It’s NCAA tournament time so, like everyone else, Al.com has a bracket gimmick. (CAUTION: Al.com also links to audio recordings of conversations between the governor and his, uh, aide that should not be played in front of minors.) This particular bracket involves Alabama restaurant chains. Pride of place, of course, goes to barbecue restaurants. The Sweet 16 involves Golden Rule vs. Dreamland and Jim ‘N Nicks … Continue reading Alabama Barbecue Chains
Alamo BBQ is in the Church Hill section of Richmond. Church Hill is the original plat of Richmond, the site of many lovely historic homes and of St. John’s Church, where Patrick Henry gave his “Liberty or Death” speech. Church Hill was more or less cut off from downtown Richmond after I 95 smashed its way through the city, but the area is now undergoing gentrification, … Continue reading Alamo BBQ, Richmond, Virginia
I went to Willard’s with Doug Jacobson, the Kansas City barbecue maven. (Calvin Trillin wears Doug Jacobson pajamas.) Doug brought along bottles of two Kansas City barbecue sauces –- one from Gates http://www.gatesbbq.com/GeneralInformation/Location.aspx, and the other from Hayward’s. http://haywards-bbq.com/?page_id=3651. Doug also often carries a bottle of sauce from Arthur Bryant’s, whose web site seems to have been taken over by a Canadian pharmaceutical company. It … Continue reading Willard’s, Chantilly, Virginia
Cousin Sinclair Griffin Lee keeps ’em coming. Today’s Charlotte Observer has a profile Sam Jones and his granddaddy Pete Jones. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/food-drink/article66158812.html Pete Jones, of course, was the founder of the legendary Skylight Inn BBQ in Ayden, NC. https://johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/skylight-inn-ayden-north-carolina/. He has now gone to his reward, but grandson Sam Jones, who took over the Skylight Inn when Pete Jones passed, recently has opened Sam Jones Barbecue … Continue reading A Jones Family Profile
My cousin, Sinclair Griffin Lee (one of the Wilson, NC Griffins, so a Bill’s person) shared this from The Bitter Southerner, a blog of which I was unaware. Sinclair and husband Eric (of the band, the Carolina In-Laws), and are experts in Charlotte area barbecue, burgers, music, and life. The article gives much-deserved attention to the pit masters in Texas. The pit masters are the … Continue reading Texas Barbecue Pit Masters
The New York Times has an op-ed today by John Shelton Reed on barbecue and politics in North Carolina. It doesn’t get into the substance of barbecue, which is just as well since the New York Times is a welter of ignorance when it comes to barbecue, and it is a tender mercy when it doesn’t say anything. Mr. Reed is always amusing, however, and the op-ed … Continue reading The Politics of Barbecue
There were a couple of Korean-American students at my St. Anselm’s Abbey School Barbecue Club presentation (https://johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com/2016/02/25/st-anselms-abbey-school-washington-dc/ ), and the subject of Korean Barbecue naturally arose. To be clear, Korean Barbecue actually is meat grilled at your table. It can be tasty and festive, but it is not what we in the US think of as barbecue. It would make for a long evening if you wanted … Continue reading Korean Barbecue
This article by Jim Shahin came out while our internet was down, so I’m very late in posting it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/they-fed-the-civil-rights-movement-now-are-black-owned-barbecue-joints-dying/2016/02/22/382079de-d506-11e5-be55-2cc3c1e4b76b_story.html You should read the article. It focuses on the role of black-owned barbecue places and the role they played in the Civil Rights Movement, and discusses their future and the lack of respect that they get in most discussions of barbecue. I remember someone bringing … Continue reading Jim Shahin’s Latest
Nancy and I went to the North Carolina-Miami game at the Dean Dome with my brother Jim and my sister-in-law Cantey. I had never been to a game there and was looking forward to it. I also was interested to see a catering truck from Bullock’s Bar-B-Que. Jim tells me that Bullock’s fried chicken is better than their barbecue. As a practical matter, however, you … Continue reading The Dean Dome, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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