David Reed

Fishing boats drifted past my table while a basket of hushpuppies vanished faster than I care to admit.…

By David Reed · Oct 2

Okra was the last thing on my mind when I pulled off a quiet North Carolina road for…

By David Reed · Oct 1

Four pounds of rainbow trout fillets, cut fresh and bagged on ice, can turn a so-so fishing day…

By David Reed · Oct 1

Wild turkeys, a cannon that launches apples, and a slushy made from frozen cider all live on the…

By David Reed · Sep 30

A wedge of pale, waxy-rinded cheese wrapped in butcher paper can turn a plain gas-and-snack stop into the…

By David Reed · Sep 30

Servers in paper hats and crisp white shirts were the last thing I expected to see after pulling…

By David Reed · Sep 29

Salt hits first, then smoke, then the warm cloud of a biscuit split open with a fork. That…

By David Reed · Sep 29

Sixteen hours is how long some North Carolina kitchens let a pot of pork bones bubble before a…

By David Reed · Sep 28

Collard greens simmered low and slow can turn a plain roadside stop into the best meal of your…

By David Reed · Sep 28

Charcoal smoke drifting across a strip mall parking lot is not supposed to change your whole afternoon, yet…

By David Reed · Sep 27

A strip-mall window fogged with steam was the only clue, and it turned out to be the best…

By David Reed · Sep 27

Steam rolling off a kettle of bubbling water at 5 a.m. is not something most people expect to…

By David Reed · Sep 26

Butter hitting a hot steel grill makes a sound you can hear from the parking lot, and it…

By David Reed · Sep 26

A paper bag, still warm on the passenger seat, can turn an ordinary drive into a story you…

By David Reed · Sep 25

Steam fogged my glasses before I even picked up a spoon, and that was the moment a plain…

By David Reed · Sep 25

Napkins were the first clue, a thick stack of them pushed through a tiny window before the paper…

By David Reed · Sep 24

Sugar crystals on the steering wheel are a sure sign the morning went right. Across North Carolina, some…

By David Reed · Sep 24

Saltines and warm cocktail sauce hit the counter before I had even figured out where to sit, and…

By David Reed · Sep 23

Cinnamon sugar on the steering wheel is the surest sign that a fall drive went exactly right. Across…

By David Reed · Sep 23

Craving a bowl of grits so creamy they cling to your spoon, topped with plump shrimp and sausage…

By David Reed · Sep 22

That slow-turning cone of marinated pork, glistening under the heat with a crown of pineapple on top, is…

By David Reed · Sep 22

Wood smoke and the sweet whiff of hickory can turn an ordinary afternoon in North Carolina into something…

By David Reed · Sep 21

My first bite of a golden empanada in North Carolina came from a spot I nearly drove right…

By David Reed · Sep 21

The smell hits you before you even reach the counter, that sweet swirl of cinnamon and butter that…

By David Reed · Sep 20

The first bite of a really good croissant sounds like a tiny snowfall of golden crumbs hitting your…

By David Reed · Sep 20

My favorite meals in North Carolina always seem to start with a napkin count. Somewhere between the smell…

By David Reed · Sep 19

Smoke drifting from a backyard pit hit me before I even parked the car, and I knew North…

By David Reed · Sep 19

My plan was to order pulled pork like always, but the person ahead of me got a plate…

By David Reed · Sep 18

A serious cheesesteak craving does not care how fancy the building looks, and some of the best ones…

By David Reed · Sep 18

A wobbly diner stool and a paper napkin once introduced me to a plate of fried green tomatoes…

By David Reed · Sep 17

Craving crispy chicken stacked on a fluffy waffle with syrup running down the sides? North Carolina hides some…

By David Reed · Sep 17

Woodsmoke gets all the glory, but the real reason I keep circling back to certain North Carolina pit…

By David Reed · Sep 16

Steam rising off a bowl of chicken and dumplings can stop you mid-sentence, especially when you weren’t expecting…

By David Reed · Sep 16

The smell hits you before the sign does, that unmistakable wave of cornmeal frying in hot oil somewhere…

By David Reed · Sep 15

My stomach still remembers the first time a paper-wrapped meatball sub in North Carolina nearly folded under its…

By David Reed · Sep 15

Fried chicken livers might be the most underrated bite in all of North Carolina, and once you taste…

By David Reed · Sep 14

My fork sank into a pork chop so tender I set my knife aside, and that first spoonful…

By David Reed · Sep 14

A good chicken salad croissant sneaks up on you. You walk into a modest little counter spot in…

By David Reed · Sep 13

The smell hits you before the sign does, that low curl of hickory and oak smoke drifting across…

By David Reed · Sep 13