Month: June 2016

North Carolina

North Carolina Piedmont Tour de Barbecue: The Barbecue Center, Lexington

This was stop #3 on Day 1 of my Piedmont Tour de Barbecue.  I’d already eaten lunch at Stamey’s and Lexington #1.  After a short break, I headed to the Barbecue Center. The Barbecue Center is on the Garden and Gun Barbecue Bucket List, and it’s a good looking place.  They offer curb service, but no one in their right mind wants to eat in … Continue reading North Carolina Piedmont Tour de Barbecue: The Barbecue Center, Lexington

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Gurus and reviewers, Uncategorized

Southern Living’s 2016 50 Best List

Thanks to my first cousin, Sinclair Griffin Lee of Charlotte (one of the Bill’s Barbecue Griffins) pointed out Southern Living magazine’s 2016 list of what they consider the 50 best barbecue places in the US. http://www.southernliving.com/travel/bbq-restaurants?iid=newsletter-sl-06302016 I haven’t been to all of the places, but the ones I have visited are good, so the list is a handy travel reference.  (I haven’t been to the … Continue reading Southern Living’s 2016 50 Best List

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Uncategorized

Summer Reading

Barbecue guru Jim Shahin offers a summer reading list of books about barbecuing and smoking meat and other foods.  As always with Jim’s pieces, you should check it out.   I’m not sure that the books are beach reading, but they should be good to occupy you at the office when everyone else is away on vacation. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/7-new-reasons-to-fire-up-your-smokers-this-summer/2016/06/27/c8d3d03c-37cd-11e6-8f7c-d4c723a2becb_story.html?postshare=8261467142365850&tid=ss_fb-bottom Continue reading Summer Reading

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North Carolina, Top Places

North Carolina Piedmont Tour de Barbecue: Lexington Barbecue #1, Lexington

I got to Lexington about 45 minutes after leaving Stamey’s, and headed straight to Lexington Barbecue #1.   Lexington #1 sits on a hill overlooking the confusion caused by a highway barging through local streets, making it a little tricky to get there.  (You can tell you’re close when your GPS says, “Listen up, y’all.”)   It’s tricky in part because it’s easy to be … Continue reading North Carolina Piedmont Tour de Barbecue: Lexington Barbecue #1, Lexington

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North Carolina

North Carolina Piedmont Tour de Barbecue: Stamey’s, Greensboro

I drove down to North Carolina to spend a couple of days eating at barbecue places in the North Carolina Piedmont.  I had planned to focus on Lexington, NC, but I got hungry, so my first stop was Stamey’s in Greensboro, a long-standing barbecue place listed on both the North Carolina Barbecue Trail and True ‘Cue. There are two branches of Stamey’s in Greensboro.  I … Continue reading North Carolina Piedmont Tour de Barbecue: Stamey’s, Greensboro

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DC and Maryland, Gurus and reviewers

Why People Hate Washington

There is much news in the world about rebellion agains the Establishment.  The success of the Brexit proponents and Donald Trump, and the near-success of Bernie Sanders, are just the most prominent signs of widespread disgust with the Establishment, with Brussels and Washington, of a feeling that government leaders don’t care about their citizens, don’t understand their grievances, and don’t tell them the truth. Regardless of … Continue reading Why People Hate Washington

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Africa, Asia and the Antipodes, ribs

Quan Nuong Cay Sun, Hanoi, Vietnam

Nancy is in Hanoi, seeing the sights for a few days before the start of the Operation Smile mission in Quang Gnai.  She is so nice that she left the air conditioned comfort of her hotel ($48 per night — she refused to stay in the Marriott which would have cost about $100) in search of barbecue.  Thanks to Google, she found out about Quan … Continue reading Quan Nuong Cay Sun, Hanoi, Vietnam

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DC and Maryland

Another Try at Fat Pete’s, Washington, DC

Janet Katz’s husband Gregory Maassen is a big fan of Fat Pete’s.  Janet is our Senior South African Correspondent, and she persuaded me to take another look at it.  I had not been favorably impressed in my first visit, to put it mildly. I ordered the two-meat plate — pulled pork and sliced brisket — with collard greens and their vinegar cole slaw as my … Continue reading Another Try at Fat Pete’s, Washington, DC

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Africa, Asia and the Antipodes

Braai: The Grill Unites South Africa

Our Senior Pretoria Correspondent, Janet Katz, shares an introduction to the South African version of grilled meat — the braai (rhymes with fry) — from the New York Times, complete with slide show. Trigger warning:   As usual with the New York Times, the slide show leads with a photograph of meat being burned to a crisp by high flames.  Please do not show that … Continue reading Braai: The Grill Unites South Africa

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Other foods, Recipes

Recipe Time: Pimiento Cheese

Everyone agrees that there are three core ingredients for pimiento cheese: freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and pimientos. Actually, some people prefer roasted red peppers to pimientos. I like roasted red peppers a lot, and often roast my own, but the wisdom of our ancestors is in using small jars of pimientos, and I’d feel like I was trying to get above my raising … Continue reading Recipe Time: Pimiento Cheese

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