In 1994, Bob Garner began doing short features about barbecue for
UNC-TV's statewide public-television magazine program, North Carolina
Now. In 1996, he published North Carolina Barbecue: Flavored by Time,
taking readers on a delectable journey across the state in search of the
best examples of this distinctive North Carolina delicacy. After Garner
produced a one-hour television special based on his book, he quickly
became known throughout North Carolina as "the barbecue man." In 2002,
he published Bob Garner's Guide to North Carolina Barbecue, which
describes the 100 best barbecue restaurants from the mountains to the
sea. Bob Garner's Book of Barbecue: North Carolina's Favorite Food
preserves the heritage and tradition of a disappearing rural lifestyle
while showing how barbecue continues to evolve. Packed full of recipes
for barbecue and popular side dishes (above and beyond the traditional
hush puppies, slaw, and 'nana pudding); sidebars with useful tips,
barbecue-related news, and features; and profiles of past and present
influential pit masters and barbecue aficionados, this tome is the
definitive guide to anything and everything pertaining to North
Carolina's favorite food.
Television personality, restaurant reviewer, speaker, author, pit
master, and connoisseur of North Carolina barbecue, Bob Garner is the
author of two previous books about barbecue. He has written extensively
for Our State magazine, including "Bob Garner Eats," a 10-part series
on traditional Southern foods. He has appeared on the Food Network's
Paula's Home Cookin' featuring Paula Deen, and Food Nation with
Bobby Flay; the Travel Channel's Road Trip; and ABC's Good Morning
America. Garner was executive producer and host of the UNC-TV series
Carolina Countryside and has been a featured speaker at the annual Big
Apple Barbecue Block Party in New York and the Southern Foodway
Alliance's annual symposium in Oxford, Mississippi. He speaks frequently
to a wide variety of audiences across North Carolina. In 2011, Garner
joined with Empire Properties in Raleigh, North Carolina, to work with
Ed Mitchell at The Pit to promote barbecue heritage; plans include
traveling across the state to host heritage dinners and pig pickings,
accompanied by live bluegrass music. Garner divides his time between
Burlington and Raleigh, North Carolina.
