BBQgeek

Clyde Cooper's Barbecue - Raleigh, NC

 

For the second time in a month, business took me to Raleigh, NC.  On my last trip, I paid a visit to the Pit to experience Ed Mitchell's vision of upscale barbecue.  This time I decided to try and find a different experience.  I wanted something that really painted a clear picture of traditional Eastern Carolina barbecue.  I did a little Googling and ran across Clyde Cooper's Barbecue, in business since 1938 in downtown Durham.  Online reviews of Coopers were very good.  I also checked with a couple of my Raleigh colleagues and they said it was very good stuff.  One colleague even remarked he remembered eating there as a kid and loving it.  After finishing up my morning business meeting, I made a quick run into downtown Raleigh with three of my coworkers to sneak in a quick lunch before hopping back on my flight back to Atlanta.  Coopers really impressed me that day with  some great food and an authentic experience.  Continue reading Clyde Cooper's Barbecue here....

The Pit - Raleigh, NC

 

Business took me to Durham, NC this past week, but it was my love of great BBQ that took me to downtown Raleigh to visit Ed Mitchell's retaurant, The Pit.   Ed is one of the true superstars of the BBQ world.  He has been featured many times on TV, including the Today show and Throwdown with Bobby Flay (in which he beat Bobby in a spare rib contest).  Ed is not only famous for his traditional NC style BBQ but also for his belief in cooking with local and sustainable vegetables and meat.  Ed has organized a co-op of local hog farmers that raises free range hogs (I was told they eat better than most humans) which he then uses for the BBQ in his restaurant.  He also sources his vegetables in the same manner.  In addition to fantastic BBQ and vegetables, the wine and beer selections are better than most high end restaurants I've visited.  I've spent a lot of time in this blog talking about the idea of taking BBQ to the next level and presenting it in a quasi-fine dining format.  Unquestionably, The Pit is the closest I have come to seeing that idea manifested.  Continue reading The Pit - Raleigh, NC here...

Yeah, Yeah

Yes.  I've been bad.  Very bad.  No posts since...last year.  3 years into this blogging thing I have enough experience to know that these are the fallow months.  No light and cold temperatures are not exactly inspirational when you are a BBQ guy.  I'm past the guilt.  Trust me when I tell you I have your best interests in mind when I don't publish just for the sake of publishing.  That said, Fate has shined upon me and you and stoked the fire this fine evening.  Business brought me to Durham, NC, but my BBQ mania took me to The Pit in Raleigh, NC.  I've got a humdinger of a post coming for you as soon as I get off the road this weekend.  This blasted work laptop won't let me download this evening's photos and share the way I'd like to...so, you will have to wait.  But, I'll give you a tease.  How about smoked bourbon and cola?  How about friendly local chocolatiers (Star and Sam) offering a taste of Ed Mitchell's delicious smoked wings from the Pit simply because they love them and want to share in the joy (and they love them so much they ordered 300 for their wedding in May!)  Tune in this weekend for the full report.

Yakitori Totto - The Ultimate Chicken Experience

 

Nestled atop an intimidating, artistically lit set of stairs just off 55th street in New York City is a temple to our most humble,versatile, and valuable food source - Gallus Domesticus .  The restaurant is Yakitori Totto , and the object of worship is Chicken, aka Yardbird.    Yakitori is Japanese for "grilled bird" (yaki = grilled & tori = bird), a largely unknown but wonderful facet of the world of barbecue and grilled foods.   Small bits of chicken are placed on skewers and grilled over Japanese charcoal (bincho-tan) and served with only salt for a garnish.  Simplicity governs the world of yakitori and every bit of the the bird is honored.  A traditional yakitori menu will include liver, gizzard, heart, knee, skin or any other tasty morsel that can be stuck on a bamboo skewer.  After muddling through a mediocre barbecue lunch earlier that day in Times Square, I considered myself celestially blessed as I pulled up my chair directly in front of the grill at Yakitori Totto and opened my menu to consider the universe of options laid before me.   Continue reading Yakitori Totto....

NYC BBQ - Virgil's Barbecue Review

 

      Last Tuesday the 16th, I had an opportunity to travel to NYC to do a little business.  I'd been waiting a long time for the opportunity to get into the Big Apple for 24 hours sans familia and do some serious food research.   This trip represented an opportunity to test a theory I've been hashing out for a long time on this blog;  Could BBQ be elevated to a quasi-fine dining experience and not become separated from the quality so often found in non-fine dining restaurants (aka Joints)?   It's not such a crazy idea.  Richard Blais was pretty interested in itwhen I explained it to him.   So, it was with a mixture of anticipation and dread that I prepared for my trip.  After all, NYC is the restaurant capital of the globe.  Granted, it's not the BBQ capital of the world.  But, if anyone could pull of the concept of upscale BBQ, I was willing to bet on my BBQ-challenged Northeast brothers.  They had balls and budget.  A powerful combination in any land.  Continue reading NYC BBQ....