Eastern N.C. Style Barbecue in the Blue Ridge Mountains

It’s a topsy-turvy world. Now you can travel west to the Blue Ridge Mountains to enjoy eastern North Carolina-style barbecue. Since it opened in Asheville in 2015, Buxton Hall Barbecue has been a destination for barbecue fans.

Could this building have been home to a roller rink?

The food is made right in front of you in a wide-open kitchen. Whole hogs are smoked low and slow for 18 hours over hardwood coals in the traditional eastern N.C. style and basted with a vinegar mop based on a family recipe of chef Elliott Moss, who grew up in Florence, S.C. True to eastern N.C., the menu lists “BBQ mop,” not sauce, as the baste that moistens and flavors the meat.

The wide-open kitchen adjoins the dining area.

Loyal to its region, Buxton Hall sources its pasture-raised hogs, produce and other ingredients from area farms. Although pulled pork is the reason many customers visit Buxton Hall, fried chicken and catfish are also popular, and South Carolina-style “hash” is served in a combo plate with barbecue. In addition to plates that come with cornbread and pickles, sandwich options include barbecue, chicken and catfish, and the sandwiches are as good as the plates. In fact, the “Fried Chicken Sandwich of the Year” as proclaimed by Bon Appétit in 2016 is the one made at Buxton Hall.

A cooked whole hog has just been taken out of a smoker.

The dozen sides at Buxton Hall deserve special mention and are very appealing. Narrowing down to the two that come with a plate is difficult. The collard greens, which has flavors of sweet and sour, are worth taking home to serve to company if any are left over. The green beans are good but have a spicy kick that need to be calmed down with a sip of a cold beverage. Next time I will try the chicken bog -- a combination of rice, sausage and peas. The spiced peaches with fromage blanc also are tempting.

The sauce bar satisfies more than one regional preference.

The hushpuppies are crispy and convey buttermilk and jalapeño flavors. Other appetizers include mussels cooked under the pig (not the typical menu offering of a barbecue pitmaster) and smoky pimento cheese.

My pulled pork plate with collard greens, green beans and cornbread is ready to be enjoyed.

Because Buxton Hall has an in-house bakery, all desserts are homemade. I couldn’t leave with trying the banana pudding pie, which was delicious. With a wafer crumb crust and a brown sugar meringue top, it was the perfect end to the peppery and vinegary entrée. Although I’d order the same dessert on another visit, the nectarine poundcake and black forest cake were also top contenders on the dessert list. On the day I visited, the black raspberry pie wasn’t available. If it had been, I would have taken home a serving.

Banana pudding pie is a clear favorite.

Buxton Hall represents the “new” style of barbecue establishments, as explained by food writer Kathleen Purvis. Traditional barbecue fare is offered in a large restaurant with meat sourced locally and cooked over wood by an owner whose reputation was made in fine dining, a long and interesting list of sides, creative appetizers and craft beer. Buxton Hall not only has craft beer but also the “world famous” Buxton Slushie, a frozen concoction of bourbon and Cheerwine, along with several creative cocktails. An extensive list of beer and wine is available as is the traditional iced tea (sweet or unsweet).

The Buxton Slushie (bourbon and Cheerwine) is "world famous" (well, it's becoming better known).

The restaurant’s historic location is on Asheville’s South Slope. The enormous space has been a boat showroom, the site of auto shops and even a wood-floored roller rink. Along the walls are several murals, well worth preserving, that date to 1936.

A skier in a mural on a side wall seems to be airborne over wood cut for the kitchen.

The steady stream of customers who arrive each day don’t seem perplexed at finding whole hog barbecue prepared in the style of eastern North Carolina in western Asheville. Moss and his partner Meherwan Iran (both are James Beard nominees) say that they are “revitalizing Carolina barbecue history,” and the customers enjoy experiencing that renaissance.

The menu includes plates, sandwiches and an extensive list of sides.

In Asheville for National Tour

More than 700 barbecue teams are competing again this year for $500,000 in cash and prizes in the Sam’s Club National Tour. The tour attracts some of the top cooking teams in the country, and being a judge is rewarding because the barbecue is so superior.

