The Southern Fork - Live with Alyssa Maute Smith: Charleston Wine + Food (Charleston, SC)

Live with Alyssa Maute Smith: Charleston Wine + Food (Charleston, SC)

09/29/23 • 27 min

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Charleston Wine + Food is a multi-day wine and food festival that takes place the first full weekend each March, and I have covered it as a media person, and/or participated as talent for all of its going-on 18 years excepting one. The following interview took place live in the midst of the Culinary Village at this year’s festival, and I’m sharing it now because I already have the 2024 festival on the brain. Not only is my behind the scenes planning well underway, but tickets go on sale to the public on October 19. I lovingly call it my Super Bowl, because it is, and the connections and education from it seeds much of the work I do. One of those relationships is with Alyssa Maute Smith, my conversation partner here and the festival’s Executive Director. Alyssa, a native Charlestonian, stepped into the Interim role in April of 2022, having successfully served as the festival’s Marketing + Communications Director for 6 years, then in 2023 was officially granted the title. There’s no mistaking the energy of Charleston Wine + Food, and Alyssa's enthusiasm for the work and for this community she calls home is a good compass for its future. And I’m proud to call her my friend.

Previous Episode

BBQ Inspirations for the Fall Equinox from Chris Lilly, Tuffy Stone, & Hector Garate (The American South)

Although The Southern Fork Summer Tour is over, we still have a few weeks together, and the weather has started to turn in much of the South. I don’t know about you, but soon after I feel that first cool breeze, I can’t wait to have a plate of barbecue. Maybe it’s because in my North Carolina childhood, barbecue “stands” as it were, popped up at church parking lots and auxiliary halls each Autumn, using good food to raise money for good causes, but no matter where I am this time of year, I’m thinking about the combo of time, smoke, and the skill of a pitmaster to create this iconic Southern food. The South is full of barbecue styles, each with throughlines of technique but different nuances, and unlike a barbecue purist, I love them all. So in honor of the Fall Equinox, today we dive into the archives for some barbecue inspiration from three who know their way around hot coals: Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson in Decatur, AL, Tuffy Stone, the Professor of Barbecue, out of Henrico, VA, and Hector Garate of Palmira BBQ in Charleston, SC.

Full episodes: Chris Lilly: Big Bob Gibson (Decatur, AL)

Tuffy Stone: Professor of Barbecue (Henrico, VA)

Hector Garate: Palmira BBQ (Charleston, SC)

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Season 8 Finale: Your Favorites & Steph's Best Bites

Host Stephanie Burt recaps Season 8 of the show, sharing the most listened to podcasts, her favorite bites of the season, and other details to keep the conversation going. Let’s Dig In.