The Pitmaster Who Won a James Beard Award

Enjoying barbecue prepared by award-winning pitmasters is a hobby of mine, but it’s not often that the award has been presented by the prestigious James Beard Foundation. Rodney Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Charleston, SC, is the home of the award-winning pitmaster, although his roots in Hemingway, SC, are not that far away.

Cut hardwood stacked outside the restaurant lets you know that you've arrived at Rodney Scott's. 

Opened in July 2016, the restaurant is a continuation of success for Scott, after having been profiled in Time magazine, The New York Times, Saveur, and other publications. With the James Beard Award in 2018 for Best Chef: Southeast, Scott has reached another pinnacle. The award acknowledges Scott’s culinary talent and broadens his reputation nationally. With the recognition came backing for Scott to open his own restaurant on King Street in food-centric Charleston, about 80 miles away to the southeast from his family’s business where he learned to cook whole hogs.

Rodney Scott's BBQ is now a destination on King Street in Charleston.

Having lunch at Scott’s was the most important part of my recent trip to Charleston (although the purpose was to be a judge at a cookoff in the area on the next day). I was surprised how extensive the menu is at the Charleston restaurant. It’s much more expanded than the simple menu of Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Hemingway.

Customers wait to order at the peak of lunch hour.

For my first visit to Rodney Scott’s in Charleston, I had to order the pit-cooked barbecue, although fried catfish was tempting. Pork smoked over oak coals with a little hickory and pecan hardwood carried me back my first visit to Scott’s Variety Store and Bar-B-Que in Hemingway. On his menu in Charleston, Scott proclaims that he gets the wood that he needs every week “to put flavor in what we do — kind of like the chef picking out tomatoes from a garden.” The barbecue flavors of the family’s traditional approach of slowing cooking whole hogs have amazingly been brought intact to the big city.

Rodney Scott is a gracious host, and his smile is as award-winning as his barbecue.

True to the tradition of the Scott’s family style in Hemingway, two slices of white bread accompany the pulled pork on a plate, which is served on a tray and comes with two sides and cornbread (only one side with sandwiches).

This combo plate, served on a tray, includes pork and ribs with beans, greens, cornbread, and white bread. An order of banana pudding is at the top left.

The sides are tempting. Baked mac ‘n’ cheese with a crispy breadcrumb topping seemed to be the customers’ favorite while I was there. Being a traditional Southerner, I ordered the greens. Coleslaw, potato salad, hushpuppies, and baked beans are among the other sides.

A sandwich is served with one side (coleslaw in this order).

Although I didn’t save room for dessert, I ordered some anyway — only one is on the menu, and it’s the only one needed. Traditional banana pudding completes a perfect barbecue lunch. What Scott’s serves reminds me of Sunday dessert when I was growing up. It is that good.

Banana pudding is the only dessert on the menu.

Not every BBQ restaurant has a drive-thru window. Rodney Scott’s does, and it stayed busy, although most customers come to eat either inside or at tables on the patios. The line inside seemed to never end while I was there, and often than a dozen people were waiting to order.

The drive-thru window awaits the first lunch customer after the restaurant has opened.

The excitement that has developed for Rodney Scott’s barbecue in South Carolina is a clue that another state deserves a location. Not to worry. Another restaurant — this one in Birmingham, Alabama — is already on the books and being planned to open in 2019. Now I need to start planning a trip to Alabama.

Whole hogs smoked for hours are ready to be taken from the pits.

Few spaces inside are available during the lunch hour.

The tables outside are popular places to enjoy barbecue.

Southern Smoke in Garland, NC

Southern Smoke in Garland, NC, is quickly gaining a following. It’s popular not because it is listed on a historic barbecue trail — it’s been in business only eight years — but because its excellent barbecue is smoked in the traditional way over hardwood coals.

By 1:30 p.m., customers are usually no longer standing in line but late arrivals are disappointed if all the barbecue has been sold.

