The Barbecue Legend Who Told Anthony Bourdain To ‘Call Back Later’

When Anthony Bourdain’s team reached out to the busy crew at Ed Mitchell’s barbecue restaurant in Raleigh, N.C., more than two decades ago asking if they’d be interested in appearing on Season 2 of A Cook’s Tour, they were curtly told: “Call back, we’re in the middle of lunch.”

Eventually, the “meat up” happened and it turned out to be a star turn that introduced many devoted barbecue enthusiasts to Ed Mitchell. There have been many interesting twists and turns since that show first aired, including a milestone achievement that’s been the source of incredible satisfaction. I recently checked in with Ed and his son and business partner, Ryan Mitchell to learn what it means to the family to be inducted in American Royal’s Barbecue Hall of Fame in Kansas City.

All in the family

When Ed Mitchell was growing up, he just wanted to hang out with his dad and grandfather and uncles. That often meant cooking barbecue. “I was like a sponge, soaking everything up. Whatever they were doing, it rubbed off on me,” he said in a phone interview.

Those warm, fuzzy feelings didn’t really land when it came to the next generation. Ed’s son, Ryan, wasn’t interested. He worked the pits, but after graduating from high school, he went to college and eventually landed a job working in New York City in the investment banking industry.

“I remember cooking my last hog,” Ryan said. “I told everyone I was out.”

And he never looked back… until an economic downtown hit and he was laid off. Oh, and his father’s photo was featured in a front page story in The New York Times. “When I called him to ask if he’d seen the story, he said, didn’t I tell you we were onto something? I asked him what he was going to do about it and he turned it around on me and asked what I was going to do.”

“He didn’t start out with the love of it like I did, but he’s done a lot to help the business side,” Ed said.

Ryan said: “When I was growing up, pitmasters were not rock stars like they are now. It was hard work, a chore.”

Decades of hard work was recently recognized with the induction into the American Royal’s hall of fame, an honor Ed accepted on behalf of his family: “It feels good knowing what I’ve done is being recognized because my uncles and grandfather and father were never really recognized.”

Barbecue author/judge/enthusiast Ardie Davis whole heartedly agreed: “I am elated that Ed got this totally-deserved recognition and I told him so on his day of induction. His leadership in the heritage hog initiative and his exemplary pitmaster skills are laudable. He smoked the best and most memorable whole hogs I have ever tasted. Ed Mitchell truly belongs in the Barbecue Hall of Fame!”

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How it started, how it’s going

In the early 2000s, word was getting around about Ed Mitchell’s Carolina-style whole hog barbecue. “People started coming around, asking questions, searching for something,” Ryan said.

The Page One story that put Ed Mitchell on Bourdain’s radar was written in 2002 by the late R.W. Apple, who was covering the Southern Foodways Alliance’s annual symposium. Mitchell was invited to the SFA’s symposium, an annual feast for all senses with an academic twist. That year, the focus was on barbecue and Calvin Trillin delivered the closing remarks.

Shortly after, Danny Meyer launched the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party featuring Mitchell as one of the OGs. “We were there for 17 straight years,” Ed said.

That kind of exposure, plus a push from some of Ryan’s connections in the corporate world led to the launch of a barbecue sauce brand called True Made Foods in 2015, a sugar-free lineup created from family recipes. Which led to a Harper Collins imprint signing on to a cookbook telling the stories behind the distinctive barbecue. Penned with Zella Palmer, the book will be published in spring 2023, shortly before the new brick-and-mortar barbecue restaurant is due to launch in Raleigh. We can’t wait!

In the meantime, here’s the original episode of A Cook’s Tour. Ed and his crew turn up 15 minutes in. Off camera, Bourdain respectfully told Ryan it was kind of funny that he’d almost opted out. “He spent a lot of time with my father,” Ryan recalled. “He wanted to make sure that the guy whose name was on the sign out front was doing the cooking. He was in awe.”

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Check out the full list of Barbecue Hall of Fame inductees on the American Royal website.