This year I was a judge in an initial qualifying event in Asheville, NC. At these events, thirty teams compete for the right to advance to a regional qualifying event where the top finishers are invited to the national event in October in Bentonville, Arkansas, where the grand champion takes home $50,000.

A table for demonstrations is set up beside The Sam's Club National BBQ Tour truck.

The tour started this year in February in Daphe, Alabama. Events continue almost every weekend until mid-September when the last regional event is held in Madison, Wisconsin. Michael McDearman, tour director, whom I met last year in North Charleston, SC, is one busy person as he travels to each site and organizes the events.

Michael McDearman, tour director, welcomes judges to the event in Asheville, NC.

At the judges’ meeting, McDearman emphasized how important the series is for promoting barbecue and encouraging teams to compete. The event in Asheville like the other local qualifying events had $10,000 in prize money. Smoking Butt Heads, the grand champion, won $2,000 and advanced to the regional qualifying event with the five other top teams. Although the prize money awarded in Asheville is important, the right to advance in the series is the best reward.

Cooking teams set up in the parking area of Sam's Club in Asheville.

Being a judge at a tour event was just as enjoyable as it was last year, and I hope to participate again next year. Evaluating teams that compete on the tour is a high point of participating as a judge.

Worthy of a Presidential Visit

Few barbecue establishments can boast that a president of the United States while serving in office has visited them — with all the entourage required for security. In Asheville, NC, 12 Bones has gained media attention for repeat visits by President Obama as well as the long line of local carnivores that stretches out of its building into the parking lot.

The line at 12 Bones frequently stretches into the parking lot.

Before visiting 12 Bones, I had learned more about its popularity and food by watching a segment of the Bookwatch TV program broadcast by WUNC-TV. Head chef Shane Heavner and co-owner Brian King discussed the restaurant and their recipes in an interview about their recently published cookbook. As the 12 Bones owners and chef brag in the cookbook, Obama stopped there each time that he was in Asheville while in office, and he made an initial visit in 2008 when as a U.S. senator he was campaigning for president.

Ribs, the most frequent order, are heated before being served.

For the initial visit, take-out was ordered for Obama and his campaign staff, and it included ribs, brisket, and pulled pork with a double order of collards. For the next visit in 2010, Obama insisted going unannounced and standing in line to order. He and his wife ate in the restaurant to the fanfare of national and local media. Ribs with sides of baked beans, greens, and mac and cheese were ordered this time. A third visit in 2013 was similarly a media event that further enhanced the reputation of 12 Bones.

My order of ribs with corn pudding, mac and cheese, and cornbread was served very quickly.

Although a place of presidential proportions, 12 Bones is definitely a casual restaurant. Rolls of paper towels on the tables serve as napkins. Food is ordered at the central counter and then brought out by the staff after customers have picked their tables. A few orders are takeout, but most customers enjoy their lunch in the restaurant and in good weather pick a table in the outside, covered eating area.

The outside eating area is popular in good weather.

Because its popularity continues to increase, 12 Bones has opened a second location in the Asheville area, but many travelers, myself included, seek out the original location. It was opened in 2005 and brought to life a one-story brick building in the River Arts District that had been known as Kountry Kitchen. However, city planners are threatening to take the land that it occupies to relocate a road and build a roundabout. The current owners (Bryan and Angela King), who bought 12 Bones in 2013, are determined to keep the restaurant in the River Arts District if it has to be relocated.

Rib flavors are announced on a board at the order location.

Taking a cue from Obama and his preference for ribs, I knew before arriving that I had to try them (skipping brisket, pulled pork, chicken, and turkey – all smoked – that are on the menu and also deserving of consideration). The next choices were the sides: corn pudding, collard greens, mac and cheese, and mashed sweet potato. Everything at 12 Bones is made from scratch, and the recipes for each are in the restaurant’s cookbook.

Watching the crowd at 12 Bones is almost as enjoyable as eating the ribs. Although it’s hard to imagine that a president ate here, it’s easy to understand why he returned for encore visits.