For the last several years, one of the barbecue places I’ve seen a lot of buzz about is Buxton Hall Bar-B-cue, in Asheville, NC.  Chef /pit-master Elliott Moss opened Buxton Hall in 2015, in partnership with Meherwan Irani (of Chai Pani), bringing South Carolina whole hog barbecue to Western North Carolina.  Housed in a former wooden-floored roller skating rink, the space is now light and airy, with high ceilings and exposed beams. 

We arrived a little late for lunch, and after finding a space to park (NOTE: while there is some free street parking, everything else is in a pay lot and BHB does not have their own lot) were seated at a table near the front.  The picture below is of the bar, the back wall of which serves as the divider between the entryway and the restaurant proper. 

Being huge fans of South Carolina whole hog barbecue, I was excited that, from our table we were actually able to see the hog, splayed open on it’s tray (bottom-left in the picture below).

I went for the full pulled pork plate, with chicken bog and baby limas and butterbeans.  The plate was served with a little bit of cole slaw, cornbread and pickles.

We also had a side of the black eyed peas, which were cooked with a generous helping of pulled pork.

I can’t say that I’ve ever had, or heard of, chicken bog before.  It is a rice pilaf type dish, made of rice, chicken, onion, spices and sausage.  And a healthy dose of hot sauce.  It is distinctively South Carolinian, particularly from the Myrtle Beach area, and like chicken pilag / perlo / pilau, but moister – likely where the “bog” comes into it.  It was an interesting side, to say the least, but, once you get over the idea of it, was actually quite tasty.  The black eyed peas with pork were like a scaled-down version of Brunswick stew and were good, especially with a little added hot sauce.  The pork was excellent – moist and smoky with a XX hot vinegar sauce that was the icing on the cake.  We weren’t originally going to order dessert, but

the banana pudding pie (yep banana pudding in a PIE) had toasted meringue, topping banana pudding and bananas on a crust of crushed Vanilla wafer.  This was an innovative and terrific dessert – combining two of my favorite things – banana pudding and fruit pie.  Overall, a good way to start a trip.