Varmint

What amazed me was that the parking lot at the generally inferior Parkers (but with a far more established tradition) was packed. When we left the place at 1, there were people at approximately 5 tables. That's quite slow. Perhaps dinner would have been different. I did not see Ed Mitchell in the building. They were not cooking pigs that morning.

Mrs. Varmint was headed to SC to pick up the oldest L'il Varmint, so I packed up the 3 younger ones in the mini-van, grabbed an old family friend, and drove the 55 minutes to Mitchell's Ribs, Chicken & Barbecue in Wilson, NC. I've been a fan of Ed Mitchell's barbecue for years, but I have been unable to visit his joint since he totally rebuilt his restaurant into a large, fancy dining establishment. The L'il Varmints kept asking why we had to drive an hour just to eat lunch, but I kept reminding them that we were on an adventure, trying to explore new places and new things. They just wanted a grilled cheese sandwich. As we pulled into the parking lot, I knew that this wasn't going to be the Mitchell's I had remembered. This Mitchell's had hit the big time, praised by Tony Bourdain, the Southern Foodways Alliance, and even restaurateurs in NYC. Strangely, however, the parking lot was empty at 11:40 AM on a Saturday (while the older BBQ joint, Parkers, which is a couple of miles down the road, was packed, even though they no longer cook over wood). As we walked in, the place was empty. This BBQ restaurant was cafeteria style, with the meat and side dishes sitting in steam table trays. This is not a big problem, but seeing it took a few minutes before anyone came out to serve us some food, I was a bit concerned. They had a lengthy list of items to choose from posted on the wall, but they were not serving many of them today. No pig's feet or ears, only half the veggies on the list, and no banana pudding. Hmph. I asked about the "Pig Bar" that had been promoted and was bruskly told, "That's only open on special occasions." We collected our food and headed to the dining room. The dining room has been painted on all walls with murals of days gone by, celebrating communal meals of ribs, barbecue, and lots of side dishes. The painter was not the most talented individual in the world, but he/she captured the emotions and spirit of these events. It was a nice touch. Even the high chairs were hand painted with some pig theme. How about the food? Well, I'd rank the barbecue that I had yesterday as being fine, not on the top of my list, but not crappy, either. First of all, it was too wet for my taste and was seasoned with too much sugar. Using sugar in barbecue is fairly common, but it appeared the sugar-man this day went a bit too far. What was great about this barbecue was the way cracklins had been cut into the meat. Crispy bits of smoky pig skin created a nice textural and flavor contrast to the sweeter and softer meat. I wish everyone would include cracklins in their barbecue. The meat was a medium chop -- not too fine or coarse. It had just a trace of smokiness to it, which is different from my previous tastings of Mitchell's barbecue. One of the pitman informed me that they use hardwood charcoal to cook their pigs, which should be sufficient to infuse some smokiness to the meat, but it just didn't have enough. Perhaps this is all a matter of personal preferences, but to me, the meat just wasn't up to snuff. I'll give it another try, however. The fried chicken was very good, and I'd be quite happy just peeling skin off breasts and legs and eating that for much of the day. The meat itself was moist, slightly salty, and worth a trip on its own. The side dishes are one of the things that distinguishes Mitchell's from other barbecue joints. Here, the sides are not an afterthought -- they're essential to the meal. Macaroni and cheese actually tasted like cheese, which is fairly unusual anymore. The black eyed peas were cooked in lots of pig fat, adding tons of flavor. The collards needed no additional seasoning other than a touch of vinegar. They even served mashed rutabagas, something that I'm quite confident would be almost impossible to find at another barbecue restaurant. The hush puppies were hand made and were much lighter than what you might get at most restaurants due to the use of less corn meal. They were quite addictive and sopped up pot likker quite nicely. We only had a piece of red velvet cake for dessert, which was quite unremarkable. My biggest issue with Mitchell's is the feel of the place. Despite the murals, and the high chairs, and the quality of the sides, it just felt sterile and institutional to me. It didn't have the feel of a friendly barbecue restaurant. The servers at the steam table were surly. Our waitress, who got us drinks, didn't say more than 2 words to us. It took us five minutes to find someone who would take our money to pay the bill. To be honest, we really didn't feel all that welcome there, which is totally different from my experiences at the old place. Right now, I'd have to say that come October, there are several places I'd recommend over Mitchell's for a field trip, because if you want top-notch barbecue with the feel of a great barbecue joint, I can't say that you'll get that at Mitchell's. I guess I'll need to give it another try. Note the scenes of the hogs being hung for slaughter!!! The high chairs were pretty awesome. Those are rutabagas, not sweet potatoes in the front. Hush puppies, mac & cheese, and chicken only for the youngest L'il Varmint. Very red red velvet cake.

I am off to my sister-in-law's at 12:30 sharp today. Why? She is out of town and told me that I could gather all the tomatoes I wanted from her garden while she's gone. I will be making mayo, too, as that puts the sammich way over the top.

Summertime's ultimate gift, correctly pronounced "tomatersamwich," is that euphoric family reunion of white bread, a thickly carved Better Boy dusted with S and P and a smear of mayo

No problem. Just got back from Mitchell's. I'll provide a full report later, but I'm thinking that we may be better off going to Allen & Son for a barbecue venture in October. Not that Mitchell's isn't any good -- it's fine, but I'm learning that it's more of a hit and miss proposition. Plus, their new set up is more cafeteria style, and I think that it would be better to have sit down service. Finally, Allen & Son is closer by about 20 minutes. Details to follow.

