Our state's food: The Tar Heel 25

The Raleigh News & Observer has put together a list (and multimedia slideshow) of the "Tar Heel 25," the 25 foods that define our state. You can read about them here.

Here are some of the highlights.

1. Banana pudding at Savor Cafe in Charlotte

2. Picking apples at Skytop Orchard in Flat Rock. "Follow the picking with the essence of apple: a cold cider slushy and a hot cider doughnut."

3. Grits souffle at Magnolia Grill in Durham.

4. North Carolina barbecue (depending on your taste -- smart move, N&O!).

5. Seafood at Catch in Wilmington

6. Beer at Barley's Taproom in Asheville

7. Pork chop sandwich at Snappy Lunch, Mount Airy

8. A high-caffeine soda. "North Carolina has a history of inventing high-caffeine sodas, including Sundrop. From there it was a simple step to the Cherry Lemon Sundrop. It originated at R.O.'s Barbecue in Gastonia (Sundrop, Cheerwine and a slice of lemon), then branched out to What-A-Burger in Mooresville (Sundrop, Fanta cherry soda and a lemon slice). Either way, it's sweet, tart and refreshing on a hot afternoon."

9. R.O.'s slaw/sauce/dip in Gastonia

10. The "little loaves of warm cornbread with honey butter" from Mert's Heart & Soul in Charlotte.

11. Honeysuckle sorbet, Crook's Corner, Chapel Hill

12. Fried chicken from Keaton's Barbecue, Statesville

13. Fried herring from the Cypress Grill, Jamesville

14. Mallard Creek Presbyterian Church barbecue, Charlotte

15. Gaynelle Tillett's fig cake from the Ocracoke Seafood Company, Ocracoke

16. A BLT from the Merritt's Store & Grill in Chapel Hill

17. Price's Chicken Coop, Charlotte

18. The 12-layer cake from Robeson County, with "thin layers of yellow cake separated by a rich chocolate frosting. Before we dig in to the country buffet at Fuller's Old Fashion Bar-B-Q in Lumberton, we always check the dessert table - just to make sure we need to save room."

19. Uncle Scott's Root Beer, Davidson

20. N.C. State University ice cream, Raleigh (on campus or at the N.C. State Fair)

21. Chili Dog from the Roast Grill, Raleigh; Ward's Grill in Whiteville; J.S. Pulliam Barbeque in Winston-Salem

22. Mama Dip's pecan pie, Chapel Hill

23. Warm Moravian sugar cake, Winston-Salem

24. Varnamtown Oyster Roast. "The congregation of the Dixon Chapel United Methodist Church has hosted the event for more than 50 years. The line of people waiting to eat their fill of roasted oysters, hushpuppies and sweet pickles is a testament to the eating experience. To look like a pro, bring your own homemade sauce and roll of paper towels."

25. Salt-and-pepper catfish from Twin Tops Fish Camp in Belmont

Any obvious omissions? Any problems with these on the list?

An outsider's look at N.C. BBQ

Again, gotta love Google Alerts. If not for it, I would never have come across this blog piece.

"For (American) Northerners there remains a number of unfounded misconceptions about the South. People are fat. People are rednecks. People are racist. Yes, they are, and some of us above the Mason Dixon line hit those marks too," writes Nick Schonberger. "Despite consistent bad mouthing and classist snobbery one thing is universally acknowledged as better down South — the BBQ."

He gets some names and stuff wrong (Allen & Brothers instead of Allen & Sons in Chapel Hill; referring to ECU as "East Carolina State University"), but the romance is there.

To wit:

An almost mystic pull to down home, no frills, dinning, brought me to North Carolina for a weekend in May. Having toured Texas BBQ and Memphis, and sampled a number of places throughout Virginia, I’d largely ignored North Carolina in the past. Yet, the style is the most frequently copied (and ruined) in my regular BBQ consumption. “Carolina Pulled Pork” sandwiches litter menus at bars and taverns up the Eastern Seaboard, and given this an opportunity to investigate the authentic origins of the ubiquitous dish proved impossible to resist.

... Rolling through North Carolina, it became obvious that while blanket statements can define the taste, technique, and texture, there’s no accounting for individual twists and turns in the make up. ...

.. [w]e gathered remaining strength and hit Greenville. A ghost town. A place where even the locals are quick to tell you to leave. One did. A single toothed proprietor of the town’s Skate Shop. He told me, frankly, that there wasn’t a single good thing to eat within miles. I suppose his lack of teeth made living there possible. The best thing in town was a giant sculpture of a Pirate. The rest was genuinely frightening.

Three days. 8 giant meals. Hundreds of miles driven. The lesson learned, people in North Carolina certainly take BBQ seriously, and certainly place a highly localized stamp on a plate of pork.

Mural pays tribute to North Carolina's varied musical heritage

The incomparable David Menconi recently wrote a feature on the mural at Chapel Hill's Pepper's Pizza that pays homage to the various musicians North Carolina has produced.