Opened in 2010 by Matthew and Jessica Register, Southern Smoke has brought new life to the small town of Garland, home to fewer than 700 residents, in Sampson County. It is open only two days, Thursdays and Fridays. Business is brisk when the doors open at 11:30 a.m. (and customers start gathering much earlier). When all the barbecue is sold, the lights are turned off until the next business day. Most people “in the know” plan to arrive at least by 12:30 p.m.

Cut oak and a smoker are all that's needed to make customers happy.

When I stopped on a drive from Wilmington, NC, I didn’t arrive until 1:30 p.m. The pile of cut oak wood (next to the famous smoker Jezebel) on the side of Southern Smoke let me know that I had arrived at an authentic barbecue pit. Arriving that late saved me from having to stand in line as is usual for regular customers. Although I was worried that I was too late, I was still in time for barbecue, but the ribs, beans and pies were already sold out. The mac and cheese, which was still available, was a fine complement on the barbecue tray I ordered (with an additional side of coleslaw), but next time I’ll arrive early enough to enjoy some homemade pie. The sweet cornbread, however, made up for the missing pie. 

The hand-chopped barbecue, with two homemade sauces, goes well with sides and cornbread.

Although Southern Smoke cooks only pork shoulders to make its barbecue, the flavor is true to the tradition of eastern North Carolina with a moist, tangy vinegary-pepper taste. Two sauces — Two Brothers (named for the Registers’ sons), a traditional eastern N.C. sauce, and Sweet Grace (named for their daughter), a Memphis-style sauce — are homemade and let you flavor the barbecue to your preferences.

Matthew Register, the pitmaster (right), takes a break from kitchen duties to pose for a photo. 

My wife and I were greeted at the counter by Matthew’s parents, who enjoy their role in serving customers as they arrived. Although Matthew took time for a picture, it was obvious he and others on the staff were busy in the kitchen. Most of the business is takeout, and my wife and I were the only ones to eat on site while we were there.

A large chalkboard lists the menu of the day.

The space inside is too limited for any tables and chairs. Although two picnic tables are out front, we ate in the shaded backyard where the South Supper Series is held. While enjoying our lunch, we looked around at the interesting displays and artifacts — including a hollowed-out classic car that serves as a bar.

An antique Ford Fairlane finds a new purpose as a bar.

The following that Southern Smoke has is well-justified, and I now consider myself one of the admirers. Excellent barbecue smoked over oak coals is definitely a reason to drive to Garland. Next time I’ll arrive early and join in the conversation with other customers waiting in line.

The shaded backyard is an inviting place to enjoy barbecue smoked slowly over oak coals.

Signs in downtown Garland help BBQ fans find their destination.

Smokehouse at Pinehurst Brewery

Most barbecue restaurants I visit are usually historic or legendary. However, for the Smokehouse at Pinehurst Brewery, I wanted to visit before it opened and earned its reputation.

The new brewery occupies the historic steam plant building.

A few days before it opened to the public, I had an opportunity to have lunch as well as take a tour. Beer lovers will appreciate the 10-barrel microbrewery, the focal point of the taproom. More interesting to barbecue fans will be the smokehouse for the restaurant.

The brewery combines old and new architectual features.

Meats -- pork shoulder, beef brisket, chicken, and sausage -- smoked on site with local oak, hickory, and pecan woods are the primary menu items to be enjoyed as sandwiches or plates. They are complemented by four signature sauces: eastern N.C. (spicy vinegar and pepper), western N.C. (sweet and tangy), S.C. mustard, and blackberry habanero. Smoked mashed potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, mac ‘n’ cheese, and collard greens are among the sides.

A plate of ribs comes with cornbread and two sides (collards and mac 'n' cheese were my choices).

For the Smokehouse at Pinehurst Brewery, another reason to visit is to see its facilities, which occupy the old steam plant for the Village of Pinehurst. Built in 1895, it was decommissioned in 1998 after providing power and heat for homes, businesses and hotels of the village for decades.

Four sauces are available to add flavor to the smoked meats.

