splits was the way Rodney learned to cook and still utilizes today.
As food media began to take notice of the whole hog traditions being carried on by Rodney, Hemingway would see an increase in tourists coming to try he and his family’s barbecue. Over the course of time Rodney would meet and become friends with Nick Pihakis, who encouraged Rodney to come to Charleston to open his own place. Rodney Scott’s BBQ opened in 2016 to huge success and acclaim. The city of Charleston embraced his barbecue traditions and in 2018 he became only the second pitmaster to win an acclaimed James Beard chef award.
Rodney and the Pihakis Restaurant Group continue to grow the Rodney Scott’s BBQ brand and spread more whole hog greatness across the country, the latest installment being the opening in early 2019 of a new location in Birmingham, Alabama.
I got major FOMO listening to this podcast of the Tales from the Pit guys rundown of their 5 days in Charleston earlier this month. Total FOMO. I will definitely have to try to make it out next year.
There are so many amazing events that take place during the five day Charleston Wine + Food (CHSWFF) festival and we were fortunate to be granted media access to many of them. From whiskey-centric experiences to barbecue excursions, we did our best to take in all of the sights and sounds of this incredible culinary opportunity.
This episode will give you a rundown of all of the events we covered as well as some food and drink highlights from each. We were fortunate to get to spend time with some amazing barbecue talents such as Rodney Scott, Sam Jones, Jonathan and Justin Fox, John Lewis, Anthony DiBernardo, and many more.
We’ve got some exciting interviews that we’ll be posting in the coming weeks from these events, so stay tuned for those. A special thanks to Alyssa Maute Smith and the entire Charleston Wine + Food team for putting together such an outstanding collection of unbelievable events and excursions. Be sure to follow CHSWFF on social media to get tickets for next year’s events when they are announced!
Author Adrian Miller made his way through NC, SC, GA, and FL last week doing research for his forthcoming book “Black Smoke” and made a stop at Grady’s BBQ
While back in Charleston, Rodney flew back in town to meet with presidential candidate Kamala Harris at the Charleston store
South Carolina Tourism is breaking records in part due to the Barbecue Trail
RIP Rick Schmidt of Kreuz Market
Rick Schmidt has passed away. He was a giant in TX BBQ, and carried the torch for @KreuzMarket for decades before passing it on to his son, Keith. He told us about his life in BBQ in this 2014 interview: https://t.co/TvqCW1Tv7A
In Memphis, you’ll be surrounded by some of the most finger-licking delicious barbecue joints in the country. Whether you prefer brisket, pulled pork, or a slab of baby back ribs, more than 100 barbecue joints across town are ready to wow you (mostly with pork since that’s what Memphis-style is all about). The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest each May draws more than 75,000 barbeque-loving attendees. While in town, sign up for a class with Memphis Barbecue Supply, including free classes on how to cook competition-quality pulled pork and pork ribs. Yum.
Meatfest: NM style
Heard of New Mexico’s grand pork festival? @GustavoArellano takes us inside World’s Largest Matanza- an annual fiesta in Belen, N.M. complete with 43 pigs, 300 gallons of chile and 22,000 tortillas. https://t.co/JaciXv1JVa
Stamey’s Barbecue with a mini-tweet storm last week; none of which is wrong (click on the tweet below to see the rest):
whole shoulders solely over hardwood coals served with a VINEGAR based dip, that has a hint of ketchup. We respect all barbecue restaurants still cooking with wood in the east, Piedmont, or western part of the state. We are not interested in debates, but we want the records ….
Rock the Block in downtown Charleston is Saturday, February 23 and benefits Hogs for the Cause; Sam Jones and Justin and Jonathan Fox of Fox Bros BBQ will be in attendance
“The city caught my attention because of how pleasant it is,” says Rodney Scott, the James Beard Best Chef Southeast 2018 for his Rodney Scott’s BBQ in Charleston. He’s set to open his next, identical concept in Birmingham first-quarter 2019. “It’s a big city, but it feels like a small town,” he says. “It doesn’t feel like New York or Chicago, but it’s just as important a food city in my opinion.”
