A couple of big barbecue books are now available for pre-order. “Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ” by Rodney Scott and Lolis Eric Elie will be released on March 16 and Adrian Miller’s “Black Smoke” from UNC Press will be out on April 27. Both are available for preorder now here and here, and I can’t wait to read both of them to get different perspectives on barbecue. I strongly encourage you to do the same. -Monk
“Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue” by Adrian Miller @soulfoodscholar is available now for preorder wherever books are sold (on sale April 27th) https://t.co/4KZr3y8hKt
You might not associate Illinois with BBQ but 17th Street Barbecue in Murphysboro was certifiably 100-Mile-BBQ-worthy — a place you’d drive two hours to experience. RIP Mike Mills, its genial owner and pitmaster. An Illinois culinary legend in every sense. https://t.co/Oi3qQk07se
CM Smokehouse from Cade Mercer gives South Austin a new and promising food truck option
Cade Mercer (formerly of Guess) is slinging BBQ in South Austin at his own truck CM Smokehouse. The usual suspects with a brisket melt and baby back “wings.” The fried ribs are addictive. pic.twitter.com/FBtgkKEKMa
Texas Monthly makes the case for a barbecue tour of the Texoma region north of Dallas
From brown gravy sauce to pecan pie with brisket, joints from Denison to Gainesville provide lots of solid (and surprising) options. https://t.co/FwENaSzUk7
In his latest issue of The Cue Sheet, Robert Moss examines the ten best college cities or towns to attend according to nearby barbecue options. While my alma mater NC State is mentioned as a future possibility once the planned restaurants like Sam Jones BBQ, Wyatt’s Barbecue, and Longleaf Swine open their doors in 2021 (not to mention Prime BBQ in Knightdale that opened this year and the upcoming Ed Mitchell’s The Preserve), several NC towns make the list. Not on the list either is Chapel Hill, primarily due to the loss of Allen & Son last year.
East Carolina University in Greenville has B’s Barbecue, Sam Jones Barbecue and the two Ayden joints nearby (Skylight and Bum’s) and comes in at #9. Surprisingly, Catawba College in Salisbury, NC makes the list just ahead of Greenville due to a couple of joints in town (College Barbecue and Richard’s) plus its proximity to Lexington and its myriad options for barbecue.
That’s it for NC on this list but both Columbia and Charleston appear further down from our neighbors to the south. I won’t spoil the rest of the list, but if you think hard enough you can probably guess which university and city takes the #1 spot on the list.
Whether you major in ribs or brisket is up to you: The Top 10 Colleges in the South, Ranked by BBQ https://t.co/RUzoistHAi
This smothered tater tots collaboration between Fox Bros Bar-B-Q and Nina and Rafi looks amazing
Announcing our collaboration w/ our friends at @ninaandrafi! “Meat Me In Detroit Tots”! Tots smothered in N&R Marinara, mozz, pepp, soppressata & capicola! At N&R try the old fashioned with our bbq sauce, mozz, pork, onions, spicy cherry peppers, finished w/ our vinegar sauce! pic.twitter.com/a8l6raflYt
An American pitmaster living in Hong Kong names the US barbecue restaurantshe dreams of going back to some day, including Rodney Scott’s BBQ, Cozy Corner, Franklin Barbecue, and Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ
Pork n’ Pine Santa delivers pulled pork sammies in Baltimore
In Baltimore there’s a business called Pork n’Pine where Santa comes to your house on a bicycle with a fresh 9-foot-tall Christmas tree strapped to the front, and a sack of pulled pork sandwiches. This is undoubtably the most brilliant business concept in human history. pic.twitter.com/rA9B2jSSSB
This week, Adrian Miller, the James Beard Award-winning author and self-proclaimed “Soul Food Scholar” shared the cover art and preorder link for his forthcoming book entitled “Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue.” As I noted in my recent Barbecue Bros Book Club entry for “North Carolina’s Roadside Eateries” by D.G. Martin, while the John T. Edges and Bob Garners of the world have given us so much in terms of exposing us to places we might never have known about otherwise, it’s well past time to get a different perspective.
I am very much looking forward to reading both this book as well as Rodney Scott’s upcoming book to get just that. “Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue” will be out April 22, 2021 on University of North Carolina Press.
“Black Smoke celebrates the significant contributions that African Americans have made to the American barbecue story. You’ll learn how African Americans honed and popularized a cuisine rooted in Native American culinary tradition, and became its most effective ambassadors. I profile fascinating barbecuers from the past two centuries, look at different aspects of African American barbecue culture, and opine about barbecue’s future.”
The BBQ Review (@BbqRate) is a Twitter account I just found out about
Hubba Hubba Smokehouse, Flat Rock, NC. Cool local village w/bakery, shops, restaurants. Limited menu due to COVID. Excellent texture and flavor, prefer the great mustard sauce to the very sweet red sauce. 8.3 Highly recommend a detour if you’re on I-26. #bbq#NorthCarolinapic.twitter.com/WcZICW3cXe
Horn Barbecue has finally opened in Oakland (finally!)
Seriously. Honestly. Truly. It's happening.
Horn Barbecue is finally opening on Saturday in West Oakland (for real this time). Expect long lines and the best smoked brisket in the Bay Area https://t.co/nKNEgkuRvU
Texas Monthly BBQ Week specials are happening all over the state this week. Click on "Browse Specials" at this link to find where to get beef rib shepherd's pie, bacon ribs, brisket-stuffed chile rellenos, and even BBQ spaghetti: https://t.co/yoLuyGPsZN
From writer Caroline Schnapp reflecting on her childhood in Durham at local institution Bullock’s Bar-B-Q to an unassuming barbecue joint in Alabama between a race track and a Bass Pro Shop
A barbecue pit between a racetrack and a Bass Pro Shop is one of the best BBQ spots in the state of Alabama.https://t.co/uKzRz0eCoG
Raleigh Magazine has the latest on the still-about-to-be-booming Raleigh barbecue scene; the article notes that Ed Mitchell’s new venture The Preserve hopes to finish its kitchen soon for takeout and that Friendship Barbecue is not moving forward
Sam Jones BBQ’s Raleigh location is on track for a November opening
The last chance to claim your #SummerofCue t-shirt is today by 3pm
Non-Native News
Fresh off the release of Chef’s Table: BBQ, Rodney Scott’s got a book coming out next year titled “Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ: Every Day Is a Good Day” that is co-written with Lolis Eric Elie; you can pre-order it now (h/t Robert Moss’s The Cue Sheet)
The Charleston Post and Courier writes up the SC Midlands barbecue restaurants like Big T Bar-B-Q, True BBQ, and Hite’s BBQ, who were all featured in the Food & Wine 50 states article