The building was fully renovated, but the original brick, façade and steel windows have been kept. Old piping and other artifacts reclaimed in 2016 by Black Dog Savage, an architectural salvage company, are displayed as artwork.

Black Dog Savage saves original features of the steam plant in 2016.

Having another barbecue restaurant that cooks meat slow and low over wood is much appreciated. Even though it’s brand new, it will soon become a destination. The smoked barbecue by itself is reason to visit, but the craft beer and scenic setting are additional enticements.

Original fixtures of the steam plant add to the interior decor.

The smokehouse uses oak, hickory, and pecan wood.

A new smokehouse was built next to the brewery, which occupies the old steam plant building.

In the Tradition Appreciated by a Community and Beyond

A trip to Hemingway, SC, has been a goal of mine for some time. The destination is Scott’s Variety Store and Bar-B-Que. This business has been a local community favorite for more than four decades because the barbecue that the Scott family serves has no equal. More recently, it has won national acclaim for the “cut, chop, cook” style — cut the wood, chop it up, and slow-smoke whole hogs all night — embraced by Rodney Scott, pitmaster for the family’s business.

The Scott family opened its business in 1972; the weathered church pew out front is used frequently by customers.

The tin-roofed store, which opened in 1972, once focused on dry goods and included a pool hall before the business swung decidedly to barbecue. Initially, whole hogs were smoked on only Thursdays. My, how times have changed. Selling the area’s best barbecue is now the goal, although the variety store still has a few items on its shelves. Some shelves are empty, but customers rarely notice because they are here for barbecue.

The menu board lists barbecue from a sandwich to a whole hog.

Scott is admired for his skills in the pits. However, before cooking the hogs, he also cuts all the wood himself with a chainsaw. With smoldering oak and hickory coals burning brightly in each pit, Scott monitors hogs weighing up to 150 pounds as they are smoked and mops them with peppery vinegar. The master of the pits has been cooking whole hogs since he was 11.

The cut hardwood behind the store is ready to be chopped; the telltale sign of smoke lets you know that the burn barrels are active.

Lots of customers take orders to go by the half pound and more. The to-go business is easy to understand. There’s no place inside to sit and eat. A weathered church pew on the front porch is about the only place someone can sit and eat on the premises. That’s where I sat and enjoyed pulled pork served with two slices of bread in a Styrofoam clamshell. The simplicity of the container matches the simplicity of the pulled pork barbecue prepared so deliciously.

Hardwood breaks down into coals as it's burned in five-foot barrels.

While I was there, I was able to visit the pits, which consist of two long concrete bunkers. Each one is fed hot coals from the burn barrels to cook hogs suspended above the heat by chicken wire. No other customers seemed interested in checking out the pits, a sign that they were locals and considered the pit area so functional with nothing to admire. However, the salvaged industrial piping and junked truck axles in the burn barrels seemed to me as artistic as any treasured folk art.

The pit area constantly stays busy.

The customers also seemed unimpressed to be ordering barbecue prepared by someone who has received so much attention. In July 2011, Time magazine heralded Scott for personifying “everything people admire about barbecue.”

Grocery items are still on the shelves for sale but more space is being taken over to document the recognition of Rodney Scott's pitmaster skills.

Two year earlier, on June 9, 2009, The New York Times exposed Scott, then 37, to the world in an article by John T. Edge, a food writer and director of the Southern Foodways Alliance. In the following year, SFA produced the documentary “Chop/Cut/Smoke” about Scott’s approach to whole hog cooking. Edge also extended the recognition of Scott in an article for Saveur on how barbecue is being preserved as an art form.

A plaque commemorates the initial showing of the "Cut/Chop/Cook" documentary by the Southern Foodways Alliance.

Rumors that Scott is planning a “city” restaurant in Charleston with his barbecue have started to circulate. I can’t imagine it would ever compete with the charm of the family’s variety store in Hemingway. Let’s hope that the barbecue and the approach for preparing it don’t change either.

Hot coals are added to the pits regularly as hogs are smoked.