Rodney Scott’s pit room at Scott’s BBQ in Hemingway burned down a couple days before Thanksgiving. He and the crew kept working, but they took a financial hit during one of their busiest weekends of the year. Coupled with the expense of rebuilding, the setback was serious. So Rodney and his sidekick Steven Green hit the road for a fundraising tour of the South, taking friends from the Fatback Collective up on their generous hospitality. The Fatback Collective is a superstar collection of chefs, restaurateurs, writers, and pitmasters from across the South that “challenges the status quo, builds alliances, and supports farmers, artisans, and progressive causes.”
In Charleston, Rodney was joined by Sean Brock at his rig in front of Jim n’ Nick’s where they served $5 sandwiches to a long line of eager barbecue fans on Second Sunday.
Scott traveled on to Atlanta to cook with Kevin Gillespie and Angie Mosier at the Gunshow last week. Today, he is at Husk Nashville. In the coming days, he’ll be stopping by Oxford, Miss., New Orleans, and Birmingham, Ala. before a grand finale event in Charleston on Feb. 4. (You can follow his travels via Twitter at #rodneyinexile).
At the finale, Brock will join pitmasters Rodney Scott and Sam Jones (from Skylight Inn in Ayden, N.C.) to cook up a special whole hog barbecue dinner. The cost is $100 and will go into the Fatback Fund, newly established to assist Rodney’s rebuild efforts (estimated at $100,000) and help seed future assistance for businesses and organizations that might be in need.
If you’re feeling flush (and didn’t balk at $100), then consider this opportunity: naming rights for Rodney’s pits. For a mere $5K, you can get your own grill, and Rodney will be slathering pigs with sauce on top of the “Joe Smith pit” or more realistically, the “Le Creuset pit,” for years to come.
To purchase tickets for the Feb. 4 dinner, which will be held at No. 5 Faber in downtown Charleston from 6-9 p.m., call McCrady’s (843) 577-0025 ext. 4 or e-mail kcunningham@ndgcharleston.com. Love Best of Charleston? Help the Charleston City Paper keep Best of Charleston going every year with a donation. Or sign up to become a member of the Charleston City Paper club.