From Hillsborough I hopped over to nearby Chapel Hill, a town whose biggest claim to fame (and with good reason) is that it’s home to high ranking University of North Carolina. With its pleasant and walkable downtown skirting along UNC’s historic and picturesque campus, Chapel Hill exudes old timey charm and a small town vibe tinged with a cosmopolitan and worldly attitude.
Chapel Hill is a city I know fairly well from more youthful days. But I’d not been back there for well over a decade – and I must admit I knew nothing of the BBQ there. I’m pleased to report the town is as agreeable place as even – and that the BBQ is fantastic.
The Pig
630 Weaver Dairy Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514
For whole hog BBQ made with local, pasture-raised, antibiotic- and hormone-free pork served in a range of options (homemade hotdogs, bologna, Vietnamese pork cheek) head to The Pig. Vegetarian? Try the country-fried tofu or the BBQ temph. The Pig’s head chef and owner is Sam Suchoff, a UNC grad graduate with a mathematics degree who found he preferred working on formulae for the perfect sauce more than scratching his head over a bunch of tasteless numbers.
For info, go to thepigrestaurant.com.
Beyond the Q
Carolina Inn
211 Pittsboro Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27516
Locating on the UNC campus is the Carolina Inn. Dating back to 1924, the 185-guestroom (with seven luxury suites) AAA Four Diamond hotel recently underwent a $19 million renovation. Swank digs for sure, and I was glad to have had a chance to lay my head there for a restful sleep.
But what really amazed me about the Inn was the fine food at its recently reopened Crossroads restaurant. Without doubt the best non-BBQ meal I had during my trip was at Crossroads, where Chef James Clark’s interpretation of Southern fare using regionally grown, caught and raised ingredients wowed my palate. Highlights included sunburst trout with roasted apple, corn and Swiss chard with a cider moonshine reduction for my main and homemade sorghum butter pecan ice cream for dessert. A Catdaddy Spiced Moonshine with IBC Root Beer was a treat as well.
For details about the hotel and the restaurant go to carolinainn.com.
Southern Season
201 South Estes Drive, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514
This specialty foods superstore has been a mainstay on the Chapel Hill foodie scene since 1975 providing discerning more than 70,000 unique products, a popular cooking school and an amazing North Carolina products section. Some of the very little shopping I did during my trip was done at this ace supermarket, where I was pleased to ponder whether I’d be happier back home with a jar of pepper muscadine jelly or a jar of muscadine butter (I decided to buy both). I also enjoyed a hearty breakfast of fried green tomato “cackalacky” (hoop Cheddar scrambled eggs with country ham and “cackalacky sauce”) at Southern Season’s in-shop restaurant, Weathervane.
Southern Season also has outlets in Raleigh, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia.
Browse online at southernseason.com.
More
Learn more about Chapel Hill at visitchapelhill.org and the great state of North Carolina at visitnc.com. For loads of help planning your trip to anywhere in the States, go to VisitTheUSA.com. And please be sure to keep an eye out for more BBQ Bound posts to come!
