Buxton Hall Barbecue — Carolina BBQ, Asheville
Buxton Hall earned James Beard nominations for doing what Carolina barbecue requires: the whole hog, the wood smoke, the patience to cook for sixteen hours, and the conviction that this specific tradition is worth the effort. Chef Elliott Moss has made Asheville a destination for serious barbecue pilgrims.
The whole-hog preparation. The animal cooked over wood coals for the full sixteen hours, pulled and mixed with the sauce that Eastern North Carolina developed over three centuries. Produces the specific combination of smoke, fat, and tang that the tradition calls for.
The sides at Buxton Hall are taken as seriously as the pork. The hush puppies are made with heritage cornmeal, the collard greens are slow-cooked with smoked ham, and the banana pudding is the Nilla wafer version that the South invented and shouldn't change.
The converted skating rink setting. Open ceilings, visible equipment, long communal tables. Provides the democratic atmosphere that serious barbecue has always required. You eat here to eat the pork.
Best Occasion: Great for Birthdays
The whole-hog pork, the hush puppies, the banana pudding, and the communal long tables. Carolina barbecue as the birthday celebration format that Western North Carolina invented.
Best Occasion: Works for Team Dinners
Long communal tables, whole-hog pork, and the democratic atmosphere that the Carolina BBQ tradition requires. Team dinners at Buxton Hall produce the specific bonding that only communal pork creates.