Linkdown: 8/19/15

– Charlotte restaurateur Jim Noble is getting into the barbecue business and while its still a ways off (no name or location yet), I’m very much encouraged

First, he needs to secure a Charlotte site that’s close to Interstate 77 with easy access. Most importantly, the restaurant needs to be in a space that allows the barbecue to be slow-cooked over wood, Noble adds.

– Jim Noble had previously mentioned the upcoming barbecue venture in an interview in Food Republic in April from friend of the blog Sarah Crosland, stating “[b]arbecue is a passion with my heart”

– Robert Moss has details on the upcoming Durham barbecue restaurant Picnic  from Wyatt Dickson (the barbecue man) and Ben Adams (the chef)

-A review of Moss’s latest barbecue book, Barbecue Lover’s The Carolinas

– Barbecue beer pairing: Charlotte Five (well, really OooWee BBQ) says IPA’s in the fall/winter and pale ales in the spring/summer

– Barbecue beer pairing, pt 2: Garden and Gun has suggestions from several southern bottle shops including a scotch ale,  a smoked porter, an amber, and a brown ale

“Most people will suggest a smoked beer. I find that the pairing of smoked beer and smoked meat works for about three bites, and that is not how I or any normal person eats ribs or pulled pork. I like to introduce softer, maltier beers that can balance the salt and set up a nice platform for the smoke to dance on.”—Brandon Plyler, Charleston Beer

– The 112th Charlotte Picnic is this Friday and features hickory smoked chicken and pork, but that’s Charlotte, TN not Charlotte, NC

-From an earlier issue of Garden & Gun earlier this year

 

– Press release on the special train stop on October 24 for the Barbecue Festival

 

Linkdown: 5/20/15

– In cool local barbecue and beer news, Birdsong Brewing is brewing a small batch beer with the help of Queen City Q

– Congrats to Mac’s Speed Shop as they took 5th in whole hog at last weekend’s Memphis in May

– Charlotte food writer Kathleen Purvis breaks down 5 new barbecue books from 12 Bones, Franklin Barbecue, and more

– Charlotte Five points out what you can eat at The Improper Pig for under $20 (tip not included)

– Chef Ben Adams of Durham’s Piedmont is leaving that restaurant to open a barbecue restaurant in North Durham with Wyatt Dickson, whom he met back in college at UNC

– Meanwhile, The AP Stylebook gets things horribly, horribly wrong: barbecue is a noun not a verb

– This opinion article from blues singer Pam Saulsby contains some updates on Ed Mitchell’s next venture

A reliable source tells me that while Mr. Mitchell’s Que Restaurant and Blues Experience is no longer in business at The American Tobacco Campus in Durham, there are plans to re-open in a larger location. In fact, Mitchell has his eye on two locations: one between Chapel Hill and Durham and another on the outskirts of Raleigh.

– Robert Moss has a list of the top 5 southern barbecue sides, broken down by region, in his latest column

– Catching up with prior posts from Moss, one on Aaron Franklin winning a James Beard award and another on shoulder clod, “Texas’s forgotten bbq star”

– If you’re smoking barbecue at home (and you should), here’s some great info on what wood to use for what meat

– The Men In Blazers met up with GFOP’s (great friends of the pod) at Joe’s Kansas City last week