Evidently, there really is a new barbecue joint in Wake Forest that cooks with hickory and oak (gas-free, thank you very much).  And it really is run by a neighbor of legendary pitmaster Keith Allen of Chapel Hill’s Allen & Son, which is one of the best ‘cue spots on the planet.  I’m not sure that photosynthesis works with pitmasters, so I can’t figure out if Keith Allen’s special BBQ sunshine will help grow a neighbor into a great pitman, but I’m willing to test that theory.  I’ll be headed to Fire Pit BBQ soon, and I hope you do the same.

Losing a historic spot like Cooper’s is the downside of the continued real estate boom that has brought hundreds of millions of dollars of new investment to downtown Raleigh in recent years.  The modest building that long-housed Cooper’s, even as the shadows of nearby buildings grew longer and longer, seemed invincible for awhile–every time a development proposal bubbled to the surface, it popped and Cooper’s was spared.  But this time looks like it will be different. The Holts, who own Coopers, were forced to choose between moving or trying to survive what would have been an estimated 15 months in dormancy while development went on around them.  So they are moving.

Thanks to reader Dave “Pork Skins” Schiller for sending me the article from the Raleigh Public Record that describes the situation Cooper’s faces.  As Dave said to me, it’s hard to imagine Cooper’s anywhere but 109 East Davie Street.  Where will they land next?  Probably not too far from their current location, according to the Triangle Business Journal.  Good luck to the Holts as they try to move forward while preserving the restaurant’s distinct history.

The Great N.C. Barbecue Sauce Contest offers a cash prize ($100) and “bragging rights” (pricelessworthless) to the winner.  The contest is open to residents of North or South Carolina who are at least 18 years old. Makers of commercially sold sauces are not eligible.  Enter by 5 p.m. on April 27th at charlotteobserver.com/food or nando.com/saucecontest

1) Speedy Lohr’s boldly mixes meat and dairy.

2) New heavy metal barbecue restaurant coming soon in Gastonia.

3) Yankee transplant unleashes Porkasauras, and new BBQ joint, on Belmont.

The event takes place at Refiner’s Fire Community Church’s parking lot at 1003 E. Main Street on Saturday.  Cooks will compete for pork rib and pork shoulder prizes, as judged by a three-celebrity panel: Michael Reese with 103.9 Radio Station, Anthony Wilson with ABC 11 and Dan Hill with Hill Chesson Insurance Company.  You’ll notice that your’s truly is conspicuously absent from this panel, but maybe next year I’ll get called on.

Judging begins at 11 a.m. and awards will be handed out by 2 p.m.; what happens in those three hours is anyone’s guess.  For more information, including seeing if you can enter the competition last-minute, contact Renee Brown at brownrr9 @ gmail.com

In a wide-ranging interview with WRAL news, Newt proclaimed: “I like barbeque well enough I’m prepared to eat the right barbeque in the east and the right barbeque in the Piedmont. As a Georgian, I think I can lay some claim to barbeque, and so I’m happy to come and eat both kinds.”  A solid answer from the Newtser, assuming the ‘q’ spelling of barbecue is WRAL’s doing and not his.  However, Newt missed an opportunity to push for the environmental benefits of wood-cooked pit barbecue: a step toward homegrown energy independence and less controversial than natural gas given the fracking issue. (It occurs to me that “frack-free” barbecue might be the South’s answer to gluten-free cornbread.)

Certainly Newt’s BBQ credentials are better than his yankee-competitors, Rick “No Google Stock in My Portfolio” Santorum and Mitt “Don’t Call Me Mittens” Romney.  If Newt can avoid a Rick Perry-sized barbecue gaffe, he has a good chance to dominate the Republican primary’s barbecue voting bloc.

First, a terrific video/slideshow from the Southern Foodways Alliance on Jack Cobb & Son, one of the state’s great old time barbecue joints. There are many other of these great shows available on the website of The Barbecue Bus, which carried out the work in partnership with SFA.  Check ‘em out.

Second, an article in the UK’s Daily Mail from a British couple who set out on a journey to follow the Barbecue Trail.  As much as I love barbecue, I’m not sure I’d take a cross-Atlantic trip for it, but luckily I don’t have to deal with an ocean between me and ‘cue.

The event is a chance for amateur cooks to show off your porcine cooking talents, and for spectators to have a good time and a cold draft minus the competitive pressure.  (Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver is well-known as a perhaps the leading advocate for pairing beers and food.  His book, The Brewmaster’s Table, is a classic for foodies and beer geeks alike.)  Read more about The Carolina Pork Experiment after the jump.

The Food Experiments’ Theo Peck writes:

“I’m reaching out to prominent North Carolina food bloggers to let you know  about the first ever Carolina Pork Experiment – an amateur cook-off pitting North Carolina’s finest, most committed, and passionate home chefs against one another to battle for culinary glory! The Carolina  Pork Experiment on April 15th is the fourth stop on a 16-city National  Food Experiment Tour sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery. The Grand Prize  winner of the Carolina Pork Experiment gets a trip to Brooklyn, NY courtesy of Brooklyn Brewery to compete in the  World Series / Super Bowl / World Cup of food competitions: The National Championship! Where the winner will be up against the winners from  around the country and the globe.