Just inside the restaurant's front door, a painted outline of the state with portraits of native North Carolina musicians takes up a large expanse of wall. Seventeen notable natives are there -- from Carrboro roots-rock madman Dexter Romweber to Tryon R&B singer Nina Simone, Kannapolis funk giant George Clinton to Newland jazz drummer Max Roach.

Scott Nurkin, who paints murals when he isn't playing drums for the band Birds of Avalon, has been working on the art piece since before Pepper's opened in its current Franklin Street location in 2007.

It remains a work in progress, with at least a dozen portraits to come. Nurkin has partly finished portraits of Dunn guitarist Link Wray and Chapel Hill blues woman Elizabeth Cotten in his studio. Ryan Adams, Kay Kyser, Charlie Poole and Shirley Caesar are also on the way. ...

Click here to see some photos of the mural.

N.C. cities are arts destinations

According to a press release, AmericanStyle magazine's annual readers' poll has ranked several North Carolina cities as among the best in the country for art.

Charlotte came in 17th (among 25) in the large-city category; Raleigh was No. 24 in mid-sized cities; Asheville was second among small cities; and Chapel Hill was ninth among small towns.

"In each winning city, there are artists, elected officials, arts councils and art lovers who have made a commitment to developing that city's galleries, museums and studios," said AmericanStyle publisher Wendy Rosen. "These cities recognize that cultivating the arts is good for their economy, but that is just the beginning. Look at some of our small-town winners: no matter its size, no matter how remote it is, a town can have an arts identity that generates good will, local pride and contributes to economic development."

Chapel Hill among 'brainiest' places to retire

US News & World Report lists Chapel Hill as one of the top 10 "brainiest" places to which to retire.

"Just because you hit your 60s, it doesn't mean your brain starts to power down. Just the opposite," says the publication. "Your noodle needs more stimulation than ever, and, finally, you have the time to supply the required intellectual input. And picking a place to retire can be key to that process. For retirees who have no desire to stop learning—and that's, like, pretty much everyone—there are plenty of American communities that boast thriving intellectual centers where cultural activities keep residents (and their brains) as busy and interested as they want to be."

"... Chapel Hill, N.C., residents might spend their evenings paddling out in kayaks to watch the stars with an astronomy educator from the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill."

The brainiest places to retire:
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Berkeley, Calif.
Boulder, Colo.
Brookline, Mass.
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Hoboken, N.J.
Lake Oswego, Ore.
Reston, Va.
Upper St. Clair, Pa.
West Lafayette, Ind.

Best 'sammich' in the state?

KBrew sent along this Esquire link which describes the best sanwiches/wraps/gyros in America. On this list is Chapel Hill's Allen & Sons barbecue sandwich. I just can't fathom that it could be any better than Wilber's, but I digress. (This list also includes McDonald's McRib and Chik-Fil-A's chicken sandwich, for what it's worth.)

What is the best sandwich you've ever had in the Old North State? The aforementioned Wilber's (Goldsboro) takes the crown in the pulled pork category. I'm a HUGE fan of Sunflower's (Raleigh) chicken salad sandwich. Until it closed recently, The Grape's (Raleigh) $15 steak sandwich was one of the best things I had ever tasted. (Perhaps the fact that a sandwich cost $15 led to The Grape's demise?)

Any other votes?

A Chapel Hill institution closes its doors

(OK, so I lied about yesterday's post being the last before the holidays. So sue me. I just couldn't resist not commenting on this below.)

I was in either seventh or eighth grade, and my classmates and I from Dunn Middle School made the trip to Chapel Hill to visit the Morehead Planetarium. (It was for an educational show, by the way, not a Pink Floyd Lazer Show or some such.) Before the visit to the planetarium, we all went to the Rathskeller for dinner.

As a small-town boy from Harnett County, it was a cultural experience. The dankness of the place; the names written and carved into the tables and walls (we swore for years that we saw "Michael Jordan" written on our table); the bottomless cup of sweet tea.

As a lifelong N.C. State fan, I have been taught to mistrust and despise all things Chapel Hill (save for the magnificent School of Government, by the way). I will admit, however, that the Rathskeller has long stood in my mind as the quintessential college hangout.

Well, it is no more.

"Signs in the windows of the 59-year-old business stated the department had seized the property because taxes on it had not been paid," writes the Fayetteville Observer. "A note posted on the restaurant’s Web site by owner Francis Henry made it unclear when or if the place will reopen. ...


"That sense of history is part of what endears the place — known for serving extra cheesy lasagna, greasy steaks and apple pie topped with cheese — to alumni."

Genny Lou Exum, who lives in Fayetteville and graduated from UNC in 1958, likened the Rat to Franklin Street’s version of the Old Well, a campus landmark.

“I think the charm of it just never, ever leaves you,” she said. “I think everybody that ever went down there just fell in love with it.”

R.I.P., Rat.