The Pit

North Carolina’s legendary pit master Ed Mitchell presides over this airy restaurant in a former meatpacking warehouse. (White tablecloth at a ’cue joint?You bet.) The house specialty is the region’s classic chopped pork, hacked from a whole pit-smoked, butterflied hog basted with a vinegary, peppery barbecue sauce. Though Mitchell still wears his trademark overalls, the place is a barbecue joint for a new age: the kitchen is a spotless, open, stainless-steel affair at the back of a dining room with—you guessed it!—white tablecloths. All the meats—and, one presumes, the fish and barbecued tofu—are organic, humanely raised specimens.