As far as dog friendly is concerned, Rachel, the L'il Varmints like dogs, but they have a healthy respect for them. Nonetheless, we live on a somewhat busy street where you wouldn't want the dogs running free. Plus, we are likely to have over a hundred people on our tennis court, making it fairly crowded. I'm not sure the dogs would love that environment. Meatman, some folks are bringing their own smokers/cookers to supplement the pig. I won't have any more room on my cooker, so you'd have to bring your own. Feel free to post more details on what you'd like to do. I'm gettng ready to load up 3 of the L'il Varmints and heading over to Wilson to partake of Mitchell's Barbecue. I'll report back with all the details, including lots of photos.

Catfish marinated in lime and chipotle and cumin served with avocado and tomato salad; caramelized red onion and white cheddar mashed potatoes; fried green tomatoes with garlic semolina crust; roasted corn and cherry tomato sautee. Served with a 2002 Hugues Beaulieu Picpoul de Pinet Coteaux du Langedoc.

I love the juxtaposition of the filter in that Jeremy photo. Absolutely perfect!

Coats are warmer?

Three months from today . . . .

First of all, welcome Nonemoreblack. I don't think anyone here is trying to dismiss the gravity of the sexual harrassment charges brought against the waiter. What I find remarkable is that so many patrons of this particular restaurant don't give a damn about what this guy did. They just want him back, taking care of them, like he always did. I think your point and Malawry's on private clubs indicate a sense of entitlement in the patrons. They were entitled to have Eyzaguirre as their waiter, regardless of how nasty of a person he might have been to his coworkers.

RA- Fins is my favorite restaurant in Raleigh, hands down. William does so many awesome things with such a small staff. The service may not be as great as other places, nor is the wine list extraordinary, but the food!!!! Please tell us about what you ate at Fins. Finally, I agree with you about Irregardless. I get depressed whenever I have to meet there for a business lunch. It earned a decent reputation ages ago, but has done little to maintain it.

I'm now down to 212 for a total weight loss of 16 pounds to this point. Slow and steady. I'm not as draconian as I was when I started, but I'm very, very conscious of my portion size, what I'm eating, and how frequently. I'm pleased.

Would that be "posterbating"?

I start to get really concerned when Zeb starts looking out for my welfare. And I would have posted something if no one else did!

I thought that Rules has an estate in County Durham in the village of Lartington. The only reason I recall this is that our extended family had planned to stay here for our vacation last summer, but because of all the international turmoil, we stayed domestic. This place is adjacent to the Rules estate.

Actually, the 4th Circuit held that North Carolina's disparate treatment between in-state and out-of-state wineries was unconstitutional. Thus, the direct shipment prohibition remained, but we can't now buy wines direct from the NC wineries. The NC legislature has a couple of bills pending that would allow some form of direct shipment. I haven't studied the issue extensively, but I believe that much of the pressure to do this has come from the growing NC winery industry, as they have been hit hard as a result of the Court of Appeals case.

To make great waffles, there really is no short cut: you must separate the eggs, beat the whites, and fold them into the rest of the batter. I also use a bit of malt syrup to the mix to add some depth of flavor.

You can get one from eGullet, of course: I'm not sure how it'll work will with the pasta, however.

I use a towel 50% of the time and otherwise, one of the 149 potholders Grandma Varmint crocheted for me. I just can't let them go.

Let's see . . . my coffee maker was a free one from Gevalia, as we don't drink much. Half of my cookware is very cheap, as Mrs. Varmint uses it to cook for the kids. She doesn't want to work with the heavier stuff. In particular, we have a couple of cheap pots that we use to boil water for pasta or for steaming vegetables. Plus, we use a couple of cheap commercial non-stick skillets that we got from the local restaurant supply store. My whisks are very cheap. I don't have, nor need, a great rolling pin. I don't have any silver -- we use stainless flatware for all our meals, and it's quite fine. I have a crappy old Donvier ice cream maker, but I'm starting to think that it might be best to upgrade. Oh, and we just use and re-use the take out chopsticks from the crappy Chinese restaurants we visit.

We're having quite an engaging debate on eGullet on the role of morality and food -- that is, should moral principles play a part in deciding whether or not to eat something. Click HERE for that thread. This "morality" is often derived from religious dogma, but often, it comes from the treatment of animals (e.g., veal, foie gras), the type of animals (pet-like animals), or the diminishing numbers of animals (Chilean Sea Bass). Other times, this issue arises from the use of pesticides and genetically altered food. What role do you see morality/ethical principles playing with respect to your food choices?

Gilberto Eyzaguirre was fired from New Orleans' Galatoire's after 22 years of service as one of the city's most popular waiters, and the customers were not happy. A website, http://www.welovegilberto.com/ was created to publicize the opposition to the firing. The Times-Picayune ran a lengthy article detailing the evolution of Galatoire's and Eyzaguirre's canning http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/index_panth...latoire_07.html Mind you, this story is a year old, but the furor continues. Has this much uproar occurred over the firing of a waiter elsewhere, or is this truly unique to Nola?

We also have a big-ass bronze acorn. That's inedible, too! Yeah, the quotations were a bit harsh, but I'm not alone in my thoughts. It was an enjoyable visit with Kathi, but I may end up doing a response of how the Raleigh scene is more than what the article depicted. As far as being a semi-professional eater, I've been wondering about that myself. If I'm a semi-professional eater, who is "semi-paying" me to eat?