WBTV in Charlotte recently featured the “Love Endures” mural by artist Curtis King, which was saved from demolition and now resides behind Sweet Lew’s BBQ
Thanks, WBTV, for spotlighting artist Curtis King's LOVE ENDURES history mural in Belmont neighborhood. Painted in 2017, its original site was demolished — but Sweet Lew's BBQ reinstalled it outside their restaurant. https://t.co/9G8aWPIovh
The New York Times’ eating guide for Atlanta for this weekend’s Super Bowl and gives Bryan Furman and B’s Cracklin’ Barbecue a shoutout for being the only whole hog joint in town
Sure, why not?
BAR-B-Q Bowl? Greenville, NC bidding for new bowl game under that tentative title in 2020: https://t.co/FytXECunsV
Some barbecue mea culpas from @mossr in regards to a recent article on SC barbecue buffets as well as his Southern Living Top 50 BBQ list on this episode of @winnowpodcast from a few weeks back https://t.co/8WnVmcSzWe
For the barbecue buffet article, Moss incorrectly noted that after Bessinger’s Barbecue shutting down its buffet (while still remaining open as a restaurant) there were only two more buffets left in the lowcountry. Turns out, he was wrong – and apparently people let him know about all the places he missed such as Music Man’s Bar-B-Que in Monck’s Corner and Kelly’s Barbecue in Summerville. The barbecue buffet is something you mainly see in South Carolina and I have only been to a couple in NC: Fuller’s Old Fashion BBQ in Lumberton – which has since relocated to Fayetteville from Lumberton due to flooding as a result of Hurricane Matthew two years ago – and Duke’s Old South BBQ in Leland which has since closed. I suspect if there are more barbecue buffets out there, they are more likely in the coastal plain of eastern NC since we don’t really see them in the piedmont.
In regards to his Top 50 BBQ Joints list, Moss got some grief from Texans who just couldn’t believe that a non-Texas joint was #1 on his list (Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Hemingway, SC ) and that only 3 Texas joints were in the top 10. Apparently they went so far as to refer to his list as “garbage.” Seems a bit harsh, but perhaps not unexpected from Texans when it comes to barbecue – they take that ish seriously.
Check out our latest episode, a roundtable recap of our whole hog trip, plus another giveaway announcement. You really should be following us on Instagram (@ TalesFromThePits)
The Tales from the Pits crew and The Smoking Ho recap their epic #HogTripping roadtrip from Texas through the Carolinas and back that took place earlier this month. I even get a brief mention at around the 49:45 mark, from when I was able to briefly meet up with them at Lewis Barbecue the Saturday of Labor Day.
When Nirvana became popular, the first thing I did is I bought a beach house in North Carolina and spent years up there, and I just ate pulled pork like f—ing crazy from the time I was 22 to about 25 years old,” Grohl said in between temperature checks. When he broke his leg on tour a few years ago and was holed up at home, he really dove into making it himself.
– The latest on Noble Smoke, though you may find it behind the Charlotte Business Journal paywall if you have visited the site a few times this month
– Triad fall festivals including the Barbecue Festival in Lexington and Whole Hog Barbecue Championship in Raleigh are moving ahead as planned and do not expect to be impacted by the aftermath of Florence
– The N.C. Department of Transportation and Amtrak are offering a 15% discount on train rides to Lexington during the two days of The Barbecue Festival
The thick, sweet smoke, tangled with the scent of hickory, wafts through from the barbecue pits in Lexington. Here the air smells of tender meat, falling off the bone, slathered in the town’s very own tomato-based sauce.
– The Smoking Ho on Lewis Barbecue: “If you picked Lewis Barbecue up and placed it anywhere in Texas, it would make the Texas Monthly BBQ Top 10 list. Easily.”
